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Congratulations to Rob Astorino, who won the county leadership position by a large margin. The new county executive has been a strong supporter of Indian Point, and in his unsuccessful bid for the office in 2005, he tried to convince residents that the Kensico Dam was a larger threat than Indian Point if terrorists attacked. That argument did not play well and Mr. Astorino lost. While these are different times, one thing is certain. The evacuation plan for Indian Point will not work if it is needed, and has unfixable shortcomings. Those were the findings of the 2003 Witt Report, and then-Gov. George Pataki publicly endorsed the report's findings. That is why since then, neither Westchester County nor the State of New York have certified the evacuation plan as workable; and that is also why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been suggesting that "sheltering in place" rather than trying to evacuate is advised.

Congratulations to Rob Astorino, who won the county leadership position by a large margin. The new county executive has been a strong supporter of Indian Point, and in his unsuccessful bid for the office in 2005, he tried to convince residents that the Kensico Dam was a larger threat than Indian Point if terrorists attacked. That argument did not play well and Mr. Astorino lost. While these are different times, one thing is certain. The evacuation plan for Indian Point will not work if it is needed, and has unfixable shortcomings. Those were the findings of the 2003 Witt Report, and then-Gov. George Pataki publicly endorsed the report's findings. That is why since then, neither Westchester County nor the State of New York have certified the evacuation plan as workable; and that is also why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been suggesting that "sheltering in place" rather than trying to evacuate is advised.

Draft Report for Comment AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. [[Page 23220]] ACTION: Announcement of issuance for public comment, availability. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public comment a document entitled: NUREG/CR-XXXX, ``Criteria for Development of Evacuation Time Estimate Studies.'' The Evacuation Time Estimate (ETE) is a calculation of the time to evacuate the plume exposure pathway emergency planning zone (EPZ), an area with a radius of about 10 miles around a nuclear power plant (NPP). The ETE is primarily used to inform protective action decisions during NPP radiological emergencies and may be used to assist in the development of traffic management plans to support an evacuation. This document is an acceptable template for use by NPP licensees to meet NRC requirements for the development of ETE studies. It also provides guidance for the update and review of ETEs. The format and criteria provided in this document will support consistent application of ETE methodology and will facilitate consistent NRC review of ETE studies.

DEP and State Police discuss status of plan TOMS RIVER - Despite assurances by representatives of the State Police Office of Emergency Management, not everyone at a public hearing Tuesday night was convinced that a radiological emergency evacuation plan could be safely implemented. State Department of Environmental Protection officials and representatives of the State Police discussed the status of the evacuation plan during an annual public hearing that followed a one-hour informal session concerning what would happen if a nuclear incident occurred at Oyster Creek Generating Station in the Forked River section of Lacey. Jill Lipoti, DEP director of environmental safety and health, served as hearing officer for the proceeding. A number of booklets and fact sheets were on hand for residents to review.

"he government is aiming to lift by the end of September its advisory for residents living in areas outside the 20-kilometer zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that have been designated for evacuation in the event of an emergency, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tuesday. The move came after five municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, all or parts of which are designated as emergency evacuation preparation zones in the 20- to 30-km ring from the power station, had submitted to the central government by Tuesday their "recovery plans," a precondition for lifting the advisory."

Nuclear power plants must provide updated estimates of how long it would take to evacuate nearby communities in an emergency under a new rule approved Tuesday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Tweet 1 person Tweeted this ShareThis Plant operators would have to update their evacuation estimates after every 10-year census, or when changes in population would increase the estimated time by at least 30 minutes. The requirement was among several changes regulators approved regarding emergency preparedness. The changes came as the commission considered sweeping safety changes for the U.S. nuclear industry in response to the nuclear crisis in Japan.

"BUCHANAN - As America's nuclear power plants have aged, the once-rural areas around them have become far more crowded and much more difficult to evacuate. Yet government and industry have paid little heed, even as plants are running at higher power and posing more danger in the event of an accident, an Associated Press investigation has found. Populations around the facilities have swelled as much as 41/2 times since 1980, a computer-assisted population analysis shows. But some estimates of evacuation times have not been updated in decades, even as the population has increased more than ever imagined. Emergency plans would direct residents to flee on antiquated, two-lane roads that clog hopelessly at rush hour."

A program assistant who helps plan evacuation protocols near the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor is among the 320 state workers identified in the Douglas administration's reduction-in-force plan. Gov. James Douglas says the layoffs are needed to save $17 million in General Fund expenses. However, the radiological-preparedness position held by Jaclyn Harman - one of two state workers identified for potential elimination at the Department of Public Safety's 21-person Vermont Emergency Management division - is paid for entirely from a special reserve funded by the owners of the nuclear plant. Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Tremblay confirmed Wednesday that Harman's position is on the department's potential cut list, but he stressed that no final decisions have been made. The elimination of that position, if it happens, he said, would in no way threaten the safety of people living near the 500-megawatt power plant in Vernon.

17,000 British nationals could be evacuated as last ditch efforts are made to stop nuclear catastrophe Rich scramble to book private jets out the country as fleeing passengers pack Tokyo airport French say Japanese have 'visibly lost essential control' as they urge their citizens to get out Plans are being drawn up to evacuate every British national in Japan amid mounting fears of a nuclear catastrophe. Thousands of Britons were last night warned to leave Tokyo and all other areas under threat of radiation poisoning. The Foreign Office is even chartering additional planes to ensure that all British citizens can leave the country as thousands of terrified passengers cram into Tokyo airport attempting to flee. It comes as the Japanese authorities resorted to dumping water on over-heating reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant from helicopters in a desperate last-ditch attempt to stop a catastrophic meltdown.

"The total area contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is estimated at about 800 square kilometers, or about 40 percent the size of Tokyo, according to a radiation map created by the science ministry and U.S. Department of Energy. The report uses the same level of contamination (555,000 becquerels or higher of cesium-137) that was used to issue compulsory evacuation orders in the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. To determine whether the current evacuation zone is appropriate or when residents can return home, the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan plans to set up focal sites to heighten its monitoring of the possible further spread of radioactive contamination. "

White Plains, NY - The latest version of the Indian Point Emergency Planning Guide is being mailed out starting this week to Westchester residents and businesses within the ten-mile Emergency Planning Zone around the nuclear power plants. The booklet includes an updated map that lists evacuation routes, reception centers, bus routes and critical information about school relocation.

Right up until practically the last minute, only an elite few knew about the building, testing and ultimate plans to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the "gadget" was about to be tested, project manager Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves - who ran the project from its inception - tried to explain it as the explosion of an ammunition dump. As a precaution, Groves alerted the governor of New Mexico that it might be necessary to evacuate the state if something went wrong. "The physicists working on the project jokingly bet that testing the gadget could set fire to the atmosphere," says Cameron Reed, a professor and chairman of the physics department at Alma College in Alma, Mich., and an expert on the Manhattan Project. "They didn't know what to expect."

Right up until practically the last minute, only an elite few knew about the building, testing and ultimate plans to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the "gadget" was about to be tested, project manager Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves - who ran the project from its inception - tried to explain it as the explosion of an ammunition dump. As a precaution, Groves alerted the governor of New Mexico that it might be necessary to evacuate the state if something went wrong. "The physicists working on the project jokingly bet that testing the gadget could set fire to the atmosphere," says Cameron Reed, a professor and chairman of the physics department at Alma College in Alma, Mich., and an expert on the Manhattan Project. "They didn't know what to expect."

"Japan's system to forecast radiation threats was working from the moment its nuclear crisis began. As officials planned a venting operation certain to release radioactivity into the air, the system predicted Karino Elementary School would be directly in the path of the plume emerging from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. But the prediction helped no one. Nobody acted on it. The school, just over six miles from the plant, was not immediately cleared out. Quite the opposite. It was turned into a temporary evacuation center."

Eskom's proposed nuclear power station to be built next to Koeberg could pose a serious threat to residents as the power utility had failed to address a number of concerns such as health risks and an emergency evacuation plan. This was said at a meeting yesterday of the city council's planning and environment portfolio committee (Pepco), which raised a number of concerns about the proposed nuclear station during a discussion on the draft environmental impact report by Eskom. The committee said the report had failed to address issues such as an emergency plan, health risks, nuclear waste, security and economic growth."

State representatives met with the public here Wednesday night for an annual review of the emergency plan which would be put into effect if there were a threatening release of radiation from any of the three nuclear reactors here in the county. Required by state law, the public hearing on the New Jersey Radiological Response Plan gives residents a chance to question or give their comments to the agency representatives responsible carrying out the plan. The plan is a coordinated effort between the New Jersey State Police, which would be the lead agency in case of an emergency, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. It spells out the duties and roles that state, county and local officials would play in case of an actual release of radiation at any of PSEG Nuclear's three reactors on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek Township.

"Bruce Power is investigating what caused a "small spill" of radioactive heavy water, which forced workers to evacuate Unit 6 about 3 a.m. Monday. Workers were conducting maintenance at that Bruce B reactor, which has been down for planned service and inspections since May 14, when a spill occurred, Bruce Power reported in a news release Monday. An alarm sounded after the equivalent of a "barrel" of the reactor moderator water spilled, Bruce Power spokesman John Peevers said in an interview Tuesday. The spill occurred "as part of" maintenance activities according to a news release posted to Bruce Power's website. "The spill was immediately isolated and routed to a collection tank," the release said. All workers were allowed to return a few hours later, Peevers added. "

RADIATION levels have forced the ABC to abandon its planned Brisbane home, just 18 months after it evacuated another site due to a cancer cluster. ABC managing director Mark Scott broke the news to shocked staff. But the decision is expected to prompt a legal battle with the site's current owners, Watpac, who say the national broadcaster cannot pull out of its $15.438 million contract for the Newstead property.

An emergency at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory after a release this morning of nitric acid - a corrosive material that can cause severe burns - is moving into cleanup stage, officials said. Advertisement "A hazardous materials team is planning to enter the facility to clean up the spill," according to a U.S. Department of Energy emailed statement. The accident took place while a truck was filling a tank with nitric acid, and it overflowed. The building where the spill happened is a waste facility operated by the Bechtel Jacobs Co. Four people were evacuated from the building. No injuries have been reported at this time.

The NRC has approved a staff recommendation to continue providing potassium iodide (KI) to states requesting it for residents who live within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone of a commercial nuclear power plant. The NRC had originally authorized only a one-time distribution to states requesting the product. KI can help reduce the risk of thyroid cancer and other diseases by blocking the thyroid gland's absorption of radioactive iodine, which could be dispersed in the unlikely event of a severe reactor accident. KI can be used as part of a state's emergency preparedness program, in addition to evacuations and/or sheltering-in-place for the population closest to the nuclear power plant and thus at greatest risk of exposure to radioactive materials released during an accident.

"Russian officials today laid the foundation stone of a new nuclear power station in Russia's westernmost region, Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov took part in the ceremony in the Neman district, along with Kaliningrad Governor Georgy Boos, and Sergei Kiriyenko, the chief of the national nuclear-energy corporation, Rosatom. The site of the planned nuclear plant, located just 20 kilometers from Lithuania's border, has been a cause of concern for local residents and ecologists, for whom memories of the 1986 catastrophe at the Ukrainian nuclear plant of Chornobyl remain fresh. More than 300,000 people were evacuated in the wake of the disaster from areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. It also spread a cloud of radiation across much of Europe. "

"ACE believes taxpayer funding should go to residents and small businesses for solar and wind energy installations, instead of the wealthy nuclear industry. With solar and wind there's no perpetual astronomical waste costs, no security force, no government subsidized catastrophic insurance and no need for evacuation plans. In his April 30 letter, Ross Brady used meaningless calculations to support giving our tax dollars to the wealthy nuclear industry. Brady can defend dangerous, polluting, and costly nuclear power and attack ACE, but he can't silence ACE or make us move. I lived here over 40 years before Limerick Nuclear Plant started operating. I won't stop trying to prevent harm to our community's children and their children from Limerick's operations. ACE members care deeply about others. We don't believe anyone should have to leave their community for a safer life."