ML12306A478

NRC Response to Letter from Senator Murray Regarding Support for the Town of Bourne'S Request for Increased Communications Regarding Pilgrim'S Emergency Planning Zone

ML12306A478
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim
Issue date:	10/25/2012
From:	Bill Dean Region 1 Administrator
To:	Murray T State of MA, Senate
Nancy McNamara
Shared Package
ML12306A459	List: ML12306A478
References
Download: ML12306A478 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 2100 RENAISSANCE BOULEVARD, SUITE 100 KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19406-2713 October 25, 2012 The Honorable Therese Murray Senate President State House, Room 332 Boston MA 02133-1053

Dear Senator Murray:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter dated September 19, 2012. Specifically, on behalf of the Town of Bourne, you expressed the need for increased communication with the Towns officials concerning evacuation during a radiological event at the Pilgrim Nuclear Station.

In the area of emergency preparedness and response, the NRC works in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for ensuring the onsite and offsite emergency plans are adequate. The regulation of onsite emergency response falls within the NRCs purview, while the offsite oversight responsibility rests with FEMA. The NRC relies on FEMA to provide a reasonable assurance finding that the offsite emergency response programs are adequate for protecting the public health and safety.

As you are aware, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has the overall authority for making protective action decisions (sheltering, evacuation, etc.) for ensuring the safety of their public during a radiological event. The states radiological emergency plan was developed by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and subsequently approved by FEMA.

We contacted representatives from both FEMA and MEMA informing them of your concern.

MEMA informed us they are sensitive to the evacuation concerns being expressed by the communities located on Cape Cod. In fact, on October 3, 2012, Mr. Kurt Schwartz, Undersecretary of Homeland Security and Director of MEMA met with members of the public from the Cape Cod communities in Harwich, MA. We understand the meeting resulted in a good exchange of information and that Director Schwartz committed to work with the Cape Cod communities, including the Town of Bourne, to help address their concerns regarding emergency evacuation routes.

Furthermore, we forwarded your concerns to Entergy, owner of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

On October 9, 2012, they conducted an outreach initiative to meet Bournes Emergency Manager and to gain a better understanding of the issues. We understand discussions went well and future meetings are being scheduled to brief town officials on a study that Entergy is conducting regarding evacuation time estimates.

Senator Therese Murray 2 Thank you for your interest in this issue. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Ms. Nancy McNamara, Regional State Liaison Officer at (610) 337-5337.

Sincerely,

/RA/

William M. Dean Regional Administrator cc:

K. Schwartz, Director, MEMA S. Colman, Regional Assistance Coordinator, FEMA, RI T. White, Emergency Planning Manager, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station

ML12306A478 ADAMS Package Accession No.: ML12306A459 Non-Sensitive Publicly Available SUNSI Review Sensitive Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RI/ORA RI/DRS RI/DRP RI/RA NAME NMcNamara (NTM) RMcKinley

• RBellamy (RJB)

• WDean (WMD)

DATE 10/ 18 /12 10/18 /12 10/18 /12 10/23/12