7/14/15 NJ.com: Review of emergency response plan for Salem County nuclear reactors set
Review of emergency response plan for Salem County nuclear reactors set
By Bill Gallo Jr. | For NJ.com
on July 14, 2015 at 3:44 PM, updated July 14, 2015 at 4:58 PM
MANNINGTON TWP. — The annual review of the emergency response plan that would be implemented in case of an accident at the Artificial Island nuclear generating complex is set for Wednesday night.
Representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey State Police will be on hand at the Salem County Department of Emergency Services, 135 Cemetery Rd., Mannington Township.
The hearing begins 6 p.m.
Wednesday’s meeting will review the emergency response plan that would be put in place if there were an accidental release from any of the three reactors operated by PSEG Nuclear at Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek Township — Salem 1, Salem 2 and Hope Creek.
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That plan includes different scenarios depending on the amount of radiation released. Actions could include an order to shelter in place or evacuate to an area outside the 10-mile emergency planning zone around the reactors.
State, county and local emergency management officials would work together to implement the plan.
The hearing’s focus will be on the evacuation plan, not the operation of the three reactors.
In recent years, public turnout at the hearings from the public has been low.
The 10-mile emergency planning zone around reactors in the U.S. was established by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
One organization, the Disaster Accountability Project, in a report issued this spring, called on the NRC to order expansion of the 10-mile zone.
Inside the 10 mile zone are several Salem County and Cumberland County municipalities and part of the State of Delaware.
The evacuation plan review is required under the state’s Radiation Accident Response Act.
Salem County is home to three of the four nuclear reactors in New Jersey. The fourth, Oyster Creek, is located in Ocean County.
Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow South Jersey Times on Twitter @TheSJTimes.