Feds To Test Indian Point Emergency Responders
Release Date: September 20, 2002
Release Number: HQ-02-151
Washington, DC -- On September 24, 2002, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies will conduct the biennial full participation exercise for the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant site. There will be approximately fifty evaluators on the FEMA federal evaluation team.
New York State emergency management officials and officials from the four counties within a 10 mile radius of the plant will be evaluated on how they respond to the exercise's simulated radiological emergency. Evaluators will look at a number of radiological emergency preparedness criteria including:
- Emergency operations management
- Protective action decision-making
- Protective action implementation
- Radiological field measurement and analysis
- Emergency notification and public information
- Support operations and facilities
The federal government conducts full participation biennial exercises at all nuclear power plants to provide reasonable assurance that emergency response plans can be implemented as part of each plant's licensing process.
A final exercise report will be compiled soon after the September 24th exercise. It will be forwarded to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and will be made available to the public.
Below are answers to a number of frequently asked questions about full participation exercises, and the September 24th exercise at Indian Point.
- Why are these exercises being conducted?
- How did you choose the scenario that will be tested?
- Are other federal agencies involved with this evaluation?
- How realistic are these exercises?
- Will the media and public have access to the results of this exercise evaluation?
- With the magnitude of an evaluation that includes four counties in New York, activities in the emergency operations center in Albany and the reception centers in Bergen County, NJ, how can all of this possibly be evaluated in one day?
- What activities are evaluated in the out-of-sequence events?
- In an actual emergency, how would the public be alerted?
- Will the public warning sirens be used in these exercises?
- Recently suggested changes to current evacuation plans, if made, would not be completed until after the September exercise. If they are made, how will the changes be evaluated?
- What role did the idea of shadow evacuation play in this exercise?
- How will the results of the exercise be used?
Why are these exercises being conducted?
Exercises like the one planned for Indian Point are conducted every two years for all commercial nuclear power plants in the United States. They demonstrate to federal evaluators, from both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that the response agencies in the four surrounding counties and the state of New York have the trained personnel and resources required to meet the challenges of a radiological emergency. These exercises are in addition to exercises independently conducted by the state and the county governments.
How did you choose the scenario that will be tested?
The federal agencies-FEMA and NRC-approve the scenario. Scenarios differ from exercise to exercise. But no matter what the tested emergency - man-made or natural -- it is the responder's ability to protect public health and safety that is tested. So the type of scenario does not change the planning and preparedness actions necessary to protect the public.
Are other federal agencies involved with this evaluation?
In addition to FEMA, the principal federal agencies are the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Service, and departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, Transportation and Agriculture. These various federal agencies involved in the preparedness process have been conducting an in-depth review of county and state emergency preparedness plans in preparation for this exercise.
How realistic are these exercises?
Scenarios are designed to create potentially dangerous situations, which would prompt the response activities the evaluators are looking for.
While scenarios often create problems that have never been seen in an actual event (i.e., a general population evacuation), they provide the state and local response agencies an opportunity to demonstrate their expertise and their ability to mobilize staff and resources to meet the challenges posed by the scenario. The exercise demonstrates capability and preparedness.
The other benefit of these exercises is that they test plans, policies and procedures used as the planning base for dealing with threats that the counties and state face everyday - flood, fire, hurricanes, and hazardous material events.
Will the media and public have access to the results of this exercise evaluation?
Upon completion of the exercise on September 24th and after any additional out-of-sequence evaluations are completed, a final report will be compiled and forwarded to the NRC and will be made available to the public. Prior to the completion of the report, comments on the results of the evaluation will be solicited from the counties and the state, which will be considered for inclusion in the final report.
With the magnitude of an evaluation that includes four counties in New York, activities in the emergency operations center in Albany and the reception centers in Bergen County, NJ, how can all of this possibly be evaluated in one day?
In preparation for this exercise, evaluations of the plans and emergency actions identified in those plans began nearly a year ago. FEMA has been reviewing all planning and preparedness documents for the four counties within the ten-mile radius of Indian Point, New York State's plans and those of Bergen County, which has reception and congregate care centers for evacuated populations.
Hundreds of hours have been spent reviewing each individual section of the plans for these counties and the state. In addition, out-of-sequence evaluations for the exercise began back in October 2001 and will continue for a period of time after the more visible exercise on September 24, 2002. Out-of-sequence evaluations have been conducted throughout the four counties in New York and in the county in New Jersey identified as having reception centers.
What activities are evaluated in the out-of-sequence events?
Facilities/functions that can be evaluated out-of-sequence include schools, medical services, reception/mass care facilities, nursing homes, correctional centers, radiological laboratories, ingestion pathway field teams, traffic/access control, dose calculations for recovery/ingestion phases and monitoring/decontamination facilities.
In an actual emergency, how would the public be alerted?
The counties have the capability to alert their residents within 15 minutes of a general emergency at the plant. That means more than one hundred sirens would sound and would be followed by an emergency announcement over the EAS system.
Will the public warning sirens be used in these exercises?
Due to the vagaries of the scenario being tested, the responders do not know when the sirens will be called for. Therefore, there could not be an adequate advance notification of the general population to an impending test without compromising the element of no advance notification and unnecessarily confusing or worrying the general public.
Recently suggested changes to current evacuation plans, if made, would not be completed until after the September exercise. If they are made, how will the changes be evaluated?
Local governments are required to demonstrate their response capabilities every two years in a federally evaluated exercise, like the one scheduled for September 24th. In addition, each year the local governments are required to submit any changes to their plans. This means the federal agencies will have the opportunity to see and comment on the progress of the changes long before the next biennial exercise.
What role did the idea of shadow evacuation play in this exercise?
The primary goal is to protect public health and safety by having the people threatened by the plant conditions evacuate to safety.
Throughout the development of these plans, the issue of spontaneous evacuation or shadow evacuation has been anticipated and will be handled by the establishment of traffic control points which will channel the egress from affected areas. Local law enforcement agencies routinely control traffic flow.
While not a specific objective of the exercise, the concept of shadow evacuation is a key component in the preparation of the new evacuation time estimates. The state, counties and the federal agencies will receive the new evacuation time estimates in December. This information will become the basis of future planning.
How will the results of the exercise be used?
Based on the evaluations of the exercise, the final exercise report will include any recommended corrective actions deemed necessary to ensure a level of emergency preparedness necessary to protect the health and safety of the public living in the vicinity of the plant.
Last Modified: Friday, 25-Jul-2003 09:42:29