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RE: Nuclear Power Plants vs. Hydropower Plants
The following comes from a source in the Dam Safety group at TVA:
What you are saying is partially true, but not fully.
Nuclear is a different animal all together from hydro. Nuclear has to
deal with public relations more than that from a hydro standpoint. They
have to make people feel all warm and fuzzy because of the word
"nuclear". This is why they have more public awareness, to keep the
public from being scared to live within a nuclear site. People enjoy
the benefits of a lake and are typically not worried.
Anyway, TVA does have emergency action plans for all of their hydro
facilities. However, these are more procedural guidelines than anything
else. They describe what areas will be flooded in case of a failure,
what will be the losses, etc. etc. These plans are kept internal and
not shared with the public, but there are documents out there for public
viewing. They are given by the state and federal emergency management
agencies (TEMA and FEMA respectively). If TVA feels there is danger in
losing a dam or that a failure is imminent then they contact these
agencies. According to TVA's emergency action plans, these state and
federal agencies are kept in the loop as soon as a problem is observed.
TEMA and FEMA work along with TVA once a problem is identified. They
then decided collectively if an evacuation is necessary. If it is
deemed necessary, it is the responsibility of TEMA and FEMA to evacuate
the people. TVA will aid in how this is done, but ultimately it is the
decision of TEMA and FEMA. They decide the routes, what area, and so
on.
Hope this helps.
Cindy Ledbetter
Nuclear Engineer
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant
EQB 2N-WBN
423-365-1582
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan L Gawarecki [mailto:loc@icx.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 1:00 PM
To: RADSAFE
Subject: Nuclear Power Plants vs. Hydropower Plants
In late October I attended the Oak Ridge Regional Emergency Management
Forum that my organization had worked with DOE to organize. One of our
speakers was from Tennessee Valley Authority, talking about dam safety.
I was interested to find out that the emergency response documents are
considered "official use only"--they are shared with emergency
responders but not with the public. There is nothing at all to inform
the downstream residents and businesses of what to do in case of a dam
break; much less warn them.
Compare this to what TVA does around nuclear power plants (sirens, signs
for evacuation routes, instructions), which are not an acute hazard if
they fail, especially compared to a dam break.
I've come to the conclusion that TVA has its priorities screwed up.
My own opinion,
Susan Gawarecki
--
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org
.....................................................
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