ML20073H004

Testimony of Rh Bower Re 830309 Emergency Exercise

ML20073H004
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	04/12/1983
From:	Bower R WEST BRANCH CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION
To:
Shared Package
ML20073G972	List: ML20073G968 ML20073H004 ML20073H025
References
ISSUANCES-SP, NUDOCS 8304180460
Download: ML20073H004 (4)

Text

.

UNITED STATES OF AME'RICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g_, .

ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD Before Administrative Judges: 03 James P. Gleason, Chairman /l?R J 4 N O 'k 6 Frederick J. Shon In the Matter of: Dr. Osca r H. Paris '

) ' ; . ,.

CONSOLIDATED EDISON COMPANY OF )

NEW YORK, INC. ) Docket Nos. 50-247 SP (Indian Point, Unit No. 2) ) 50-286 SP E '

POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ) ~

~

NEW YORK )

(Indian Point, Unit No. 3) )

)

TESTIMONY OF RICHARD H. BOWER March 9 Exercise West Branch Conservation Assn.

443 Buena Vista Road New City, N.Y. 10956 914/634-2327 8304180460 830412 l PDR ADOCK 05000247 PDR

_ _ _ ___ " * * * - - - - - - - -_,.-._,____.m._. , . _

TESTIMONY OF RICHARD H. BOWER My name is Richard H. Bower, I live at 38 Maplewood Boulevard, Suffern, N.Y. 10901 I testified previously on March 22, 1983. My resums is therefore already in the record.

I observed the March 9 Exercise by visiting the Rockland County EOC from 8:10 AM to the end of the exer-cise.

We were many of us ready to enter the E00 before 8:10 AM but were unable to do so because the State Police had not set up their admission checking table. When they did so we had not received our identification badges even though our pictures had been taken. To this day I have not received an identification badge. If we had reason to do so it would either be necessary to have someone wasted by stationing that person at the door.,who could personally identify those of us who would be on duty inside upon call.

I am Ambulance Coordinator for Rockland County.

The Ambulance Service desk was covered on March 9 by personnel from New York State, Albany, George Johnson and Charles , Director of EMS from the NYState Health Department, I believe.

In reporting to the Disaster Coordinator over the PA, the Ambulance Coordinator announced that within an hour he could provide 100 ambulances to assist. The Rockland County Sheriff who was on the floor immediately challenged the figure and a*sked where the ambulances would be coming from. If from neighboring counties he questioned wouldn't they be needed in their own counties? The reply

-1 -

from the State manned desk was "Not if they don't declare an emergency". If an emergency wasn't declared we wouldn't need them either!.

The point is that the plan to move in other rigs isn't all that simple. Depending on the conditions, aid could be sent from the north if the release of radiation had not yet started but an evacuation preliminary to it was in operation.

Rigs should not totally desert their own area and wouldn't.

We might get some assistance but it's hard to see how it would be 100. We certainly would hope our immediate neighbors would not leave themselves unprotected from a wind shift, or from accidents caused in the wake of the self avacuating.

We in Rockland are in no position to call on help from New Jersey until the New York Governor has, declared an emergency and requested the aid of the G.ciernor of New Jer-sey. Even so - we do not know that the Jersey rivers have received training, have any dosimeters, protective clothing or breathing apparatus. We haven't enough dosimeters our-selves nor protective equipment.

We haven't radio contact with services in New Jer-sey. Help'for us would have to go through the New York State Health Department contacting the New Jersey Health Department. We do have a local agreement with Mahwah to cover for each other right now, not for just a radiological emergency.

Rigs from further away would need time to gas up and get here. However better planning should be arranged.

- ,..,-,r..----s--,, r,- --- n,--, , - - - - - , , - - -

If a rig leaves to help it should call on the next furthest away corps to stand by to fill the gap. Help should move up rather than coming from afar, as the fire corps practise it. This is arranged through our Mutual Aid plans. Very few people in that EOC on March 9 could believe that 100 ambulances were being sent to Rockland within an hour's time.

Lt. Governor Alfred Del Bello visited our EOC on the day of the exercise. At the time we were looking at some dosimeters, small, pen shaped, and he admitted he had no idea how to use one or what it read.

A note on the rearrangement of the EOC tables.

The new system, turning the furniture 180 degrees is better on the Coordinator but due to the several doors at one end of the room it would appear that there is now no place to set up the large map for all to see. During the exercise the map was not visible to many since it hung on a side wall.

Exercises such as that on March 9 provide no real .

practise. In our ambulance training we would never leave j so much undone. I believe from my experience with training that some sections should be called upon to actually get out and mobilize the way we did for Civil Defense during i

World War II. Take a sector and say a plume is going to pass over it and practise the wh. ole scenario of a real l

mobilization of the various services.

I .

l __- _. ._