Response to a nuclear plant incident in Wisconsin

How a nuclear power plant incident could affect your county

October 14, 2009

Purpose

• Notification procedures during a nuclear power plant event

• Introduction to basic radiological emergency preparedness terminology

• Summary of early-stage (post incident) decision making

• Identify potential issues– Agricultural– Political

“Risk” County

• Counties in which emergency planning is needed to ensure the health and safety of the public in the event of a radiological release

• Within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant

• Wisconsin has 3 risk counties

Ingestion County• Counties in which it is

estimated that the health and safety of the general public could be affected through ingestion of radioactively contaminated food and water

• Within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant

• 21 counties in Wisconsin qualify as an “ingestion county”

Emergency Classification Levels (ECLs)

GeneralEmergency

Site Area Emergency

Alert

Notification of Unusual Event

Seve

rity

What happens in the event of a nuclear plant incident?

WEM Duty Officer

Within 30 minutes of an “initiating condition,”the power plant notifies the State (Il) and risk counties

Calls plant to verify legitimacy and discuss

plant conditions

State Radiological Coordinator

Makes notifications to ingestion

counties, regional director,

administrator

GeneralEmergency

Site Area Emergency

Alert

Notification of Unusual Event

Response phase

Actions taken at each ECL

State and risk counties make notificationsDuty Officer monitors situation

Discretionary activation of State and county Emergency Operations Centers

Livestock advisory within 10 miles (stored feed & water) issued; field teams staged

Evacuation or shelter-in-place orderedRisk county agricultural holds issued

Ingestion county ag holds issued, field sampling begins

Ag holds modified in appropriate counties as field sampling progresses

~0 to 3 Days

Days to Months

Recove

ry phase

Radiological release

Plume-phase (Emergency phase)

• Airborn radiological release is imminent or occurring

• Acute health effects limited to ≤10 miles from nuclear power plant

• Immediate health dangers are:– inhalation of radioactive particles– acute external exposure

Intermediate phase

• Initial plume phase actions completed– Evacuation or sheltering

• Assessment of long term consequences– Computer modeling– Sampling

• Consequences and recommendations based on deposition

Relocate

• “The removal or continued exclusion of people (households) from contaminated areas to avoid chronic radiation exposure.”

– FEMA, “Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program Manual (Draft),” May 18, 2009

Evacuate

• Occurs when little information is available

• Immediate health risk is high (acute exposure)

• Protective Action Guidelines (PAG) is 1 Rem over 96 hours

• Occurs within 10 miles of a nuclear plant

What’s the difference?

Relocate• Occurs after field-

verified data is available

• Immediate health risk is low (chronic exposure)

• Threshold is an exposure of > 2 rem in the first year

• Occurs within or beyond 10 miles of a nuclear plant

Post-plume Deposition

• Radioactive materials are deposited on the ground

• Chronic health effects could extend up to 50 miles

• Not an immediate public health risk• Some external exposure from

particles (“ground shine”)• Health risk is primarily through the

ingestion of food or water

Ingestion-phase• Focuses on preventing the ingestion

of radioactively contaminated food and water

• Restrictions are put in place– Agricultural holds– Hunting, fishing and trapping bans

• Consumer recommendations are conveyed– Food washing / peeling– “Do not eat…”– Bottled water

• Extensive sampling plan is developed and implemented

What is a “sampling plan?”

• A strategy on where & what to sample (i.e. water, milk, vegetables)

• Sampling priorities are determined• Federal, state & counties collaborate

on the prioritization – Predominate agricultural markets– Time of year

• Based on limited resources– Field sampling teams– Laboratories

Predictive Models vs. Field Sampling

• Initial evacuation and ingestion areas will be based on a projection (computer models)

• Projections are based on assumptions:– A given radiological release time (i.e. 4 hours)– A constant wind speed (i.e. 5 mph)– Individuals staying in an area for a given timeframe (i.e.

96 hours without leaving)

• Will apply to:– plume evacuation– ingestion deposition

• Refining the areas will be based on field data– “Fly overs”– Field sampling

Exercise

Farthest Extent of RASCAL predictive model

Exercise

Potential Issues

• Prioritization of sampling

• Contamination levels

• Public Perception

• Consumer Confidence

• Insurance and aid

How much is too much contamination?

• FDA has guidance on pre-determined level• Called “Derived Intervention Level” (DIL)

– Varies by isotope and food product

• If it’s below the DIL but above background…– Political issue– ANI reimbursement issue

• Two radioactive isotopes are of primary concern:– Iodine 131 (half life of 8 days)– Cesium 137 (half life of ~30 years)

Public Perception

• Public information and education is crucial

• General public’s distrust of government and industry

• Response organizations must be unified

Consumer Confidence

• May not be based in reality:– What did Oprah do to the beef

industry?– Did the “Swine flu” affect the pork

industry?

• May be based on fear:– Peanut butter– Tomatoes

American Nuclear Insurers (ANI)

• American Nuclear Insurers (ANI) is a joint underwriting association created by some of the largest insurance companies in the United States

• $300 million policy for damages to bodies & property (real & personal)

• ANI does not take ownership of contaminated property– Up to the owner and/or government to handle

• Covers expenses directly related to evacuation (i.e. transportation, food and lodging)

• Loss of wages covered– Only as a result of the evacuation order

– If a business permanently closes, wages are not covered

• Permanent relocation expenses are not covered• Governmental costs are covered (what is above normal operational

costs, directly related to the incident)– Transportation, food, sheltering, law enforcement

– Reimbursement period includes entire span of evacuation order, plus additional 30 days after the order has been lifted.

Federal Aid

• FEMA is still figuring out all the aid the federal government would make available

• Joint Field Office, Disaster Recovery Centers

• Eligible for aid, when no other means of compensation is available.

Any questions?

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