“Too cheap to meter” was the catch-phrase of the fledgling nuclear energy industry. The rosy expectations of the nuclear energy industry has given way to concerns regarding high level radioactive waste, terrorism threats and widespread effects of an accident. As the nuclear plants age, concerns arise as to the efficacy of safety measures and the emergency plans at these sites. With the recent surge of license renewals being sought this aging will continue.

What may not be known is that the emergency plans are not evaluated as part of the license extension efforts. This is because the emergency plans are looked at almost continually by the state and federal agencies and the evaluated exercises are monitored by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). What the average individual may not know is that the company that operates the plant does not control the emergency plan of the local or state government. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the state/local emergency management agencies work together to provide for the evacuation and emergency plan actions. However, as was seen in New Orleans and in Texas, sometimes the coordination, planning and execution are not as effective as they could be.

It would be beneficial to understand how the evacuation for a nuclear event compares with the recent hurricanes and with other ‘natural’ disasters. What follows is a short description of some nuclear events that have occurred over the last 48 years. These events were significant for their impact on the local population, the way the world looked at nuclear power, the economic impacts and the demonstration of a ‘fear factor’ associated with nuclear power.

he events of the Windscale fire in England , SL-1 in Idaho , Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania , Chernobyl in the former USSR and the fuel reprocessing plant in Tokaimura Japan have provided some information and data on the effects of a nuclear incident. While none of these events were the result of a ‘nuclear’ explosion, the public reaction and effects were, and are, important.

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