ML19345C337
| ML19345C337 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 11/24/1980 |
| From: | Metcalf M NEW HAMPSHIRE CLAMSHELL |
| To: | Smith I Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8012040418 | |
| Download: ML19345C337 (14) | |
Text
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.p New Hampshire Clamshell jg C/o Great Bay Clamshell w
ga Box 110 a[iU)L 4s Durham, New Hampshire 05824
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November 24, 1980 4T
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Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Ivan W.
Smith, Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555 Re:
Docket No. 50-289 (Three Mile Island, Unit No. I RESTAnT)
=
Dear Sir:
Thank you for the NOTICE of a hearing on this matter scheduled for November 24, 1980 with especial regard to Emergency P1.nning.
We request this written statement be included in the record.
During the past several months citizens of New Hampshire have been struggling with the challenges of basic Emergency Planning and the overwhelming frustrations of Radiological Planning. (See enclosure.)
Recognizing that planning detail is unique for each generating station site, th re are some generic characteristics we would the pragmatic issues of jurisdiction, funding emphasize.
These are and enforcement.
It has been our experience, the complexities of Radiological Emergency Planning art of such a nature that local persons given the respon-sibility for the task are not qualified to formulate appropriate plans.
Few municipalities have such " resource pers,ons" and when outside " experts" are brought in, they lack thy p,atimate knowledge
.o of the community that is necessary to formulate' plans which generate local cooperation and citizen support.
l)SO3 s.
B012 04 y $8 W O< d -nfu/R>
i.
NRC/ASLB Smith, Chairman Docket No. 50-289 p.2
- 9 Further, the complex nature of Radiological Emergency Planning makes necessary coordination of resources beyond the scope of single agencies or individual communities.
This complication is directly related to the issue of funding.
It is difficult to devise a satisfactory formula for the funding of such a multilevel intergrated planning effort.
Moreover, no amount of " adequate" planning or " equitable" funding will accomplish the desired goal unless it is the popular WILL-OF-THE-PEOPLE to cooperate and provide voluntary "self-enforcement".
It is..ontrary to our Cultural Heritage to impose upon our civilian population the kinds of measures outlined in Radiological Emergency Planning.short of a declared. state of WAR.
' RESTART ef-'INI ynit: No., I as' presently des ned. poses a. threat to,
'the' health of'pe'ople and thel safety of property as'already ' demon-
~
strated by events of March 29, 1979'and since.
This, plus the grave financial dislocations resultant from the same event, constitute a burden of multiple risks which is intolerable.
RESTART of TMI Unit No. I, as designed, is not justified.
Converting TMI Unit No. I to a non-nuclear fuel would e1Leinate the need for Radiological Emergency Planning and would reduce the multiple risks by a sig-nificant factor.
Please give this position thoughtful consideration.
Thank you.
New Ham'pshire Clamshell Prepared for the New Hampshire Clamshell by b
f 1
(
D l
b Mary Metcalf
Evacuatiori planning for Seabrook Stationl GETTING OUT:
Since the accident in im at renn-
-, m, s~ s-manh=a=
is no.small task
/
Regulatory Commission has made g
p1 evacuation planning a criterion for g3
,. j g sxAs a the licensing of nuclear power uglgg
- z L.ju urd j m /w_
n,
,r A n.,
plants. "Getting Out" is a four part
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, series examining the problems evac-EarHer this year,' the Scacoast grams, have been driven by a fear
-( N ;;p.a g,%op k
1 uation planners face in the Seacoast.
Anti-Pollution League demanded that the nuclear plant will go ea line I
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where the Seabrook Station nuclear.
that the 'NRC hall construction at beforo effect8ve evacuation pla: e are l'.\\
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power plant is scheduled to go on Seabrook Station until Civil Defense In place.
line in 1sg3. -Ed.
and utility officials can guarantee a The Seabroak Station operating i.
~
r' safe evacuauon. Their request was cease application is scheduled to be 4,% & 3 SPECl*AL REPORT denied, although the NRC promised,
submitted in 1981, asking for a 1983 last month to consider SAPL's com-start-up date for the first reactor.
plaints alon "The upshot of all this is that we By CilUCK GOODRICII.
brook Station has the ninth most objections. g with the town officials, as pulsile efficials have been put in a
.t densely populated EPZ in the coun-Simular conceins were voiced in precarious position," said Hampton '
andTERRY WILLIAMS try among nuclear power plants that September 1979, when four state leg-selectmen Chairman Mary I4ulse Democrat Staff Writers are either on line or licensed for con. Islators from Tiampton, Hampton Waoisey.
struction. The Seabrook EPZ has
- Falls, Seabrook and South Hampton 6
First in a series more than 100,000 year-round resi-petitioned President Carter to halt '
dents, and some local officlats say construcUon of Seabrook Station SEABROOK - Ten miles arouiid that population doubles dus;ag the ' "until a safe and timely evacuation Prior t'o the Marcht1979 accident at the unfinished twin 1,150-megawatt summer months..
plan can be achieved." Their request Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, re:ctors of the Seabrook nuclear Representatives of ' federal ; was denied by NRC Director Harold Pa., the NRC did not demand emer-powtr plant project, there is an agencies, state Civil Defense leaders ' Denton, gency plans from nuclear plant oper-Imaginary circle. Within that 10-mile and Public Service officials believe '
The SaHabury Town Met uig in alors. Emergency plans have since rtdius, known as the Emergency adequate emergency plans can and Planning Zone (EPZ), Civil Defense will be developed for the Seabrook,j May voted to ask the NRC e.ot to been required, although NRC liter-grant Seabrook Station an operating ature sous -w upunsnes the,"ex-leaders from 23 New llampshire and Station EPZ. Proceeding from that license; yoters claimed there "Is no tremely low likelihood" of any nu-Massachusetts communities are way to safely evacuate the surround-clear emergency and says that natu-assumption, the NRC has permitted ing area." According to selectmen, ral disasters are considerably more ambling to prepare nuclear emer.'
construction to continue on the half. the vote wr.s unanimous.
like'r s
gency evacuation plans.
completed first Seabrook Station re-Public Service, like FEMA, re-The NRC's emergency planning.
Public Service Company of Ner
- actor, cently released an evacuation time requirement caused the Civil De-Ilimpshire, principal owner of in, But many officials from towns study that said the Seabrook Station,, fense agency in New Ilampshire to 33.16 billion Seabrook Station proj.
close to the site are not convinced EPZ can be evacuated in about six focus in 1979 on emergency planning ect must convince the Nuclear there will ever be effective evac-hours on a summer Sund.sy. The ' '. around two nuclear power plant Regulatory Commission that, in untion plans for the immediate area times, which the NRC will consider
- i. sites: first, Vermont Yankee, an on-those 23 communiller, " appropriate around Seabrook Station. Those con-in the Hcensing process, have been '
line facility within 30 miles of sey-g protective measures can and will be cerns have been voiced by officials received with skepticism - and in eral western New Hampshire com.
taktn In the event of a radiolor a in such towns as Seabrook Ham-some cases ciutright disbelief - by
. munities,' and more recently, Sea.
brook Station.
emergency." Otherwise, Seal. ->k pion, Hampton Falls and Kensington local planners.
Stallo a operating license will not New Hampshire comm,unittes,
. The state s Interest in emergency be nted in New Hampshire, and Sallsliury while criticizing the two studies,
' planning around Seabrook Station and Amesbury in Massachusetts.
"I e Fed' ral Emergency Manage.
has caused area Civil Defense offi-The NRC explained on Oct. 21 that ', have started preparing basic emer-e gency plans. The Civu Defense vol.
cials to realize how poorly prepared ment Agency (FEMA) says Sea.
it will be reviewing towns' concerns ' unteers l's these communities, con.y they are for emergencies of any
)
after a final evacuation plan has cerned about the it!-equipped and
,, kind.
been submitted by the State Civil, under-funded conditions of their pro-
_ _, _ g Defense Agenc1 s.
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l Plariners see problems at beaches,
~
~ rest homesFschools I
By CilUCK GOODRICII and TERRY WILLIAMS
~1la~HF Fallq'and' Seabrook' both Democrat Staff Writers have e seentary schools within one
/fJ Ij and a half miles of the plant site, e
Secondin a series Hampton has 'five schools within.
M' g 1
three alles of Seabrook Station,
[.
On a almmering summer day, tens tial bottlenecks. Even without evac, while Salisbur i and Amesbury,
/
.of thousands of suu worshippers pour untion conditions, hot summer days Mass., and Kens ton together have into Hampton Beach, less than two bring street-clogging traffic into the nine schools-wi n five and half miles from the nuclear reactor at area. Interstate Route 95
- cuts miles of the site.' Somehow, buses Seabrook Station.'
through the area but is accessible to puust be found to take these thou-How to rapidly move a mob with only a tiny fraction of the area's pop-isands of students out of the Emer-
_ Greent md Civil Defense Director Ilttle but good times on its mind in ulation.
gency Planning Zone (EPZ) if an Kenneth Fernald wonders about the event of an accident at New
- There's no doubt in my mind that
'pmergency evacuation is required.
security if his town ever needs to be-IIampshire's only nuclear power the beaches can be evacuated 7 Wr~e"atill in' the brainstorming cleared.
plant poses one of the most serious safely," Public Service Company of
. phases," said Richard Annis, who is "I have a plant here that can't be
~~
New Hampshire spokesman Gordon ecordinating evacuation plans for evacuated." he says. "It can't be logistics headaches for emergency McKenney has said.
Hampton public; schools. "Right shut down."
planning officials.
IIampton Civil Defense Director now, we do not have enough v,,ehicles at the GTE-Sylvania plant on Route According to Fernald, the furnace tainly going to be a doozy,,1,s cer-
.,. We're awfully frustrated'on plan 101 takes a week to shut down, and The (beach) evacuation state 8
Planner. Jay Tanzer is less optimistic.
In preparing an evacuati Nuclear Civil rotection "We don't have a communications for the Seacoast,' emergency plan-requires a task force of workers to David,Ilayden sa.
system, an adequate warning alert pers face mass movement tangles l stay on and observe the shutdown.
Il s a little hard for people to un-system or an adequate system of posed by the variety of institutions Portsmouth, the largest New derstand if you have 100,000 or roads to evacuate this area now," he and centers of human activity l llampshire community touched by 125,000 (people on the beach), how things, a plan is not worth the paper dents la the'509 nursing ho:Ee resi-the EPZ,is fighting to be included in town !!ke this can control anything,,a said. "If we don't obtain these There are 1 two-state evacuation emergency planning, although only a said llarrison Biggi, Board of Select-it's written on."
area, including 290 at Brentwood's tenth of the city of 26,000 falls inside men chairman in Hampton Falls.
Beach crowds are not the only county farm and 'l5 at the Seacoast the radius. According to state Civil Many officials fear panic will re-problem facing core community Health Center
- a nursing home in Defense agents, Portsmouth will be sult if an evacuation is ordered. The planners. Schools, nursing homes llampton included in the EPZ if the city in-plant will be visible from many ve ' and major employers present fur-
"I have 80 residents that have to sists.
hicles stuck in traffic near the ther logistical complications.
go out of here in' ambulances " said i
Conversely, Itaverhill, Mass., has beaches. In llampton, many people Stratham Selectman John llutton Wilitam Sturtevant, administrator of not expressed the level of concern a
will have to drive toward the source wonders what the parental reaction the Rockingham County Nursing seen in Portsmouth, despite the fact of the accident before they can get would be if an accident occurred out.
during school hours.
Home. "Pm sure there are not.,that that a portion of that city of 46,000 is many (ambulances) in the area.
within the EPZ.
"I'm sure if you put fear and panic "You've got quite a job to educate Major employers present yet an-Three nursing homes, a 145 bed in people from an accident, they are the mothers not to take their kids
'other challenge to the planners.
l hospital and schools are among the going to clog traffic and you're going I with them'" he said Just a mile from Seabrook Station, sites which Portsmouth Civil De-g,,,,g, d Board of Selectmen 1,000 workers are split into three sense Director IIerald Good Jr. feels to need a bulldozer to get them the hell out of there " said Hampton~
' shifts at the Bailey D.*i= ion of the must be reckoned with in evacuation Police Chief Thomas Kraq. Chairman Richard Rugg agrees with Ilutton. "If this thing happens at 10 USM Corp. Hundreds recre em, planning.
Deputy jewski.
e la the morning, you're going to have ployed by companies within five Good said. We,re planning as if The road network which weavesI mothers going to Portsmouth Illgh miles of Seabrook Station w.Il have we re right in the mid tle of the 10 through the " core" towns, those
- to evacuate their work places. At miles... If one tenth of the city is.
within five miles of the plant, is;, School." he said, noting the traffic d
'""C",9, the whole city is con. I I
this point, officials at these com-made up almost entirely of medium-problem that would result. "I don't
- '"*d-i panies have not been brought'into mink there s anything you can do UnHke his New Hampshir speed, single-lane roads full of poten-about it."
the evacuation planning process.
te
~ Evacuatidn planrietsAay;th(process
~
ud = s is mired an.,, confusion
-e e
e e
Democrat Staff Writers Seabrook CNH~ Defense Directori
. j d [u f d
i Frank Palasso, who has regularly
/ d
~ ' ~,
Third la a series The confusion, Tanzer said, will be
- attended the sessions, said, "These SEABROOK - Emergency plan.
swept aside only if some agency
' meetings are elmed at perhaps the g pg7) takes an active leadership role. Oth-
. age of a 7 year old. I think I'm half-f/h, j
ning around the Se,abrook nuclear.
erwise, he warned, "somebody will way latelligent. I don't want to be -
. power plant project is la a state of
~
- whh the thing."
treated that way. I get so disgusted utter confusion.
put tha,t plant together before we're :
Despite Public Service Company -
ready.
Commenting on the expressions of e
of New Hampshire's plans to put the State Civil Defense field represen-l dissatisfaction.:at the local level, plant on line in 1983. emergency Irectors do n (o ca fil fals ye r tol Sea tation rea il. Tsh.te Civil INiense Director Eileen Notification" and ' communications
~
clals that the primary responsibility Foley said, "I kno)v that the people equipment la New llampshire com -
mmunities is virtually nonexistent'ps ray the Seabrook Station area is a for emergency planning f alls to
.in those areas are frustrated, and Local officials say tens, perha long way from having adequate them. He said the state will compile
, we're frustrated because we're doing hundreds, of thousands of dollars amcrgency plans.
plans for communities that do not + V what we feelis right."
"At the speed w,re goin e'ro cooperate in the emergency planning '
The planning sessions supervised must be spent to get the necessary i 11 DeferIse Director process.
j by Foley's agepey have not been at-
- equipment la place. They don't have
' plon aIfs Fleid hinted that the state's plans -
tended by Massachusetts officials the money. The feeling is that the Roberta Pevear.
might be less effective than those from within the Seabrook Station : equipment would not be needed if EPZ; those towns already have the nuclear power plant were not Emergency plann ng a en i
dN locaug in New IIampshire, the state Civil
- basle plans in place and are waiting being built in their midst.
Defense Agency is responsible for l' ; for New Hampshire to catch up.
going on since August in the ew i'
Pubtle Service, however feels 11 m hi e communit ilhha organizing the emergency planningi The offer bf a free dinner lured towns should pay for some of the (EPZ) around Seabrook Station, but effort. State Civil Defense and Fed,
more than 100 local officials to a, equipment because of the possibility eral Emergency Management:
planning meeting in Auged, but
'of a natural disaster in the area little headway has been a e.
Meanwhile, better-organ zed o Agency officials have conducted hall-, more recent, less glamorous plan-Company spokesman Not m Culle-from the seven Massac use{ts a dozen meetings with local Civil De-ning sessions have drawn only a few rot said the utility plans to pay for fense volunteers. Sf ace the proces4' dozen local representatives.
equipment costs directly related to '
C8* ** " #8 "" "
auen for New Ilampsh re to,8 l a
e-b"They beat around the bush on :the nuclear power plant, but he said
- e began in August, plans have been prepared for disasters such as hurri-j everything," Exeter Civil Defense it a :mciear who'll pay other ex-bur
( ass ) $
Civil Defense D ctor aynard tornadoes 'and foreign a t..
Director les Blackwell complained.
Penses, such as those related to
. Pearson puts it.
"They don't answer questions."
training, resources and plan devel-
- canes, One of the many snarls entangl g'
One of the questions Blackwell and Opment.
they are puzzled over what they(
his calleagues want answered is:
Dr. Stephen Salomon, FEMA prof ect officer for assessment of evac-e ut wi o is responsible should be planning for. They are
' ter disp e
for directing the planning process.
waiting for some discussion at the Who will fund emergency equipment' untion times around nuclear power Local Civil Defense directors, most planning meetings about the health costs for the EPZ communities. : plants, said the funding controversy
.is being played out around nuclear of them volunteers, are calling for effects of radiation from nuclear ac-around Seabrook Station?
"We're not going to get serious in
..Pla n t,s throughout the countr.
someone to seize leadership.
eldents. Accidents at nuclear power Ya re talking about millions of The most outspoken critics of the Plants have not yet been considered, this town about anytidng that per-
- dollars and no one wants to foot the current planning process are offt-to the dismay of some officials who tains to tids (nuclear emergency) bill, he said. According to Salomon, clats. in the communities closest to '-
espected the meetings to focus on plan unill they (Public Service) get communications and notification Seabrook Station, such as llampton nuclear emergencies. "Most of us.* serious about coming through with, equipment will have to be la place in Civil Defense 91 rector Ja{ Tanzer.
now are concerned with the very ' money " said Kensington Civil De-EPZ communities before Seabrook "We've done all we can, Tanzer near thing," Ilampton Civil Defense fense Director Joan Bigler. Iler com-said.
munity, along with a half-dozen Station owners are granted their op-
, said;"We need a coordinator in tho '
Director Tanzer}ficlats have already {' others in the Seabrook Station EPZ*
. erating license by the NltC.
New Ilampshire Civil Defense Some local o Evacuation planning has put stopped going to meetings because of has voted against spending any Agency... We need som,chody to en rmous time demands on Civil De-money on emergency plans related fanse volunteers in the communilles.
coordinate thet whole plan.
their frustration.
to the nuclese power plant.
l 4,.i 7
i f
' " i a.*> iia t
r lthe planning)' a little' earlier,'?. he '
said. Despite his efforts, little prog : -
ress has been inade in Seabrook. Pa-i....,
lasso has been rebuffed in his at-!
tempts to train civil defense volun-: d-East Kingston Civil Defense Director Leers. Everybody wants to get paid,'
J' planning has worn short the nerves Everett Stone is resigning because to turn aroamd today," he said.'
of the Seacoast officials to whom the he finds the time demands to be ex-Whue Palazzo and Portamouth ' -
work has falles cessive. In Exeter, Blackwell is -
Civli Defense Director }{erald Good; "We got stuck with the nuclear spending 20 to 30 hours3.472222e-4 days <br />0.00833 hours <br />4.960317e-5 weeks <br />1.1415e-5 months <br /> a week on -
Jr. are salaried, the directors in the -
plant and they tell us to get plans."
evacuation plans.
~
other 14 New Hampshire commu-said Brentwood Civil Defense Direc-New Hampshire EPZ Civil De-nities within the Seabrook Station.,
tor Norman Byrne.
fense directors have been virtually EPZ are unpaid volunteers. Many of 4 -
Byrne's reservations about the unaided in developing emergency the directors operate with no budget'.
plant, and about the complicated plans, unable to find other volun-
- for their programs and those that de, planning process taking place, are,
leers willing to.levote time to the
. have budgets claim they need snuch echoed by officials throughout the drawn-out proced.
more money. A case in point is Ham-4.-
planning region. Still, they have re-In Seabrook. <?alazzo has been pton one of the most challenging, signed themselves to the fact that frustrated by the obstacles to emer-Seabrook Station area towns in the plans must be prepared.
gency planning. "I'm trying to do terms of evacuation. The town Civil "I'd just as soon' that station Defense budget this year lg just $300. e, wasn't there," said South Hampton What keeps some plannerg going is Board of Selectmen Chairman Anne
, a conviction that someone must Verge. "But I guess we had better handle the unglamorous taak of pre
- do sometidng."
paring their communitjes for a au-Tomorrow:
clear emergency.
"I know damned well that the Conficting studies plant is going in, and something has -
got to be done," said Hampton Falls Deputy Civil Defense Director Imu Boudreau.
"Whether the plant is built or not, you've got to plan to deal with it "
aald Good.
' The task of, accompi_lshing that
. ~--
i Residents of these towns'must accept the plann~ing buiden for )
i practical reasons: If they don't, no one eise,will. After,all, their a
lives - not those of unconcerned and distant federal'offic'als -
i could conceivably be at risk if the planning is unsound.,,I Local Civil Defense and community leaders are justifiably un-happy and frustrated because of this. situation. Residents within their communities did not beg the problem. They did not ask PSNH to build the plant in their area.
t Moreover, they have miniacule funds to handle what apper.rs to y
be the very expensive project of developing aeffective evacuation plans for their communities.
Manp of the planners understand what bureaucrats refuse to ac-knowledge: For an emergency plan to be effective (and less costly),
i, t must be the comprehensive effort of the entire region, rather than the disjointed efforts of the various towns within the area, as is cer-rently the case. A regional plan, however, requires that someone as-sume leadership and provide guidance.
Right now, everyone is too busy passing the buck to get much done in the realm of emergency planning. Unfamiliar with the dy-nanucs of " evacuation after a nuclear, accident," the towns look to the utility and to the government for help, but their pleas are being ignored.
1 PSNH officials have been particularly uncooperative in this re-j gard. Rather than damling in earnest with the fears that have been voiced, they have tried to paint those who have reservations 'about the emergency plans.as anti-nuke activists in desper' te search of a
"whatever straws ccme up" (in the words of PSNH spokesman Norm Cullerot) as they fight to stop construction of Seabrook Sta-tion.
4 In taking this approach, PSNH has demonstrated what little re-gard it has for the area residents. It has refused to see that, beyond the debate over nuclear power, seacoast residents - both pro-and anti-nuke - have legitimate questions regarding the separate evac- !
uation issue. Attitudes such as Cullerot's, apparently pervasive within PSNH, reflects a disdainful insensitivity to the very real con-cerns of those affected by the Seabrook Station project. It explains a great deal about PSNH's long-term public relations problem.
Si This confused, dangerous situation must not continue. It's not clear which group - the NRC, PSNH, state Civil Defense, or something brand new - should step forward to oversee the devel-opment and implementation of an emergency plan. It is clear, how-4 ever, that the energency planning task is beyond the capabilities of most commumm 9 near Seabrook Station, unless further economic and technical help is provided to them. These 26-communties do not have the money, nor the expertise, for what they are under-1 taking.
It is ludicrous and dangerous to proceed under the current as-sumptions: that these tiny communities are capable of handling the emergency planning burden, and that those plans will ultimately be effective.
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l Salomrn and KanIn said the svec-I untion of Canadian citizens in Mis-tions forf The study is all donel"
- Anybody questioning it should per-Apparently, only Portsmouth and haps commission another study."
slauga. Ont.. after a train accident
^
carly this year Indicates people re*
Hampton will have any studies to It appears, however, that there s nd well to emergency situations.
compare with HMM and Voorhees.
will be no other studies; rather.
IMM and Voorhees studies as-
. "If I say it's going to take 15 state and federal reviewers will de-sume local communities will a s-hours, then someone is going to have. pend on the controve;slal HMM and Voorhees studies, with their conflict-semble effective evacuation plans to come in and prove me wrong ".
Ing data and much disputed assump-'
and resources to cope with nuclear said Portsmouth Civil Defense DI emergencies. Voorhees says local rector Herald Good Jr.
tions.
planners will need to mobillae 220 Good, like Hampton Civil Defense Mrs. Foley New Hampshire's school buses. 80 to 90 transit buses.
. Director Jay Tanner, is preparing. Civil Defense director, has attacked 77 to 120 traffic control officers. 30 to his own evacuation time estimates.
the methodology of the Voorhees re-tow trucks and 80 to 139 ambu
- According to Tanzer. a summer-port. Because of "the contractor's time evacuation could take Inuch disregard of the local situation, the ances if faced with an evacuation.
Some planners, like Middlemiss.
longer than suggested by HMM and credibility and the usefulness of this wonder where the resources are Voorhees. "I feel it could take es study has been lost." she said in a go,1,ng to come from.
.long as 50 hours5.787037e-4 days <br />0.0139 hours <br />8.267196e-5 weeks <br />1.9025e-5 months <br /> to evacuate (the letter to Salomon.
They seem to think we can snap town)," he said. "I'm using 14 hours1.62037e-4 days <br />0.00389 hours <br />2.314815e-5 weeks <br />5.327e-6 months <br /> Salomon focuses his criticisms, mir fingers and get transportation -
as a fe'd starting point."
however, on the HMM study.
that s impossiblei he said, In the winter or 1978. Police Chief He charactertres it as " incomplete Hampton School District official Mark recalls. Hampton's beachfront
... Over all I think it's considerably chard Annis fears many mothers was cleared in about four hours be-less comprehensive than the Voorhees report." the FEMA official
, ' cause of a severe storm. He warns that & summertime evacuation said.
driving school buses will rescue their own children before following evac-would take much louger than sugges-Anne Merck-Abeles, president of ustion orders.
' ted by the HMM and Voorhees stud-the anti-nuclear Seacoast Anti-Pollu-Another Hampton official. Deputy
.: les.
tion Imague, questions the objectiv
- Public Service officials expect crit-ity of the Voorhees report. "There Police Chief Thomas Krajewski, is Beisms of both studies will surface are some questions about the Inde-worried about mobillring his staff.
during future licensing hearings be-pendence of FEMA from the NRC."
"How am I going to tell my police fore the NRC. They are confident,, she said. 'Ihe NRC Mrs,. Merck-officers there's a problem over at
~,
the plant and they have to work?"
howevet that their HMaf stedy will Abeles said, has been accused in the be proven substantially accurate.
past of having pro-nuclear leanings.
1 he asked.
. I.
In fact Public Service spokesman The objectivity of the Pubtle Serv-Kensington Board of Selectmen
.'~
Ice report is also being questioned by Norni Cullerot said, the con-Chairrian Charles Eastman warned.
troversial.HMM figures are being some emergency planners. "What "A lot of people will never leave i
esel by Yankee Atomic of West-. logic is there to a study that's predt-their homes."
f'..
boroash. hfass., to determine the cated on no breakdowns, no fights, State Civil Defense planner Hay-no traffic slowdowns, no civil dis-den, who has heard many com-i' 6 ' radiadod doses which might be re-orders?" Hampton Board of Selecta\\
I eelved by Seabrook EPE residents in plaints concerning the Voorhaes and men Chairman Mary Louise Woolsey HMM studies, feels an outside re-
.. ~
the event of a nuclear emergency.
\\
view of the studies is needed.
The Yankee Ahmic report, he said, " said.
will be. included in the company's "If all we're working with is infor-
\\
"We need someone who can look at all the data and see if it's way off
.c
' Final Safety Analysis Report when it motion supplied by the utility, then for its operating license.
the leformation has to be suspect "
E' base " he said.
Station
- f. a bile Service officials are-also *c said New Hampshire Civil Defense e
FEMA aske' Seabrook
,confidedt that the NRC using theme-nuclear emergency planner David EPZ. officials to? comment on the Voorhees report, but Salomon said studies, will conclude that the Sea-Hayden. "not because they're liars -
only a handful of' replies were re-brook area can be safely evacuated.. but because they've got a. lot. of ceived. Officials who didn't respond Company spakesman Gordon !!t. money in it."
r I
"H lt (the HMM study) is pald for believed their input would be Ig-McKeneer has a message for critics
. by a utility, it probably lacks credt-nored. Seabrook Civil.T>efense Direc-et evaemation Idanning around the tor Frank Palasto, one of the most plant: "If,they have a better study. P bility." Public Servlee spokesman outspoken critics of the Voorhees
^ let them submit it to the NRC..
Culleret said.
~~
study, said, "What tivt hell are i
-~
going to answer those n.mpd ques-
. g,,
,g
.,m
+,.
v v
Stlomon and Kenta stid the svac-
~
uation of Canadian citizens in Mis-tions for? The study ls all ddar * *
- Anybody questioning lt should per-slauga, Ont., after a train accident Apparently, only Portsmota and haps commissloa another study."
early this year Indicates people re-Ilampton will have any stut.*s to It appears, however, that there spond well to emergency situations.
compare with HMM and Voornem.
will be no other studies; rather, HMM and Voorhees studies a*
"If I say it's golag to take 15 state and federal reviewers will de-sume local communities wiu. s-hours, then somecco is going to have pend on the controversial HMM and brhees studies, with their conflict-se m ble effective. evacuation plans to come la and prove me wr and resources to cope with nu: lear said Portsmouth Civil Defense i-Ing data and much disputed assump-emergencies. Voorhees says local rector Herald Good Jr.
tions.
planners will need to mobilize 220 Good, like llampton Civil Defense Mrs. Foley, New Hampshire's school buses.,80 to 90 transit huses.
Director Jay Tanner, la preparing Civil Defense director, has attacked 77 to 120 trafhe control officers,30 to his own evacuation time estimates.-
the methodology of the Voorhees re-50 tow trucks and a0 to 139 ambu-According to Taoser, a summer-port. Because of "the contractor's lances if faced with an evacuation.
time evacuation could take much disregard of the local situatico, the Some planners, like Middlemiss.
longer than suggested by HMM,and credibility and the usefulness of this wonder where the resources are Voorhees. "I feel it could take' as study has been lost," she said in a go,ing to come from.
long as 56 hours6.481481e-4 days <br />0.0156 hours <br />9.259259e-5 weeks <br />2.1308e-5 months <br /> to evacuate (the letter to Salomon.
They seem to think we can snap town)," he said. "I'm usips 14 hours1.62037e-4 days <br />0.00389 hours <br />2.314815e-5 weeks <br />5.327e-6 months <br /> Salomon focuses his criticisms, our, fingers and get transportation -
as a fair startlag point."
- however, on the HMM study.
that s impossible!" he said.
In the winter of 197g, Pouce Cidet He characterises it as "lacomplete Hampton School District official Mark recalls, Hampton's beachfront
... Over all I t Nk it's considerably Richard Annis fears many mothers was cleared in about four hours be-less compretreavve than the cause of a severe storm. He warns Voorhees report,' ae ?EMA oNicial driving school buses will rescue their that a summertime evacuation said.
own children before following evac-would take much longer than sugges.
Anne Merck-Abeles, president of uation orders.
ted by the HMM and Voorhees stud-the anti-nuclear Seacoast Anti-Pollu-Another Hampton official Deputy les.
tion I4 ague, questions the objectiv
- Police Chief Thomas Krajewski, is Public Service officials expect crit-ity of the Voorhees report. "There worried about mobilising his staff.
leisms of both studies will surface are some questions about the inde-
"How am I going to tell my police during future licenslag hearlags be-pendence of FEMA from the NRC,"
officers there's a problem over at fore the NRC. They are confident, she said. The NRC, Mrs,. Merck-the plant and they have to work?"
however, that their HMM study will Abeles said, has been accused in the he asked.
be proven substantiaHy accurate.
past of having nro+uclear leanings.
Kensington Board of Selectmen in fact, Public Service ' spokesman The objectivity of the Public Serv-Chairman Charles Eastman warned.
Norm Cullerot said, the con-Ice report is also being questioned by i
troversial HMM figures are being some emergency plancers. "What "A lot of people will never leave their homes."
used by Yankee Atomic of West-logic is there to a study that's predi-State Civil Defense planner Hay-borough, Mass., to determine the cated on no breakdowns, no fights, den, who has heard many com-
. radiation doses which might be re-no traffic slowdowns, no civil dis-orders?" Hampton Board of Select \\
plaints concerning the Voorhees and 'J ceived by Seabrook EPE residents in men Chairpsan Mary 14uise Woolsey \\
IIMM studies, feels an outside re-the event of a nuclear emergency.
view of the studies is needed.
The Yankee Atomic report, he said, said.
\\
"We need someone who can look will be included la the company's "H all we're working with is infor-i i
at all the data and see if it's way off Final Safety Analysis Report when it mation supplied by the utility, then applies for its operatlag license.
the information has to be suspect," r base." he said.
FEMA asked Seabrook Station Public Service officials are-also said New Hampshire Civil Defense e
EPZ1 officials to? comment on the confident that the NILC, nalog theis nuclear emergency planner David "hrhees report, but Salomon said studies, will conclude that the Sea-Ilayden "not because by're liars, only a handful of' replies were re-brook area can be safely evacuated.
but because they've got a. lot. of
- ceived. Officials who didn't respond Company spokesman Gordon money in it."
i believed their input would be ig-McKenney has a message for critics "H lt (the HMM study) to paid for nored. Seabrook Civil Defense Direc-of evacuelloa idanalog around the by a utility, it probably lacks credt-lor Frank Palazzo, one of the most plant: "If they have a better study, bility " Public Service spokesman outspoken critics of the Voorhees let them submit it to the NRC,..
Cullerot said.
study, said, "What the hell am I going to answer those damned ques-
,,. g
.p T
l
Residents of these. towns'must accept the planning bpiden for 1 practical reasons: If they don't, no one else.will. After,all, their j
live - not those of unconcerned and distant 4edera!' officials' -
i could conceivably be at risk if the planning is unsound. j '
Local Civil Defen:;e and community leaders are justifiably un-happy and frustrated because of this situation. Residents'within their communities did not beg the problem. They did not ask PSNH to build the plant in their area.
I 7,loreover, they have miniscule funds to handle what appears to 4
be the very expensive project of developing aeffective evacuation plans for their communities.
Many of the planners understand what bureaucrats refuse to ac-knowledge: For an emergency plan to be effective (and less costly),
,it must be the comprehensive effort of the entire region, rather than the disjointed efforts of the various towns within the area, as is cur-rently the case. A regional plan, however, requires that someone as-sume leadership and provide guidance.
Right now, everyone is too busy passing the buck to get much done in the realm of emergency planning. Unfamiliar with the dy-namics of " evacuation after a nuclear, accident," the towns look to the utility and to the government for help, but their pleas are being ignored.
PSNH officials have. been particularly uncooperative in this re-gard. Rather than dealing in earnest with the fears that have been voiced, they have tried to paint those who have reservations about the emergency plans as anti-nuke activists in desper' te search of a
"whatever straws come up" (in the words of PSNH'spokeman
~
Norm Cu11erot) as they fight.to stop construction of Seabrook.Sta.,
{
~
tion.
c'
.c ' '
I
'In taking tbh..pproach, PSNH'has demonstrated w' at littid rek *
.i.
h gard it has~ for the area residents. It has refused to see that, beyond,
the debate over nuclear power, seacoast residents,-- both,prc.and.
c" anti-nuke - have'legitiniate questions'regarding'tNe separat'e'eiraic'N uation ' issue. Attitudes such as Cullerot's, apparently pervasive within PSNH, reflects a disdainful insensitivity to the very real con-cerns of those affected by the Seabrook Station project. It explains a great deal about PSNH's long-term public relations problem.
This confused, dangerous situation must not conti.re. It's not t
clear which group - the NRC, PSNH, state Civil Defense, or something brand new - should step forward to oversee the devel-opment and implementation of an emergency plan. It is clear, how-ever, that the emergency planning task is beyond the capabilities of I
most communitites near Seabrook Station, unless further economic l
and technical help is provided to them. These 26 communties do j
not have the money, nor the expertise, for what they are under-j taking.
It is ludicrous and dangerous to proceed under the current as-sumptions: that these tiny communities are capable of handling the l
emergency planning bt.rden, and that those plans will ultimately be effective.
6 4
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q e' e' etw
- Q' g W
's e
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T_ _
Letters to the; editor SAPL wants to raise NRC took at them now? Is the Public Service Com. to send them evacuation time estimates and that only pany of New Hampshire going le be allowed to con. after reviewing those estimates could the NRC figure CVacuat,on plan issue unue to pass the buck as to who is really responsible out which plants had serious problems.
i for planning, at least for greatly assisting in p:anning.
Not being at all satisfied with that answer. SAPL Ts the edI!or:
for a nuclear accident?
worked all Summer gathering data information and Tf.e list of questions Is long ' nd complex. The an. our request to stop construction was reactivated by a
Thi recently pulAshed four-part series on the
. rouble ridden evact Mon issue was excellent. Mr. swess to many of them are relatively simple, the NRC on October 22,1980.
Coodrich and Mr. Eni.ms should be commended for In May 1979 the Seacoast Anti Pollution league SAPL is trying, right now, to convince the NRC that thilr accuracy, clarity ana what I know was a great (SAPL) recognized that the public's welfare was at we have a substantial enough case to warrant a hear--
stake and that something had to be done about the ing. Your series may help us prove that. If we are deal of hard work, After reading the unprecedented series, people will many grave problems associated with evacuallon at granted a hearing then SAPL will fight, la the court-Seabrook. SAPL as it has done since 1973, took Its room, for answers and for understanding to resolve have a very gaod idea about not only the situation but concerns through the legal process and asked the the questions and fears raised by the people who are soma of the reasons that produced the situation.
Thrre Is though. much still up in the air. Many NRC to stop construction until all the evacuation trying to plan, the children, grandparents, mothers qu:stions are left unanswered ans'. enderstandably so. problems had been resolved. (If one does not demand and fathers who might someday be forced to evacuate The underlying questions In many peoples' minds will a halt to construction, then one can easily be ig. and all the people who are deeply concerned about the welfare of their fellow citizens.
prohibly be: how does this dangerous situation get re-nored).
solved? When will the planners in the EPZ towns get Nine months later, we were almost ignored; the Anne Merche-Abeles
~
President answers to their crucial questions and who will give NRC denied our request. We were told, in essence.
th:m the answers? If there is so much controversy that the NRC was already working on the lasue of Seacoast Anti-Pollution Leagur over the PSNll and FEM A plans then why doesn't the evacuation planning, that the NRC had asked utilities
, Portsmouth k
=
giafter6 Daily DemaHat Page 6 Saturday, November 22,1980 The SAPL's noble eHort We aren't always in agreement with the stalling tactics used by anti-nuclear groups, but we have to admit that the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League is doing people living near the Seabrook nuclear power. plant site a favor by putting together an evacuation-time study of its own.
There is a danger that the SAPL study will be hopelessly biased, that its conclusions will be arrived at from the fundamental premise
, J'that a safe. evacuation of the area.in the event of a nuclear accident
. is impossible. Nothing 9ould give SAPL more pleasure than to see Pcompletion of the 53.2 billion Seabrook Station project blocked, or
~
- delayed even further.thaiiit has been already.
~
., Presumabl', however, the' state ~ and. federal authorities charged y
~
- V withf reviewing evacitation.'snidies-of tlie'Seabrook' Station area,are 2
'lwell aware:of SAPL's opposition to nuclear power, and will take that into consideration when they review SAPL's study.
If not for the SAPL study, state and federal authorities would be
.looking only at the studies prepared for Public Service Company of New Hampshire and for the Federal Emergency Management A;ency, which reports to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
- - Those studies, es our recent fcur-part series "Getting Out" showed, rest on contradictory data and controversial assumptions.
Civil Defense officials near Seabrook Station, wh' ether pro-or anti-nuke, have voiced far-reaching, dissatisfaction with the two studies. PSNH, as its officials openly admit, is open to the criticism e
that it has an interest in finding that the area can be safely evac-
~
uated.
Meanwhile, officials who prepared the FEMA report say that their $30,000 study may be invalid because its summertime beach
' population estimates are half of thsoe made by the PSNH study.
With all of these doubts about the two studies being used by state and fedcral reviewers *- determme the safety of the Seabrook Sta-tion area, another si
. a welcome. Perhaps SAPL, if it examines the data scientifically and takes a careful look at the unanswered
~
questions about human behavior, can help officials pinpoint some of the weaknesses of evacuation planning in the Seabrook Station
{'
vicinity. Perhaps, as it hopes, it will be able to establish that the area cannot be safely evacuated without some major steps being taken - like a road being built across the Hampton marshes. In l-any case, the organization deserves credit for doing more than com-plaining about the issue, and for going out to gather data of its own to compare with that collected by PSNH and FEMA.
6
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