ML20093E625

Discusses Review of Public Info Training Rept Resulting from Deficiency Cited for Pierce County During 840313 Exercise.Pierce County Adequately Demonstrates Ability to Notify Public in Timely Fashion in Event of Emergency

ML20093E625
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	10/09/1984
From:	Krimm R Federal Emergency Management Agency
To:	Jordan E NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE)
References
NUDOCS 8410120191
Download: ML20093E625 (6)

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Federal Emergency Management Agency

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OCT -91984 MEMORANDUM FOR: Edward L. Jordan Director, Division of Emergency Preparedness and Engineering Response Office of Inspection and Enforcement FROM:

ard ri Assistant Associate Director Office of Natural and Technological Hazards Programs

SUBJECT:

Wisconsin Corrective Action for the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Offsite Radiological Emergency

. Preparedness (REP) Exercise Conducted on March 13, 1984 On July 19, 1984, the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Government conducted a Public Information Training Meeting for Pierce County, Wisconsin. This remedial training was held as a result of a deficiency cited for Pierce County during the March 13, 1984 Prairie Island exercise. A copy of the exercise report was sent to you on May 4, a copy of Wisconsin's schedule of corrective actions was sent to you on June 27, and a copy of Minnesota's corrective actions schedule was sent to you on July 25, 1984.

The deficiency for Pierce County was characterized as one affecting public health and saftey by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region V in the exercise report as follows: "The order to evacuate sectors Q & R from 5-10 miles was received and acted upon in the Emergency Operations Center (E0C) but the information was never released to the public via the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS)." Region V stated in the exercise report that the nature of the deficiency required training at the earliest possible time. Accordingly, this was scheduled for July 19, 1984. The attached July 25, 1984 memorandum from FEMA Region V is a report on the Public Information Training Meeting for Pierce County.

Based on the FEMA Region V staff participation in and evaluation of the training, and FEMA Headquarters review of the training report, it is FEMA's opinion that Pierce County can accurately monitor developments, formulate messages and notify the public in a timely fashion in the event of an emergency at the Prairie Island NPP. Further, the County has successfully i

demonstrated the capability to inform the public of protective actions in J

three previous exercises.

FEMA is, therefore, of the opinion that Pierce County can adequately demonstrate this at a subsequent exercise.

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4 If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Robert S."Wilkerson, Chief,

-. Technological Hazards Division, at-287-0200.

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8i Region V 300 South Wacker. 24th Flo

( Federal Emergency Management Agency 60606 (312) 353-1500 0

0 July 25, 1984 MEMORANDUM FOR: Assistant Associate Director Office of Natural & Technological Hazards Atten ion,:

ob urner Walla [eJ.

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Regional As'i$tance Committee s

Region V

SUBJECT:

Wisconsin Corrective Action for the Prairie Island Exercise of March 13, 1984 One of the deficiencies cited for Pierce County, Wisconsin after the Prairie Island Exercise of March 13, 1984 was " demonstrate ability to formulate and distribute appropriate instructions to the public, in a timely fashion." The nature of this deficiency was such that an intense training effort was recommended for the county personnel responsible for public information and alerting.

The State of Visconsin responded to this deficiency by indicating that they would conduct training in Pierce County. This training meeting was held on July 19, 1984 in Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

FEMA Region V sent two observers to this meeting to participate in and evaluate the quality of the training conducted by the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Government.

A copy of the region's meeting report is attached for your review.

It is now the opinion of this office, that Pierce County, Wisconsin will be able to accurately formulate and distribute timely instructions to the public in the event of an incident at the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant. We expect that this objective can be adequately demonstrated at future exercises involving Pierce County, Wisconsin.

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Federal Emergency Management Agency I Region V 300 South Wacker,24th Floor. Chicago, IL 60606 (312) 353-1500 t

July 25, 1984 MEMORANDUM FOR: Record s

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FROM:

Wallace J. Wea r, Chief Technological ards Branch

SUBJECT:

Public Information Training Meeting Pierce County, Wisconsin The subject meeting was held in Ellsworth, Wisconsin from 2:00 to 4:00 on Thursday, July 19, 1984. Attendees were as follows:

Wallace Weaver FEMA-5 (Chicago)

Ray Kellogg FEMA-5 (Battle Creek)

Gary Nielsen WDEG (Madison)

Larry Reed WDEG (Madison)

Al Sperger WDEG (West Central Area - Eau Claire)

Ron Miller Pierce County Civil Defense Director Murven Christenson Pierce County Board Chairman Everett Mulhausen Pierce County RDO Stan Christiansen Pierce County Sheriff David Weitz WDNR (West Central Area - Eau Claire)

Jay Griggs Pierce County Herald (County PIO)

Rose Hove Pierce County CD (County P10)

Linda Goulette Pierce County CD Bill Frederick Northern States Power A copy of the attendance sheet is attached.

The following is one of the deficiencies cited in our Exercise Report for the March 13, 1984 Prairic Island Nuclear Power Plant exercise:

E.5 Demonstrate ability to formulate and distribute appropriate instructions to the public, in a timely fashion.

Recommendation E.5 Attention to detail is required to insure that contradicting information is not given to the public and that all notifications concerning alerting, sheltering and evacuation are given to the public in a timely fashion. It is recognized these functions have been demonstrated without complications

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during the three previous exercises. Still, it is the considered opinion of. FEMA Region V that additional training l

.for selected EOC staff is needed to improve current proficienay l

in monitoring and recording pertinent developments and in 4

processes to inform the public. The nature of this deficiency I

mandates that this training be accomplished at the earliest.

possible~ time.

Gary Nielsen of WDEG scheduled the training meeting (see attached memorandum) and served as the moderator. As can be noted above, a number of key county L

officials attended the training meetin: even though it was intended primarily for the'public information officers. This is indicative of the seriousness L

with which the county viewed this activity and their desire to do a good job in the event of a real emergency as well as future exercises. All of the county officials present took an active part in the training meeting and interspersed the discussions with information from their particular viewpoint.

The' training meeting began with a discussion of the State Plan's concept 4

of operations with respect to public information and alerting. Gary Nielsen explained the flow of information from the State EOC and the coordination that occurs in generating this information. He discussed

-the interrelationship of the State EOC, JPIC, and County EOC and the responsibilities of each. Then the participants reviewed the Pierce County

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Plan (State Plan Attachment T) to insure familiarity with the county's 3

concept of operations. ~ Discussions centered on who has the responsibility to perform the various activities relative to public information and i

alerting at the county level. County officials demonstrated a working 4

knowledge of the responsibilities and duties as outlined in their plan.

p Next, Al Sperger presented an overview of the Emergency Broadcast System state-wide, area-wide, and county-wide.- This was the first time most of the attendees had been exposed to the formal EBS plan. While not necessary I

to the training, the participants felt that knowing how the EBS itself functions is good background information. Al Sperger will provide copies of the' county-wide EBS plan to che local PIO's and-State Liaison PIO.

Following this, there was a frank discussion of the events of the March 13, 1984 exercise. Al Sperger, Gary Nielsen, and Wally Weaver reviewed i

the sequence of events and the reasons.for FEMA's finding of a deficiency in public information and alerting. The people who served as PIO's in L

Fierce County acknowledged the accuracy of our findings and discussed l

various reasons as to why events occurred as they did. These discussions vere beneficial to all participants and should prevent the operational problems from reoccurring in future exercises. This session ended with

'a discussion of the various stages of an emercise and the type and nature l

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of information which must be released to the public at each stage.

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The final topic of the training meeting was a discussion of " corrective actions" which could be implemented to enhance future operations. The following recommendations will be implemented:

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l The Pierce County PIO's will meet as a group to discuss their procedures so that the newer personnel can benefit from the experiences of their peers.

1 The preparation of stock messages will be undertaken for certain generic situations (e.g. sheltering or unrestricted reentry) to enhance timeliness.

The physical boundaries of the various sectors will be predetermined and highlighted on a map to facilitate the preparation of EBS messages that provide protective actions to the public.

The training meeting concluded with a question and answer period.

Attachments 4

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