Re: off-site emergency drills

[RONALD GOODWIN <RONALD_GOODWIN@health.ohio.gov>]

     To Ken Douglas and anyone else new to the E-planning world
     
The BVNPS exercise was not really building to a release.  There has to be a 
release.  It usually occurs somewhere between 3 and 4 hours after the event 
starts.  It will last for anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, depending on how much 
territory the monitoring teams have to cover (e.g., at Perry Plant, one-half of 
the EPZ [Emergency Planning Zone] is Great Lakes and does not require a lot of 
warning sirens, etc. therefore monitoring is almost always limited to a wind 
from the NW, N or NE.  An emergency (exercise) at San Onofre only involves land 
mass to the north (San Clemente - we tried to have an exercise there while Nixon
was home but the Feds rescheduled us) East and South.  Etc.  If you play awhile 
in these things, you begin to figure out, not only when the release will occur, 
what has to fail to make it occur, e.g., containment or dry well hatch, PORVs, 
Steam Reliefs, etc., how much radioiodine or particulate matter will escape (not
much particulate ever is released, cause most plants do not have computer 
programs to calculate the whole body Total Effective Dose Equivalent etc.), and 
where the plume is gonna go - From BV, if WV and OH is playing the wind will be 
from 90 degrees.  ALWAYS!  Otherwise, WV and OH do not have to play, cause none 
of their EPZ is affected.

Scenario writers have to meet objectives stated by FEMA and NRC.  Scenario 
writers do not always want to meet these objectives but the 180 day clock is 
something you can not argue with (The 180 day clock starts when a utility or 
state agency fails an exercise and must re-exercise within 180 days).

Ain't this fun?  Stick in there, you will learn to love EP work too.

I bid you peace!

Ron Goodwin

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: off-site emergency drills
Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at Internet
Date:    4/8/96 1:29 PM


>>>
>Regis A. Greenwood, C H P
>ragreen1@ix.netcom.com
said
>The really sad thing about these drills, aside from using up a tremendous 
>amount of person days of time, is that they are self defeating. In order to 
>excercise the off-site agencies, all drills have to give the off-site 
>agencies something to do. This means somehow getting a plume off-site; 
>therefore all drills wind up as practice for total disaster
     
 How true! I recently participated in a practice and drill at the Beaver
Valley PS in PA. It was clear very quickly that the drill was building 
towards a release. In our case it also had to involve an east wind so that 
WV and Ohio people would have something to do.
     
The drill (or at least the practise) really was worthwhile for me.  I now 
know where to go and what to do if the need should ever arise and I learned 
a lot about the power plant and its safety preparation. 
     
BTW does anyone form the BVPS monitor this list? I would be glad to get 
acquainted.
     
Ken Douglass
Interim RSO
West Virginia University Hospitals
West Virginia Universi