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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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