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Mass Notification for Nuclear Power Plant Preparedness and Emergency Response

The ongoing crisis in Japan has heightened awareness of nuclear plant safety, preparedness and emergency response. In one news story after another, nuclear plant officials are being asked to detail their “worst case scenario” emergency procedures. In each of these “scenarios,” notifying emergency officials, employees and citizens is required by the federal government.

In a recent TV news story titled Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant Prepared in Case of Crisis, CodeRED is shown on a list as one of the strategic methods used to keep citizens and employees informed. Following are five key ways to use mass notification for nuclear power plant preparedness and emergency response:

Deliver Disaster Preparedness Information to Citizens

The use of a Mass Notification System (MNS) as a part of your annual Public Education and Awareness Program will prove to be one of the greatest technological assets you have. Periodic disaster preparedness information delivered to citizens residing in the 10 Mile EPZ (Emergency Planning Zone) can be specifically targeted. This will allow you the opportunity to let citizens know they are residing in one of the EPZs, make them aware of the location of evacuation shelters, and share information on how to shelter in place if advised to do so. This communication can also provide citizens with a sense of security that comes from knowing local Public Safety officials are prepared and have an individual concern for their well-being.

Provide Response Notification to Emergency Workers

During a nuclear incident, time is of the essence. You need the support of a reliable and rapid Mass Notification System to activate or alert your critical responders. This can be accomplished by pre-populating notification lists and individual response groups within your MNS for easy access in an emergency situation. Your statistics page will allow you to see who is able to respond, so you can make contingency plans for staffing. Testing these lists monthly will help ensure updates are being captured and awareness is high among your responders.

Deliver Protective Action Recommendations to the Public

The most effective form of emergency notification is the live voice of an authority figure delivered to a citizen’s telephone. Providing information to the public in response to an event is critical. In the case of a nuclear incident, it is equally important to provide continuous Protective Action Recommendations (PAR) during the recovery phase. A Mass Notification System will prove to be the best and most reliable form of targeted information delivery. It is possible that citizens will be sheltering inside their residences leaving phones, text and email messages and mass media as the most effective forms of message delivery.

By creating pre-established EPZs geographically within your MNS mapping component, you will have the option to send PARs to your entire evacuation area or to an individual EPZ as required. Again, through the use of your statistics page, you will be able to see who received the message and who did not, so you can plan for contingent route alerting. Adding text and/or email notifications can also be included in the process as additional communication methods. Periodic testing of your MNS will allow citizens to become accustom to this form of notification and encourage them to add additional contact devices to enhance your system database.

Work in Tandem with Alert and Warning Sirens

A Mass Notification System is the perfect compliment to any outdoor warning device. Sirens may be used for several different alert scenarios so the public will need to know why they are being alerted each time. Therefore, it is extremely important to provide simultaneous information when activating sirens. The most efficient way to do this is to follow the siren warning with a MNS call with the reassurance of a live voice providing the information citizens need to hear.

Siren testing is a requirement, particularly when they are installed for the purpose of warning in case of Nuclear Power Plant incidents. Your MNS should be used to announce siren testing in advance, as well as while the test is being conducted. Your citizens need to be accustomed to the fact that they will receive a voice message when sirens sound. It provides credibility for you and reassurance for them.

Meet and Exceed FEMA / NRC Redundancy Requirements

The addition of a Mass Notification System to alert the public will prove to be a favorable approach to satisfying the current FEMA evaluation requirements to employ multiple notification methods. Adding the use of a MNS to your Radiological Response Plan will significantly enhance your ability to reach a larger portion of the public with your critical message. Working in concert with the present Outdoor Warning Sirens, Route Alerting and Media Announcements, the added use of a MNS will provide a much needed level of credibility to the emergency message.

Used with permission by Emergency Communications Network

Map of the United States Showing Locations of Operating Nuclear Power Reactors

Find Operating Nuclear Power Reactors by Location or Name

To find information about a particular operating nuclear power reactor that NRC regulates, select that reactor from the following:

You can also Find NRC-Licensed Facility by NRC Region or State.

Map of the United States Showing Locations of Operating Nuclear Power Reactors

Select a triangle showing the location of an operating nuclear power reactor from the map below.

Note that Region IV oversees the Grand Gulf plant in Mississippi (MS), which is part of Region II.

Alphabetical List of Operating Nuclear Power Reactors by Name

A - C	D - L	M - Q	R - W
Arkansas Nuclear 1 Arkansas Nuclear 2 Beaver Valley 1 Beaver Valley 2 Braidwood 1 Braidwood 2 Browns Ferry 1 Browns Ferry 2 Browns Ferry 3 Brunswick 1 Brunswick 2 Byron 1 Byron 2 Callaway Calvert Cliffs 1 Calvert Cliffs 2 Catawba 1 Catawba 2 Clinton Columbia Generating Station Comanche Peak 1 Comanche Peak 2 Cooper Crystal River 3	D.C. Cook 1 D.C. Cook 2 Davis-Besse Diablo Canyon 1 Diablo Canyon 2 Dresden 2 Dresden 3 Duane Arnold Farley 1 Farley 2 Fermi 2 FitzPatrick Fort Calhoun Ginna Grand Gulf 1 Harris 1 Hatch 1 Hatch 2 Hope Creek 1 Indian Point 2 Indian Point 3 Kewaunee La Salle 1 La Salle 2 Limerick 1 Limerick 2	McGuire 1 McGuire 2 Millstone 2 Millstone 3 Monticello Nine Mile Point 1 Nine Mile Point 2 North Anna 1 North Anna 2 Oconee 1 Oconee 2 Oconee 3 Oyster Creek Palisades Palo Verde 1 Palo Verde 2 Palo Verde 3 Peach Bottom 2 Peach Bottom 3 Perry 1 Pilgrim 1 Point Beach 1 Point Beach 2 Prairie Island 1 Prairie Island 2 Quad Cities 1 Quad Cities 2	River Bend 1 Robinson 2 Saint Lucie 1 Saint Lucie 2 Salem 1 Salem 2 San Onofre 2 San Onofre 3 Seabrook 1 Sequoyah 1 Sequoyah 2 South Texas 1 South Texas 2 Summer Surry 1 Surry 2 Susquehanna 1 Susquehanna 2 Three Mile Island 1 Turkey Point 3 Turkey Point 4 Vermont Yankee Vogtle 1 Vogtle 2 Waterford 3 Watts Bar 1 Wolf Creek 1

Nuclear Prep Video

Estimated Fallout Pattern from Nuclear Air Burst Estimated fallout pattern from nuclear air burst Source: Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute's Medical Effects of Ionizing Radiation Course on CD-ROM (1999) Delayed ionizing radiation dose (fallout) * Produced by fission products and neutron-induced radionuclides in the area around the explosion, especially downwind * Dispersed downwind with the fireball/debris cloud. * As the cloud travels downwind, the cooling and falling radioactive material settles on the ground creating a large swath of deposited material (fallout). * Fallout creates large areas of contamination and the ionizing radiation coming off the fallout which can damage tissues and penetrate through thin walls and glass. * Fallout can also contaminate the soil, food and water supply o Prohibitions against eating food and drinking water from affected areas will be issued

World Health Organization Statement

FAQs: Japan nuclear concerns

14 March 2011

Public health actions

Which public health actions are most important to take?

In the case of a nuclear accident, protective actions may be implemented within a radius around the site.
These actions depend on the estimated exposure (i.e., the amount of radioactivity released in the atmosphere and the prevailing meteorological conditions such as wind and rain. The actions include steps such as evacuation of people within a certain distance of the plant, providing shelter to reduce exposure and providing iodine pills for people to take to reduce the risk of thyroid cancer).
If warranted, steps such as restricting the consumption of vegetables and dairy products produced in the vicinity of the power plant can reduce exposure.
Only competent authorities who have conducted a careful analysis of the emergency situation are in a position to recommend which of these public health measures should be taken.

How can I protect myself?

Keep you and your family informed by obtaining accurate and authoritative information (for example, information from authorities delivered by radio, TV or the Internet) and following your government's instructions.
The decision to stockpile or take potassium iodide tablets should be based on information provided by national health authorities who will be in the best position to determine if there is enough evidence to warrant these steps.

What are potassium iodide pills?

In the setting of a nuclear power plant accident, potassium iodide pills are given to saturate the thyroid gland and prevent the uptake of radioactive iodine. When given before or shortly after exposure, this step can reduce the risk of cancer in the long term.
Potassium iodide pills are not "radiation antidotes". They do not protect against external radiation, or against any other radioactive substances besides radioactive iodine. They may also cause medical complications for some individuals such as persons with poorly functioning kidney and therefore taking potassium iodide should be started only when there is a clear public health recommendation to take this step.

Can pregnant women take potassium iodide pills?

Pregnant women should take potassium iodide pills only when instructed by the competent authorities because the thyroid of a pregnant woman accumulates radioactive iodine at a higher rate than other adults and because the thyroid of the fetus is also blocked by giving potassium iodide pills to the mother

CONTINUE READING. THERE IS MORE INFO

World Nuclear Association | Nuclear Power - a Sustainable Energy Resource

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) :: Earthquake in Japan

NRC: Find Operating Nuclear Power Reactors by Location or Name

Fukushima Dai-Ichi: How a nuclear power plant works

Category: Environment - Tags: -Japan, Dai-Ichi, daiichi, Earthquake, Fukushima, Fusion, nuclear, power plant,radioactive, reactor, uranium

Although we’re not nuclear scientists here, we felt this thead might be of help for al those who wish to keep a clear interpretation on what your local news broadcast is announcing. A major number of high end press agencies was already touting on about Japan’s Fukushima prefecture becoming a refurbished edition of Chernobyl.
Also if there are any mistakes or technical nonsense do not hesitate to contact us that we can make this post as accurate as possible, but don’t make an ass of yourself and try to keep it polite, we will not tolerate any wrong behavior today.
Japan being a major player in the constantly improved development in health and safety for it’s millions of inhabitants, clearly has more than one trick up it’s sleeve to make sure IF disaster hits the spot, that the people are as safe as possible. Unfortunately a tsunami + an 8.9 earthquake is just a bit to huge for even the most water tight evacuation plan out there. The Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear reactor buildings located closely to the epicenter of the quake are under constant monitorring and everything possible is done to make sure IF radioactive substances hit the air, the contaminated zone would be less than the 20km barrier currently used as a safety buffer. This is Fukushima Dai-Ichi, a state of the art reactor plant which won’t blow up like the current media headlines are stating.
What happened:
A) Due to the earthquake a wall got breached/cripped
B) The power went out due to the tsunami’s water reaching the building, rendering even the backup generators useless. Due to these events a hydrogen tank blew up.
C) 4 reactor cores are presently cooled with sea water (which is very corrosive and will most probably render the reactors useless after the emergency situation is moderate again.
Facts:
Reactor cores can go up to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit for the core still to be functioning, only when it heats up to about 4000 degrees Fahrenheit one can say they pose an imminent risk to melting since this is about the maximum temperature where the Uranium pellet start to melt. Only when the 4000 degrees barrier is breached, the potential exposure the radioactive substances is possible since the melting Uranium would corrode/eat it’s way through the reactor.
So how does a nuclear power plant work (explained very roughly in a few basic steps):
The process is called “Nuclear Fission”, it is a reaction between a free neutron that hits a Uranium atom. The Uranium absorbes this neutron, goes into an unstable state and bursts open (explodes). This process repeats itself over and over since every time the Uranium splits, new free neutrons are released and react with other Uranium atoms.
This “splicing” interaction produces energy, not enough in small quantities, but a a pound of highly enriched Uranium produces enough energy to power a full blown submarine. Equivalent to about a million gallons of gasoline/fuel. Thus a very interesting and clean source of power when controlled properly. Uranium reactions also produce an incredible amount of heat and gamma radiation.
Nuclear reactors are mainly divided into 3 ways of status-operiation. Critical mass, Subcritical mass and Supercritical mass. Roughly speaking it’s a form of control scientists use to determin how stable the temperature of the core will be depending on the Uranium atom’s form inside. In general nuclear power plants require a combination of critical and few supercritical mass to be able to rise and lower the temperature depending on the electricity required.
Operation inside the plant consists of the reactor which is a collection of long rods filled with Uranium bundled together. These bundles are put into a pressure vessel and submerged into something similar to a very deep swimming pool (water acts as a coolant). Uranium on it’s own would overheat almost instantly, thus control rods made of materials that can absorb these neutrons are placed inside and can be raised/lowered depending on the present reactions inside the core. Making sure the temperature can be controlled at all time.
The heat produced by the reactor’s core produces steam, this steam is used to drive a turbine where spinning electricity generators produce the power you can use in your home. Different ways to cool down nuclear reactors, some work on water, some on liquid metals, some are cooled by gas,… all depending on how productive you want the cores to become.
The steam produced that drives the generators is of course radioactive, so a concrete liner which absorbed the radiation is placed inside a steel vessel which contains all of the radioactivity released in the production process. To protect these crucial steel vessels a super thick concrete outer building is build in order to make sure none of the radiation escapes the compound when an accident should occur to the steel vessels. The outer buildings are strong enough to endure earthquakes up to crashing airplaned. Unfortunately the massive earthquake at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi premises made the wall of 1 reactor building crack, yet as long as the steel vessel(s) inside are not said to be severely damaged this doesn’t pose a risk to large scale radioactive steam releases.
We also would like you to take time to read, this VERY long but extremely interesting article on the Situation over at Fukushima : Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors. It is very in-lighting as well!