ML18255A249

LTR-18-0367 Roberta Pevear, Letter the Seabrook Nuclear Plant Evacuation Plan

ML18255A249
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	08/31/2018
From:	Pevear R Public Commenter
To:	Kristine Svinicki NRC/Chairman
Shared Package
ML18255A250	List: ML18255A249
References
LTR-18-0367
Download: ML18255A249 (5)

Text

Hon. Roberta C. Pevear

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March 21 , 201 l Governor John Lynch Office of the Governor 107North Main St.

Rm. 208-214 Concord, N.H. 03301-4990

Dear Governor Lynch,

We, the undersigned members of the faculty and staff of Seabrook Middle School in Seabrook, N.H., are writing to call your attention to troubling deficiencies in existing plans to provide for the safety of our students in the event of a radiological emergency at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant. We seek your intervention on behalf of this vulnerable segment of the state's population.

While a significant history of controversy swTOunding nuclear emergency and evacuation preparedness precedes this letter, we are concerned that the passage of time may have generated a level of complacency which has left serious issues unaddressed. Recent events in Japan introduce a moral imperative to address these issues now.

When the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeals Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewed the evacuation plan for the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) around the Seabrook plant, the plan was remanded due to four "critical flaws" cited by the board. One of these "critical flaws" was in planning for the evacuation of school children. Rather than ensw*e that the board's findings were addressed, the commissioners of the NRC altered licensing protocol to eliminate ASLB Appeals Board approval of ev<)cuation plans ass preliminary requirement for an operating license. The "critical flaws" remain.

The New Hampshire Radiological Emergency Response Plan (NHRERP) originally assigned public school teachers the responsibility of evacuating students to distant "reception" centers (actually decontamination centers) and supervising them there for the duration of the emergency, or until each is released to an authorized.adult. 596 teachers working within the EPZ were individually surveyed about th.eir anticipate<l role in the evacuation plan. Citing overriding family and personal obligations, 97%

declared that they are unavailable to serve in this capacity.

Subsequent litigation resulted in a 1987 New Hampshire Superior Com1 ruling which established that teachers cannot be required., and have no obligation, to take on a role in the NHRERP, calling it "conscription of private citi~ns." The court went on to suggest that " .. . the state shou Id consider the probability that it will have to provide assistance to school children shouJd an evacuation become necessary."

A semantic alteration of the plan was the only step taken, as it now delegates responsibility for the evacuation of thousands of school children to "school officials." These people are not identified. As the faculty and staff of a school located within one mile of an operating nuclear power plant, we do not know who they are.

Parents of students attending schools within the EPZ receive annual "caJendars" which contain official information as to how to proceed_in the event of a radiological emergency at the Seabrook plant. Parents to are directed NOT to go to their children's schools pick them up. Instead, they are offered assurance that their children will be cared for by these unidentified evacuation personnel. This is an alanning discrepancy.

At this moment in state history you have, through your election, been entrusted with protecting the health and safety of the people of New Hampshire. As professionals with a respons.ibility to advocate for the children in our care, we submit this appeal to you.

Thank you for your atten.tion to these concerns.

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CC: New Hampshire Office of Emergency Mana ement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Contact:

Dfonne Dunfey diannedunfoy~mail.com (603)431-2499

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