ML20137X608

Responds to 860204 Request for Clarification of Nighttime Emergency Notification Provided in FEMA .Siren Sys Can Be Expected to Arouse & Alert Approx 90% of Emergency Planning Zone Residents.Related Correspondence

ML20137X608
Person / Time
Site:	Harris
Issue date:	02/24/1986
From:	Stello V NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Palladino NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20137X611	List: ML20137X608 ML20138A255
References
OL, NUDOCS 8603100497
Download: ML20137X608 (3)

Text

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~x MEMORANDUM FOR: Chairman Palladino Comissioner Roberts mrE N [ e Comissioner Asselstine Comissioner Bernthal Comissioner Zech FROM: Victor Stello, Jr.

Acting Executive Director for Operations

SUBJECT:

NIGHTTIME EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION i

This responds to the February 4,1986 memorandum from Samuel J. Chilk to Victor Stello, Jr. (COMSECY 85-9) requesting clarification for the Commission of the subject infonnation provided in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) letter of December 6,1985, as well as the staff s memorandum of December 11, 1985. In its memorandum FEMA concluded that:

Evaluation of the evidence presented in the November 19, 1985, letter to the Comissioners from the members of the ASLB presiding over the app 11-cation of Carolina Power and Light Co. et al. for an operating license for the Shearon Harris facility does noTiiidicate that there are possible generic safety problems involving nighttime emergency notification of residents in the plume emergency planning zones surrounding nuclear power plants. The evaluation criteria in NUREG-0654/ FEMA-REP-1, Rev. 1 and the acceptance criteria in FEMA-43 are intended to ensure that alert ,

and notification systems that are designed and evaluated in accordance l with these criteria meet NRC's 10 CFR $0 Appendix E design objective "to have the capability to essentially complete the initial notification of i the public within the plume exposure pathway within about 15 minutes." 1 The stren system for the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, which is {

not atypical of the stren systems at other nuclear power plants, was designed, evaluated, and found to be acceptable under these criteria.

The conclusion reached in FEMA's study, in response to the hearing contention, that this siren system can be expected to arouse and alert approximately 90% of the EPZ residents during a nighttime emergency

, serves to confirm FEMA's judgement that siren systems designed and l evaluated in accordance with NUREG-0654/ FEMA-REP-1, Rev.1 and FEMA-43 l

meet the NRC requirements for both daytime and nighttime alerting.

CONTACT: David B. Matthews, IE 492-9647 831h dp-

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! The Comissioners l l  !

l Based on FFMA's conclusion, the staff in its memorandum recomended that no l l

generic action need be taken by the Comission in this matter, i i The Comission requested clarification of the basis for the FEMA conclusion that l 1 siren systems can be expected to arouse and alert approximately go percent of i

! EPZ residents during a nighttime emergency.

The staff discussed this request with FEMA during a FEMA /NRC Steering Comittee

meeting and determined that the only additional information available regarding l the basis of the FEMA and staff conclusions is the profiled testimony of the FEMA expert witnesses in the Shearon Harris hearings before the Atomic Safety

and Licensing Board. Consequently, that testimony is enclosed for the infoma-i tion of the Comissioners. Please note that these matters are still in hearing i j and are being decided by the Licensing Board.* Copies of this memorandum are  ;

i being served on the Licensing Board and all the parties.  ;

j Enclosure 2 is the profiled testimony of Thomas F. Carter, Vice President, ,

Consulting Services Group, International Energy Associates Limited, who  !

) under FEMA contract convened a panel of experts to prepare testimony in i response to the Eddleman contention 57-C-3 concerning the adequacy of l 1 emergency nighttime notification at Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant.  !

4 Enclosures 3, 4, and 5 are the preffled testimonies of the panel members

] Drs. Van M. Lee, Karl D. Kryter and Jirl Nehnevajsa, respectively.  !

! Mr. Carter testified that the panel concluded that some 87.8 percent of the

{ people in the EPZ can be expected to be aroused and alerted by the Shearon  !

j Harris siren system during the " worst" night hours; 1.e., between 2 a.m. and i

6 a.m. (Enclosure 2, pp. 15 and 16). Mr. Carter further testified that this i

{ conclusion is based on three major considerations: (1) the effect of nighttime i activities, so that some percentage of people are awake; (2) the effect of intra- i

family networking; and (3) the effect of social, interfamily networking.  !

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! Dr. Van M. Lee's testimony provides an overview of the acoustics of fixed strens i j and provides the basic conclusion that the Shearon Harris siren system provides l j full coverage of all populated areas in the EPZ under sumer nighttime conditions  !

in that it provides at least 60 dBC to 100 percent of the population (Enclosure

J 3,p.26). Dr. Lee used a verified computer model simulating the siren system t i at Shearon Harris with data on nighttime weather conditions from the onsite ,

j meteorological tower.  !

) Dr. Kryter'st testimony provides the probabilities of arousal from sleep as a function of age and siren signal level inside the bedroom (Enclosure 4, p. 28 I

i l *0n January 16, 1986, the Licensing Board reopened the record on nighttime  :

notification issues for the Ilmited purpose of receiving evidence on six  !

i issues and concerns. A copy of this order is attached as Enclosure 1. {

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6 The Comissioners andfigure7A). Dr. Kryter, an expert in the field of psychoacoustics, deter-mined these probabilities based on data for sleep arousal by sound similar to strens in frequency spectrum under real-life conditions (Enclosure 4 pp. 9 through 18). ,

Dr. Jiri Nehnevajsa's testimony provides a description of the analysis which concluded that 87.8 percent of the individuals in the EPZ will have become aware

' of the impending emergency as a result of activating the Shearon Harris siren system for 15 minutes with a pattern of three minutes on and three minutes off (Enclosure 5, p. 23). Dr. Nehnevajsa calculated that 75 percent of the people will be alerted by direct nottffcation or notification by intrafamily networking (Enclosure 5.Tablep.15). The remaining 12.8 percent are notified by social, interfamily networking which he described as an empirically well established l pattern of behavior (Enclosure 5, p. 19). Dr. Nehnevajsa notes that relaxing the major consideration, f.e., that only individuals 18 years of ape and older i are considered as potential sources of intrafamily networking, wou d increase all the percentages of the expected alerting system effectiveness (Enclosure  ;

5 pp. 23 and 24).

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Victor Stello, r Acting Executiv Director for Operations

Enclosures:

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1. Memorandum 8 Order dtd.1/16/86

2. Mr. Carter's Testimony

3. Dr. Lee's Testimony  :

4. Dr. Kryter's Testimony ,

5. Dr. Nehnevajsa's Testimony cc: 0GC OPE SECY  !

Shearon Harris Service List i

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