Key Issues

• The U.S. federal government established a 10-mile emergency planning zone around each nuclear energy plant to protect the public in the event of a serious reactor accident. Electric utilities routinely test emergency plans through drills and exercises with local and state personnel.

• Utilities, working with state and local government teams, collect data to determine the best protective action decisions for members of the public in the event of an incident at a reactor.

• If evacuation were necessary, emergency responders would initially focus on those citizens likely to be exposed to a potential radioactive release: those within a two-mile radius around the plant, as well as sector(s) five miles downwind. State and local governments make the determination and implement protective action orders for the public.

• In the event of a release of radiation, state and local governments will also sample water, milk, soil and crops within a 50-mile radius of a plant to determine if radiation was deposited during an incident. According to the federal guidelines for “worst-case” reactor accidents, immediate life-threatening doses would not occur outside the 10-mile evacuation zone, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If radiation is found, local officials could:

- Quarantine or dispose water, milk, or other food products;

- Replace livestock feed; and

- Move meat or milk producing animals to alternate pastures.

• This strategy prevents potentially contaminated products from entering the food supply. By removing the affected food products, the potential for people living near the plant to receive radiation is reduced.