REPORT: MILLIONS THAT LIVE WITHIN 50 MILES OF A U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT RESIDE IN JURISDICTIONS THAT LACK RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY PLANNING

REPORT: MILLIONS THAT LIVE WITHIN 50 MILES OF A U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT RESIDE IN JURISDICTIONS THAT LACK RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY PLANNING

Evacuation planning and public education are inadequate within 50 miles of domestic nuclear power plants.

For Immediate Release: APRIL 14, 2015

CONTACT: Ben Smilowitz / ben@disasteraccountability.org / (202) 556-3023

ROCKVILLE, MD — Emergency planning and public education related to radiological incidents surrounding U.S. nuclear power plants are inadequate, according to a year-long investigation by Disaster Accountability Project (DAP).

Federal regulations require jurisdictions within 10-mile “emergency planning zones” of U.S. nuclear power plants to develop evacuation protocols for responding to radiological incidents, and to provide to residents living within these zones annual information on radiation and protective actions during radiological emergencies.

Outside the 10-mile zones, local governments are not required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to plan for radiological emergency evacuations, or educate the general public on what to do in the event of a radiological emergency.

Without planning and regular public information, many residents living outside the 10-mile radius are likely to voluntarily evacuate, even if authorities deem their particular locations safe. Such voluntary “shadow evacuations” have the potential to complicate the evacuation of people most immediately in danger by, for instance, putting additional traffic on roadways, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. In response, the NRC claimed that such planning is unnecessary, saying that current 10-mile planning zones provide an “adequate” level of protection of public health and safety in the event of an emergency at a nuclear power plant.

Between 2013-2015, DAP contacted 106 jurisdictions across 11 states and within 50 miles of domestic nuclear power plants seeking documents and information related to radiological preparedness, including evacuation planning. The plants, located within 5 states, included the Indian Point Energy Center, Buchanan, New York; Dresden Generating Station, Morris, Illinois; Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station, Biscayne Bay, Florida; Salem Nuclear Power Plant, Salem County, New Jersey; and Surry Nuclear Power Plant, Surry County, Virginia.

Key findings include the following:

• Overall, jurisdictions located within 50 miles of the five plants surveyed for this report, collectively representing 38.2 million people, lack adequate emergency planning.

• Only 4 out of 19 jurisdictions within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant, and 6 out of 88 jurisdictions between 10 and 50 miles, could provide any shadow evacuation planning or a referral to a third-party that may have conducted such planning.
• Less than one-third of jurisdictions between 10 and 50 miles of the plants could satisfactorily provide any emergency plans specific to nearby nuclear power plants.
• Only 13 of 19 jurisdictions within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant provided any radiological educational materials or planning shared with residents. This is notable, as NRC regulations require these jurisdictions to share this information to residents on a regular basis.

“Most communities situated ten or more miles from nuclear power plants do not plan for radiological emergencies simply because Washington doesn’t require it,” said Ben Smilowitz, Executive Director, Disaster Accountability Project. “Most people that live 20, 30, or 40 miles away from plants do not realize that their communities are only adhering to bare-minimum standards for radiological emergency preparedness.”

“This report’s findings should serve as a wake-up call to local communities that if Washington is not going to demand emergency planning, residents should demand it themselves. We hope residents of these communities will call on their local governments to do more, regardless of any mandate from Washington,” said Smilowitz.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

After an earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the Japanese Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011, over 150,000 Japanese citizens were evacuated within 19 miles of the stricken plant due to the presence of radiological plumes. The NRC itself recommended that U.S. citizens evacuate from as far as 50 miles of the plant. This distance exceeds the current mandatory planning zone of 10-miles, and the Commission has not satisfactorily reconciled this disparity between current planning and real-world implementation.

DAP’s series of reports on domestic radiological evacuation planning can be found here:

https://disasteraccountability.orgnews-media/reports/

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Since 2007, the nonprofit Disaster Accountability Project saves lives and reduces suffering after disasters by maximizing the impact of preparedness, response and relief through citizen oversight and engagement, policy research and advocacy, and public education. Connect with the Disaster Accountability Project at https://disasteraccountability.org.