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NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov Site: www.nrc.gov

No.11-050 March 16, 2011

NRC PROVIDES PROTECTIVE ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS

BASED ON U.S. GUIDELINES

Under the guidelines for public safety that would be used in the United States under

similar circumstances, the NRC believes it is appropriate for U.S. residents within 50 miles of

the Fukushima reactors to evacuate.

Among other things, in the United States protective actions recommendations are

implemented when projected doses could exceed 1 rem to the body or 5 rem to the thyroid. A

rem is a measure of radiation dose. The average American is exposed to approximately 620

millirems, or 0.62 rem, of radiation each year from natural and manmade sources.

In making protective action recommendations, the NRC takes into account a variety of

factors that include weather, wind direction and speed, and the status of the problem at the

reactors.

Attached are the results of two sets of computer calculations used to support the NRC

recommendations.

In response to nuclear emergencies, the NRC works with other U.S. agencies to monitor

radioactive releases and predict their path. All the available information continues to indicate

Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Territories and the U.S. West Coast are not expected to experience any

harmful levels of radioactivity.

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's website.

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