[ RadSafe ] A town was thrown into panic after the council began a campaign to prepare households to deal with radiation leaks

[Jeff Terry]

From: "Fred Dawson" <fd003f0606 at blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: March 12, 2010 10:08:39 AM CST
To: <radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: A town was thrown into panic after the council began a  
campaign to prepare households to deal with radiation leaks


Telegraph reports“A town was thrown into panic after the council began  
a campaign to prepare households to deal with radiation leaks.

Residents barricaded themselves indoors and made frantic telephone  
calls to the emergency services after "alarmist" leaflets were  
distributed to 1,200 homes on the Isle of Portland, Dorset.

The pamphlets, which were posted through letterboxes after dark,  
outlined safety measures to be taken in the event of a nuclear leak

They told people within a mile of Portland port, where nuclear  
submarines can berth, to shut their doors and douse any fires.

Other instructions advised residents to not leave the area, to take  
potassium iodate tablets, and follow any instructions given.

To make matters worse, the distribution of the leaflets coincided with  
loud hailer announcements by water company officials that the water  
was being cut off, according to residents.

Rumours then quickly spread that there might be a radiation leak from  
a nuclear submarine.

Residents have accused organisers of the "Nuclear Accident Emergency  
Plan" of "scare-mongering".

The preparations were led by Dorset County Council, the Royal Navy,  
the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the borough council.

John Morris, a local resident, said: “I went outside when I heard the  
loudhailer announcement. I was handed this alarmist leaflet about  
nuclear leaks by a bloke who said nothing about it being an exercise.

“When I got the leaflet I thought ‘When’s the bomb going to drop?’

“It looked serious and it is no wonder people panicked. The organizers  
dealt with this in an utterly incompetent manner.”

Vivien Hawkins, 78, said: "It was frightening. I heard this awful  
noise, opened my front door but couldn't understand what they were  
saying.

"After that a booklet came telling me to shut all the windows and  
douse fires.”

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “All I heard was  
that there may have been a radiation emergency on Portland Port. I had  
to give my wife a sleeping tablet to help with the shock.

“It is ridiculous that the organisers have caused so much trauma over  
a training exercise.”

Ashley Reed, 42, said: "The impact of these leaflets coming through  
our letter boxes is the real crux of the anxiety generated.

"The first impression when you pick it up is that this is because of a  
radiation leak and these were delivered at night and after dark.”

Geoff Buckley, 73, a former senior commissioner engineer with Vickers,  
said: "If people don't know what's going on it scares them.

"Instead of using pamphlets, they should spend a bit of time going  
around to visit people."

The preparations were a pre-cursor to a larger exercise next month.  
The exercises are a statutory obligation because of the possibility  
that nuclear submarines could berth in Portland Harbour.

Donna George, senior emergency management officer at Dorset County  
Council said: “I understand that the message went out in the local  
paper and local radio so they were aware of the particular exercise we  
were looking to undertake”



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7429231/Town-thrown-into-panic-after-council-launches-radiation-exercise.html



Fred Dawson
New Malden
England