Indian Point Officials: ‘We are Confident in Evacuation Plans’

More needs to be done to inform residents living around nuclear power plants like the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, according to a report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

According to the report, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have done an adequate job working state and local governments to develop evacuation plans for residents who live within a 10-mile zone of nuclear power plants.

But the GAO report states that it is unclear how localities that exist outside the 10-mile zone will react in the event of emergency because FEMA and the NRC don’t “require similar information to be provided to the public outside of the 10-mile zone and have not studied public awareness in this area.”

Entergy, the company that operates Indian Point, released the following statement.

“Our current emergency response plan uses NRC estimates to factor in the possibility that there will be so-called shadow evacuations. This report suggests the NRC take another look at the methodology used to determine these estimates. We are confident our emergency response plan will work in the unlikely event it is needed.”

The 10-mile zone is important because residents who live within this zone are at risk of direct exposure to radiation and inhalation exposure in the event of a radiological release.

About 273,000 people live within the 10-mile emergency zone established for Indian Point.

But the GAO report states that it is unclear how localities that exist outside of the emergency zone will react in the event of emergency because FEMA and the NRC don’t “require similar information to be provided to the public outside of the 10-mile zone and have not studied public awareness in this area.”

The report goes on to state: “Without knowing reactions outside the 10-mile zone, NRC cannot be confident that its estimates of shadow evacuations outside the 10-mile zone provide a reasonable basis for planning off-site protective action strategies.”

Shadow evacuation is a term to describe the behavior of people who will depart on their own. The fear is that these shadow evacuees will clog roads and slow things down.

The GAO study was requested by four U.S. senators: Democrats Barbara Boxer of California, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont, according to the Huffington Post . The request was made in response to an Associated Press series published in 2011 that highlighted flaws in community planning for nuclear accidents.

Indian Point along with the  St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant in Florida, the  Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania and San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California are the four nuclear plants the GAO visited for its report.

The GAO’s report had this to say about the NRC’s reactions to the studies findings: “NRC generally disagreed with GAO's finding, stating that its research shows public response outside the zone would generally have no significant impact on evacuations. GAO continues to believe that its recommendation could improve radiological emergency preparedness efforts and is consistent with NRC guidance.”

Entergy is in the process of trying to renew the licenses to operate Indian Point Nuclear Energy Center Units 2 and 3 with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Unit 2’s license expires in 2013 and Unit 3’s expires in 2015.