ML20054J089
| ML20054J089 | |
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|---|---|
| Site: | Indian Point  |
| Issue date: | 06/16/1982 |
| From: | Melbin M PARENTS CONCERNED ABOUT INDIAN POINT, PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP, NEW YORK, ROCKLAND CITIZENS FOR SAFE ENERGY, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS, WEST BRANCH CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION |
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| NUDOCS 8206280104 | |
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Text
3 T
TESTIMONY OF IiURRAY E LBIN, PH.D.
dO!'MEIC 0:: CM ?.GE:CY ?*.I.!! FO? I:iDIid: PO!!1T r%'EE pit.NT
- 1. Ctedentials am Marray ::elbin, Prof es;or of Sociology at Boston U :.ive rsi ty.
For the part ten years I have been studying a;gects of human life around the clock, including its social, pLychological, biolosiral, and econoalc dimensions.
My work a ght be called a ' temporal ecolcjy of suciety. '
It deals with thy tnas of emergencies as well as with normal behavicr and the functionin3 of o:Jcnisations.
!!. Capability and performance of individuals at night.
1;ucans have distinct 24-hour cycles for many of their phyclologieul functions, including heart rate, breathing, body temperature, production of various horoones and decision speed in the brain.
These codily conditions are related to performance, and a aoct eve;yone is nora slugjish at nijht and has less mental aculty.
On the jet, anere such aspects could be ceasured, there are core errors of judgment than are made in the daytime.
Iapaired performance snows itself in decreased visual sharpness
( _), slower responses to telephone calls (2), more accidents involving the operction of machinery (3), slower work on grecisc tacts and aorc of it defective. (4) In general the cificiency and grade of workuanship at night is inf erior to that of daytime. (5)
One conclusion from this is that any set of plans will be carried out less effectively at night, and additional precuutions have to be taken to compensate for the risks of errors in judgment and behavior.
The risks are compounded if the personnel are subjected to erratic shift work schedules, for these interf ere with short-tern memory as well as performance. (6)
Eurtheraore, therc is fairly widespread evidence that at nijht "nonitoring personnel," that is, those whose wcrk entails survelliance in situations in which ac;t of the time 'nothing' happens, sleeg on their jobs. (7) Even if only some cf the utility em loyees do so, it still raises the likelitcod of e
Julay in detecting a calfunction then.
- 1any organiza tions are continually active but their primary adninistrators--directors, heads of departments, =ayors--are 8206280104 B20616 DR ADDCK 05000247 P83
2 osleep at 4.ight und a dccentral;ra tion of power ic in ef f ect.
Iv succ extent iniu is the resul t of authority explicitly delegated to lower ecnalon personnel. Lut it also happens that ivuei echelun percunnel are reluctant to waken their superiors, and.ecuer officials ma:<.e deciuicnc that in the daytime would Le deferred to h,gner-ranking staff.
There is a strong di;pvaition on the part of those owshe to inagine that satters c n wait until the following morn.ng.
Both have happened when notivnal accurity was at stahe. (U )
The inplications for coping with an energency in a nuclear power plunt is that at night there will be an increace in the normal tendency to delay.
There any ce poctponement 1-of icterative actionu and :-of notifying responsible authorities who are sleeping; and, given the lower level of alertness and aculty at that t;cc, tne repur t is more likely to be inaccurate.
Ill. Vulnerability of suddenly wakeneu people.
Ulcep has a typical sequence of four stages, anc this cycle i; rupcatem several ti:cs durin<g the night.
Stagcc 3 and 4 are ones in which the ercan does not dreaa, is least responsive to c
the environment, and very difficult to roure.
When wakened from ctage 3 or 4 eleep, a person is nuddled and discrganized and nay not reaeaber wna t is said even though attemp ting to be cuherent. (9)
The in lication of this is tn t people wakened at night e
w;11 be lees effective.
When told what to do in an emergency they may aisunderstand or misinterpret instructions and do the a:ung thin 3 Top officials roused then will not be able to function wAth clarity right awai.
IV. Dispercal of people and activities around tne clcck.
I hav'e seen cutimatts of.evacuatica times for daytiae and nighttiac conditions prepared by 2 arsons, 3rincherhoff, Quade &
Douglar, Inc., which indicate that evacuation ic assumed to be uicker and easier at night.
Such a conclusion may ignore s;everal in ortant factors, au f ollows :
r Evening and najht shif t work is ccamon and large nusocrs of copie are so employed.
Ten million people are on the job at e
ten v' clock in the evening, ueven aillion are working at aidn.3ht, and during tne night the figure does not.go much lower than four aillion. (10) Mc c: of these individuals come from separate hau;eholds.
In families having core than one adult in the worL fcrca it is cc:aon for the memberc to work on different shifts.
The inplicationc of this are that one cannot assume that e
___]
3 11 uerbers of a fucily are toge ther af ter Jark and th rougho ut the night.
In gremt natberL or households one member is away a:, tae job durrng that period.
'In case of an emergency, night wurhurs.would probably want to teicphone huse (which would burden the pt.one irnes tore than unticipated), and then would utteupt to travel home to reunite with their f amilics before endeitakiny evecuation.
Thoue faallie; may delay dcpartures while wait.ng for the aorhers to return.
!ndeed, shift workers are uore likely to use their osn cars rather than public tranaportation in order to gut to work, which means that the feally car will t.o; tc at hoac a t r.ight in those far..ilies; they woulc not. ave ready transportation then.
~
The n1 ht is u;uclly a time cf rejuvenation for the 3
community itself. ::aintenance ac tivity is carriea out.
Cleaning and repairinj takes place, and "down time" for many miehines are ;cheduled then for such parposes.
Vehicles and tranait system tracks andergo repair curing the night, bridges era clo;ea to traffic while roadbed and cable maintcnance are erfurced, and turnpike entrance and exit ramps are closed for c
reconstruction and new construction.
!! cst of these activities have irregular schedules.
The imylications crc that traffic system capacity during the day ma/ be sharpli curtailed at night and create buttienecks or unfcmiliar detours.
It may not be possible to activate tiiem quickly.
To get br:dges cpen, to get vehicles out vf repair, to set tracks cleared, uay require hours of work befoce the systea is as usable as during the day.
u Notes 1,
- Djerner, B.,
iula, r$., and Jwensson, A.
" Diurnal variation in uental gerforc.anec" Egitigh sgjInol cf Industrial Mediging v.12, 1955:103-110.
- 2) D;own, cited in Luce, Cay Gaer DIDLOGICAL EHYTHMS 10
- ,7 C L I I. R ? id; D !!C D _ C I:l E Washing ton,D.C. :lla tional Inctitate of
- en tal !ealth, PH Publicatiun s 20 63, 1970.
T, ven ilentij, lian.:. THE CHI!!INnL LilD H:S VICTIti Erchon Sooks, 13C7, also Fishwick, Frank and Harling, C.J. SHIFTWORKIMG IN TiiC MOTOR !!;DU2TE: London: !!ational Economic Developcent Difice, 1974.
- 4) Fichwich, Frank IM INTRCDUCTIO!! AfD EXTE!!SIDN DE
!!!!ETUCREIMG Londcn: !!a tional Economic Developacnt Of fice, 1900:24 An e::aaple of the diff erence in performance by time of day, in a cituation involving human lives, is that ten tices as many earplane accident; occar at night as in the daytime. (t: OVA program, WJSH-TV, Custon, January 1975.)
- 5) Coith, Robert 5. MILL 0:1 THE Da!!: A history of Dan River M_lls, 1082-1950. Durham, Mortn Carclina: Duke Unive rsity Preuu, 1900:220.
- 6) Tapp, W.M.
and Holloway, P.A. " Phase shifting circadian rhythms praduces retrograde amnesia." Science v.211, 6 March 13S1:1056-1058.
This is baued on an experinent with rats, an animal whoue phyciology closely receables that of humans.
- 2here ore further indirect haraful effects of er ra tic acheduleu, which ucke sleep inadequate.
People awake at night who have not slept well have an additional handiccp to competence.
Czeicle,
C.,
Weit:can, E.,
Moore-Ede, M.,-
Ciamercan, J.,
and Enaaer, E., " Human sleep: Its duration and o:ganinstion depends on its circadian phaso!' in 3giggce 12 Dec 1930:1264-1267.
- 7) Scme police officers on duty make themselves unavailable by c.ceging in their cars, an old custom in New York City where it
- celled "cooginj." Ugw 19th Iiggs "' Cooping'
- an old custom onder tire" 15 Dec 1968
- Sec.4,bL.
Hospital personnel have been found cleeging at their posts.
New Xcrk 21ggs " Auditor raids at 3 state hospitals find 22 night employees asleep" 26 June 1977:1u.
S) The penalty for postponing a actter cf vital interest froa n2Jht to aorning acs dramatized harshly by the cequence of events that ended with the Lomaing attack on PeLrl Harbor on Oeceuber 7, 1941. (a)
Having intercepted and deccded messages from Japan to itu envoys in the ten days preceding Lecember seventh, the leaders of the United 2tates knew tnat troucle was brewing f act and that a rupturc in relations with Japan, and
5 ser, was lauincat. (L) Yet in spite of the fact that the War
- .0 Navy De,artments had been alerted and lightc in those sificer aut ned all nijn t (c), the Secretar/ of the Navy called a Leeting vf the headc of state fur the nexi sgtning, Sunday, ot iv c.c..
Ulabilagg then was perceived to be a phase during which even urgent uusiness coulc Le suspended.
A message alerting the urrison sas sent, tat arrived four hours too u
lote.
Assuminj that all other aistahes and delays had occurred (d), if the vital teeting had not been postponed because of nighttice the acusage would have arrived far enough in advance of the attach to disperse the flect clastered in the harbor.
a) This account is drawn from the followinj documents and the p_Je references in the succeedino three actes refer to them:
- 1. " Attach upcn Pearl Harbor by Japonese armed forces" Washington, D.C.: U.S. Senate Dccument 139 (microfiche serial set 10676) 1942.
.i. " Investigation of Pearl Harbor attack" Washington D.C.:
U.C. Ocnate Docunent 24u (microfiche serial set 1103 3) 1946.
1;i. Morris, hichard 3.
and Irwin, 3raham W.
(cds) HARPER INCYCLOPELIA 0F TH M02ERN WORLL Mew York: Harper 6 Row, 1970.
b) Ibid., 11:564,566-567.
c) Ibid., 11:557.
d) There were other f actorc con tributing to the outcome and to the umount of data;e wrought. (See 11:553, i:11-12, 111:502,
..:569,530.)
3ut there would not have been such cevere cunsequences if the meeting in Washington had been held Saturday night.
The attach on Pearl Harbor cccurred forty years ago but it wac not the only incident of its kind.
On Augurt 19, 1981, while the Tresident of the United States was vacationing in California, a dogfight took place in the Mediterranean off the coast of L.bya and two of that ccuntry's fighter planes were
- Lot down by U.S. naval aircraft.
News of the clash reached
- 11tary headquartcrs in Washington, D.C. cix minutes after the incident.
It sac after 11 p.m.
in California.
Presidential aidou notified other top officials but did not inform the President until nearly six houru later. (e)
It is fair to surn.ce that if it wer2 earlier in the day the. President would hove bcen told lacediately.
e) Ugwgwgeh "To the snores of Tripoli" 31 Aug 1931:14-18; also Eacts En Elle "U.S. Navy F-14s dcwn two Libyan jet fighters" 21 I'"A $ f, a$h 01 e &c.us, E b M
9; 3 roughton, Roger J.
" Sleep disorders: Disorders of arousal?"
Egiggge v.159, 3 Mar 1968:1070-1077.
- 10) U.S. Durcad of Labor Statistics data for 1980, gathered via the Current Fo ulation Survey.
These are conservative r
estinates cecaJse cota categories of workers are omitted.
Theue are figurec f or the en tare nation.
It is realistic to esticate the nuabers for the greater New York metropolitan a:ea as paralleling the proportion of the country's population living in the region.
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