ML18004A377
| ML18004A377 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Harris  |
| Issue date: | 07/26/1986 |
| From: | Dunbar F AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8608050147 | |
| Download: ML18004A377 (18) | |
Text
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I ACCESSION NBR: $608050147 DQC. DATE: 86/07/26 NOTARIZED:
NO DOCKET FACIL: 50-400 Sheav on Havv is Nucleav Powev Plant>
Unit ii Cav olina 05000400 AUTH. NANE AUTHOR AFFILIATION DUNBARIF. N.
AFFiliation Not Assigned RECIP. NANE RECIPIENT AFFILIATION DENTONp H.
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Directov'post 851125 SUB JECT:
Opposes util request For exemption fv om f'ull scale dv'ill of Chatham County evacuation plan. Drill v'equired bg law 8c pv omised bg util in ov der to convince county to v
enjoin plan.
Surveys summaries of Wal'e 5 Chatham Counties
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July 26, 1986 WAY STATION FARM ROUTE 5. 8OX 89 PITTS8ORO, tu4RTH CAROLINA 275 I2 Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555
Dear Mr. Denton,
Please DO NOT ALLOW CP&L TO BE EXES'TED FROM A FULL SCALE DRILL OF THE CHATHAM COUNTY EVACUATION PLANI The full scale drill is required by law and was also promised to us by CP&L in order to convince our County Commissioners to rejoin the evacuation plan.
Now, according to the local papers, CP&L just wants to test the communications equipment by simply notifing a few key people in a scaled-back drill.
This in an insult to the Chatham Commissioners and alarming to the thousands of Chatham citizens who have clearly expressed many concerns about their safety in the event of an emergency at the Shearon Harris plant. If anything, we need to have a scaled-
~a drill! I have included a summary of a recent survey of both Wake and Chatham counties to underscore my point.
If the NRC lets CP&L get away with this cowardly request in the face of so much genuine and reasonable public concern, I can only assume that none of you care a hoot about the people down here.
I trust that this is not true, and that you will act responsibly to serve the public interest and not a corporate 8608050147 B60726 PDR ADOCK 05000400 H
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Survey of Wake and Chatham County voters attitudes toward the Shearon Harris power plant and the evacuation plan.
Between June 21 and July 3
a survey of 549 registered voters in Wake and Chatham counties was sponsored by Doctors Tomaskovic-Devey and
- Risman, Assistant Professors of Sociology at North Carolina State University.
The attached documents summarize the survey findings in some detail.
In general four conclusions can be reached from these documents:
1.
Wake and Chatham voters are uneasy with nuclear power in general and the Shearon f/arris plant in particular.
2.
Respondents would prefer an evacuation zone of over twenty miles and do not plan to behave as the current plan assumes they will, suggest ing that the current plan is unworkable.
3.
f1ost of the registered voters in both counties (overwhelmingly in Chatham County) supported the original decision of the Chatham County Commissioners to pull out of the evacuation plan.
- 4. while half of respondents thought that they might elect political candidates based on their nuclear power
- stand, opponents o f nuclear power
.vere twice as 1 ikely as supporters to say that they would let this issue guide their vote.-
Investigators:
Dr. Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Barbara J.
- Risman, Assistant Professor of Sociology Department of Sociology and Anthropology Box 8197 North Carolina S tate University
- Raleigh, NC 27695-8187 Survey overview is enclosed.
For more information "ontact Dr..
Tomaskovic-Devey at (919) 737-3114 or. at his home (919) 779-5524.
I
The results are summarized
- below, and detailed reports for Wake and Chatham counties are attached.
THE EVACUATION PIAN *******+*****+******
Of those respondents who had heard of the current evacuation plan forty percent believe the plan to be unworkable, only twenty-nine percent feel that the plan is workable and
- safe, and the remainder were undecided.
An overwhelming majority of Wake and Chatham registered voters (81 percent) thought that the evacuation zone should be extended beyond the current ten miles, while nine percent were unsure.
Only ten percent of re pondents think that the current ten mile zone is adequate.
Seventy-five percent of respondents thought that the evacuation zone should be twenty or more miles around the plant.
In fact, forty-three percent thought that the evacuation zone should be greater than twenty-five miles.
Of those people who live outside of the current ten mile evacuation
- zone, only fifteen percent felt very safe living in an area without an evacuation plan. Twenty-seven percent reported feeling somewhat
- safe, thirty percent felt somewhat
- unsafe, twenty-two percent felt very unsafe, and six percent could not make up their minds.
We asked respondents how they would behave in the case of an accident at the plant.
People wi th children in school, overwhelmingly (68%)
expressed an intention to pick their children up rather than leave them to be evacuated by County officials as the current evacuation plan calls for.
In addition, we asked respondents living outside of the ten mile evacuation zone what they would do in the case of an emergency evacuation within the zone.
Sixty-five percent of respondents planned to self-evacuate and an additional fourteen percent were unsure as to their response.
These intentions are consistent wi th the published research on self-evacuation during the Three Nile Island accident in 1979, and with a survey of the intentions of residents near the Shoreham nuclear power plant in I,ong Island,
'ew York. I)any more people will evacuate than officially advised to during any nuclear power plant emergency.
This evacuation shadow suggests that many more people will be on the highways than the current evacuation plan anticipates and that many key support people (e.g.
emergency personnel outside of the evacuation
- area, gas station attendants, bus drivers) may not be "
available.
Not only were the people polled uncomfortable with the current plan but their anticipated 'response to an emergency evacuation suggest that the plan's assumptions about how local,.
people will respond are erroneous.
~*********************
POLITICAL RESPONSES
- a*****",~***a*****
The majority (66%) of registered voters in both counties thought that their County Commissioners should withdraw from the current evacuation plan. Sixty-thxee percent thought that Governor Martin should call a halt to the licensing of any new nuclear power plants until the health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown are known. Only twenty-eight percent thought that the Governor should allow the licensing of nuclear plants at this point and nine percent were undecided.
Sixty percent of registered voters thought that: the state legisl'ature should not allow the licensing of any new nuclear power plants.
Thirteen percent were undecided on this issue and twenty-seven percent were in favor of licensing new plants in North Carolina.
Fifty-one percent of xespondents thought that they might vote for a politician on the basis of his or her stand on nuclear power plants.
Opponents of nuclear power were twice as likely as supporters to say that they would vote for or against a
politician depending on his stand on nuclear power.
- +*** ATTITUDES TOWARD NUCLEAR POWER IN GENERAf AND SHEARON HARRIS IN PARTICULAR Forty-eight percent of respondents thought that alternative sources of electricity should be found and Shearon Harris not opened as a nuclear facility.
Forty-one percent of respondents thought that the Shearon Harris plant should be opened as a
nuclear facility.
The remainder were undecided.
Thirty percent of respondents described themselves as supporters of nuclear
- power, thirty-eight percent as opponents, and thirty-one percent were undecided.
This pattern of responses is very similar to that found in a
May 1986 national survey using the identical question.
The polled population can be accurately described as ambivalent, at best, about nuclear power in general, but more opposed to the Sheaxon Harris plant in particular.
The survey was not directed by either Carolina Power and fight or Citizens for Alternatives to Shearon Harris.
Potential respondents were'elected randomly from the lists of registered voters in both counties.
The survey was administered by telephone and the resul ts have a ninty-five percent probabi 1 ity of being accurate within plus or minus four percent.
When results are reoorted seperately by County the range of accuracy is about plus or minus five percent (5.2 0 for Wake County and 5.3
% for Cha tham County).
WAKE COUNTY SHEARON HARRIS SURVEY RESUI TS **********
Inves tiga tors:
Dr. Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Barbara J.
- Risman, Assistant Professor of Sociology Department of Sociology and Anthropology Box 818 7 North Carolina State University
- Raleigh, NC 27695-8197 (919) 737-3114 General attidues toward nuclear power and the opening of the Shearon Harris power plant.
The first question on the survey asked respondents if they thought of themselves as supporters or opponents of nuclear power as a
means of producing electricity.
A third category of undecided was included in the question. Thirty-nine percent of Wake County voters described themselves as supporters of nuclear power. Thirty-one percent were opponents of nuclear power and thirty-one percent were undecided.
Fifty percent of respondents when asked if the Shearon Harris plant should be opened as a
nuclear facility thought that it should.
tetany of these people (as will become apparant when we discuss the evacuation plan and political opinions below) were uncomfortable with the plant and nuclear power but felt that the investment should not be wasted.
Of the fi fty percent. of Wake County voters who did not favor opening the Shearon Harris plant as a nuclear facility forty-.one percent favored alternative sources of electricity to meet local demand and nine percent were undecided.
Overall Wake County voters are well educated on this issue:
ninety-eight oercent were aware that there was a nuclear power plant under construction in Wake County and eighty-eight percent were aware that the plant is scheduled to be in operation this winter.
The Evacuation Plan Eighty-eight per'cent of Wake County registered voters have heard of the emergency evacuation plan for the Shearon Harris plant.
Of those who have heard of the plan, thirty-four percent think it is workable and safe, thirty-three percent think that the evacuation plan is not adequate, and thirty-three percent are unsure.
In general these results do not suggest a high degree of confidence in the plan. This lack of confidence may be merited:
people dn not plan to cooperate with the current plan and a lack of cooperation would seem to jeopardize any plan. Seventy-three percent of respondents with school age children plan to pick their children up at school in the event of an evacuation rather than leave them to County officials as called for in the current evacuation plan. Sixty-five percent of the people outside of the ten mile evacuation zone plan to self-evacuate in the case of an
0 emergency.
If the emergency seems severe eighty-one percent are likely to self-evacuate.
In general respondents did not feel secure with an evacuation zone that extends for only ten miles.
A full eighty percent of respondents felt that the evacuation zone should be extended beyond the current ten miles. Only twelve percent thought that the current ten mile zone was adequate and eight percent were undecided.
Seventy percent of respondents thought that the evacuation plan should cover all residents within at least twenty miles of the plant, and more than half of these thought that the plan should be extended beyond twenty-five miles.
Of those Nake County residents outside the ten mile evacuation zone only seventeen percent described themselves as feeling very safe living close to Shearon Harris but outside of the evacuation zone. Thirty-four percent felt somewhat
- safe, sixteen percent felt somewhat
- unsafe, and twelve oercent felt very unsafe living withou t an evacuation plan.
Political Solutions and Intentions One of the central political debates that has surrounded the opening of the Shearon Harris power plant has been county cooperation in the evacuation plan.
Since the current evacuation plan relies on county cooperation, county withdrawal would requi re-a" new e vacua t ion~.plan,to
- be. designed and p'resumably tested.
Ne asked respondents i f the Nake. County Commissioners should withdraw the County's participation in the evacuation plan until they are satisfied that the plan is workable and safe. Fifty-seven percent of respondents thought that the Nake County Commissioners should withdraw from the evacuation plan.
Another eleven oercent were unsure and thirty-three percent (33%) of respondents thought that withdrawing from the plan was clearly unnecessary.
The high levels of dissatisfaction with the evacuation plan, coupled with this majority support for county withdrawal from the plan, suggest that there is considerable support in the population for the Wake County Commissioners playing a
more agressive role in assuring the safety of the Shearon Harris plant than they h'ave to date.
We also asked respondents about the roles of Governor Hartin and the state legislature in the licensing of nuclear power plants.
Slightly more than half (55%) of all respondents thought that Governor Hartin should call a halt to the licensing of any new nuclear power plants until the health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown are known.
An additional nine percent thought that this might be a good idea but were unsure and thirty-seven percent thought this an unnecessary precaution.
S imilar ly,
fifty-five percent of the registered voters polled thought that
,the state legislature should not allow the licensing of new nuclear power plants in North Carolina.
An additional fourteen percent were unsure as to whether or not new. plants should be licensed and thirty-one percent thought that new nuclear power plants were acceptable.
Our final political question asked if the respondent thought that he or she might vote for (or against) a politician on the basis of their stand on nuclear energy.
Forty-eight percent of respondents
'answered
- that, yes, they might change their vote according to the politician's stand on this issue.
Forty-one percent thought that they did not feel strongly enough about this issue for it to ef feet how they voted and twelve percent were unsure.
Well over half (68%) of respondents feel so strongly about the Shearon Harris plant that they miciht vote accordingly.
This intention is even more str iking when the responses of suppor ters and opponents of nuclear power are compared.
While only thirty-nine percent of nuclear power supporters thought that this issue would ef feet their
- vote, seventy-one percent of nuclear power opponents were so inclined.
The implication, of
- course, is that politicians will receive much less political credit from voters for supporting Shearon Harris and the current evacuation plan than they will for insuring the safety of both the plant and the evacuation plan.
In fact, the people who thought that the Wake County Commissioners should withdraw from the evacuation plan were twice as likely to say that their vote might be influenced by a candidate's stand on this issue than were those who were satisfied with the current plan.
The survey of Wake County registered voters includes a random sample of 288 registered voters.
The confidence intervals for reported percentages is approximately plus or minus S.2 percent.
CHATS1AM COUNTY SHEARON HARRIS SURVEY RESUK TS **********
Investigators:
Dr. Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Barbara J.
- Risman, Assistant Professor of Sociology Department of Sociology and Anthropology Box 8187 North Carolina State University
- Raleigh, NC 27695-8187 (919) 737-3114 General Attidues Toward Nuclear Power and the Opening of the Shearon Harris Power Plant.
The first question on the survey asked respondents if they thought of themselves as supporters or opponents of nuclear power as a
means of producing electricity.
A third category of undecided was included in the question.
Forty-six percent of Chatham County voters described themselves as opponents of nuclear
- power, only twenty-one percent were supporters of nuclear
- power, and thirty-two percent were undecided.
Of the seventy percent of Chatham County voters who did not favor opening the Shearon Harris plant as a nuclear facility fifty-fivepercent favored alternative sources of electricity to me t local demand and fourteen percent were undecided.
Thirty percent of respondents when asked if the Shearon Harris plant should be opened as a nuclear facility thought that it should.
Overall Chatham County voters are fairly well educated on this issue:
eighty-eight percent were aware that there was a nuclear power plant under construction in Wake County and seventy-eight percent were aware that the plant is scheduled to be in opera" ion this winter.
The Evacuation Plan Sixty-Cour percent of Chatham County registered voters have heard of the emergency evacuation plan for the Shearon Harris plant.
Of those who have heard of the plan forty-eight percent think that the evacuation plan is not adequate, twenty-four percent think it is workable and safe, and twenty-nine percent are unsure.
In general these results suggest a low degree of confidence in the plan. This lack of confidence may be merited since people do not plan to cooperate with the current plan. Seventy-six percent of respondents with school age children plan to pick their children up at school in the event of an evacuation rather than leave them to County officials as called for by the current evacuation plan.
Similarly, sixty-five percent of the people outside of the ten mile evacuation zone plan to self-evacuate in the case of an emergency, and an additional thirteen percent are likely to self-
evacuate if the emergency seems severe.
In general respondents did not feel secure with an evacuation zone that extends for only ten miles.
A full eighty-one percent of respondents felt that the evacuation zone should be extended beyond the current ten miles.
Only seven percent thought that the current ten mile zone was adequate and twelve percent were undecided.
Seventy-nine percent of respondents thought the evacuation plan should cover all residents within at least twenty miles of the plant, and more than half of these thought that the plan should be extended beyond twenty-f ive miles.
Of those Chatham County residents outside the ten mile evacuation zone only thirteen percent described themselves as feeling very safe living close to Shearon Harris but outside of the evacuation zone.
Twenty percent felt somewhat
- safe, thirty-one percent felt somewhat
- unsafe, and twenty-eight percent felt very unsafe living without an evacuation plan.
Political Solutions and Intentions One of the central political debates that has surrounded the opening of the Shearon Harris power plant has been County cooperation
.in the'vacuation plans.
Without County cooperation the plant can not be opened, until and unless a new evacuation plan can be designed and tested.
This survey was fielded af ter the Chatham County Commissioners had voted to withdraw from the evacuation plan but before their recent decision to accept and cooperate with the plan.
We asked respondents if they were satisfied with the Chatham County Commissioners decision to withdraw that County's participation in the evacuation plan until they are satisfied that the plan is workable and safe.
Three-quarters (76-.)
of respondents supported the initial decision of the Chatham County Commissioners.
Another ten percent were unsure and only fourteen.percent of respondents thought that withdrawing from the plan was clearly unnecessary.
When we recall the high levels. of dissatisfaction with the evacuation plan discussed in the last section of this report it would seem that there is strong support in the population for the Chatham County Commissioners original position and that the population of registered voters might be more pleased if their Commissioners resumed playing an agressive role in assuring the safety of the Shearon Harris plant and the adequacy of the evacuation plan.
We also asked respondents about the roles of Governor Hartin and the state legislature in the licensing of nuclear power plants.
Almost three-quarters (72%) of all respondents thought that Governor Martin should call a halt to the licensing of any new nuclear power plants until the health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown are known.
An additional ten percent were
C U
A
unsure if this was a good idea, and eighteen percent thought this an unnecessary precaution.
Similarly, sixty-four percent of the registered voters polled thought 'that the state legislature should not allow the licensing of new nuclear power plants in North Carolina.
An additional thirteen percent were unsure as to whether or not new plants should be licensed and twenty-four percent thought that new nuclear power plants were acceptable.
Our final political question asked if the respondent thought that he.or she might vote for (or against) politicians on the basis of their stand on nuclear energy. Fifty-five percent of respondents answered that'hey might change their vote according to the politician's stand on this issue.
Thirty-four percent thought that they did not feel strongly enough about this issue for it to effect how they voted and fourteen percent were unsure.
Well over half (65%) of respondents feel so strongly about the Shearon Harris plant that they might vote accordingly.
This intention is even more striking when the responses of supporters and opponents of nuclear power are compared.
While only thirty-nine percent of nuclear power supporters thought that this issue might effect their vote, seventy-one percent of nuclear power opponents were so inclined.
The implication, of course, is that politicians in Chatham County will receive much less political credit from voters for supporting Shearon Harris and the current evacuation plan than they willfor insuring the safety of both the plant and the evacuation plan.
In fact, the people who thought that the Chatham County Commissioners should withdraw from the evacuation plan were-a third more likely to say that their vote might be influenced by a candidate's stand on this issue than were those who were satisf ied with the current. plan.
The survey of Chatham County registered voters includes a
random sample of 261 registered voters.
The conf idence intervals for reported percentages i's approximately plus or minus 5.3 percent.
July 26, 1986 WAY STATION FARM ROUTE E. BOyf'.QO PITTSBORO, klRVII CAROLINA 27S I2 Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555
Dear Mr. Denton,
Please DO NOT ALLOW CPRL TO BE EXEMPTED FROM A FULL SCALE DRILL OF THE CHATHAM COUNTY EVACUATION PLANl The full scale drill is required by law and was also promised to us by CP8IL in order to convince our County Commissioners to rejoin the evacuation plan.
Now, according to the local papers, CP8L just wants to test the communications equipment by simply notifing a few key people in a scaled-back drill.
This in an insult to the Chatham Commissioners and alarming to the thousands of Chatham citizens who have clearly expressed many concerns about their safety in the event of an emergency at the Shearon Harris plant. If anything, we need to have a scaled-
~a drillI y have included a summary of a recent survey of both 'I<eke and Chatham counties to underscore my point.
If the NRC lets CP8IL get away with this cowardly request in the face of so much genuine and reasonable public concern, I can only assume that none of you care a hoot about the people down here.
I trust that this is not true, and that you will act responsibly to serve the publicmnterest and not a corporate
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Please inzist Qt at CP8L hold a fu11-scale drill!
Yours most sincerely, Flora M. Dunbar