Resolution to Support Expansion of Emergency Planning Zones

SAFE Carolinas is working to get a resolution passed with Asheville City Council and Buncombe County Commissioners to support the expansion of emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants. If you are interested in passing a resolution in your town, please contact us. 


RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT EXPANSION OF EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES AROUND NUCLEAR POWER REACTORS

Whereas current US Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations establish a 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone for evacuations around US nuclear reactors and a 50-miles Ingestion Pathway Zone to monitor and potentially interdict contaminated food, water, milk and livestock;

Whereas the April 1986 nuclear accident  in Chernobyl and the March 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima resulted in interdiction of contaminated food and livestock hundreds of miles from the reactor sites and Wales contaminated livestock approximately 1,000 miles away after the Chernobyl accident;

Whereas the real –world experience of the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear accidents resulted in evacuations of villages 25 miles away from Fukushima and over 100 miles away from Chernobyl, the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone and 50 mile Ingestion Pathway zones are inadequate and outdated;

Whereas the proposed WS Lee nuclear station is directly 60 miles from Asheville, NC and proposed location on the Broad River in Gaffney, SC with headwaters above Lake Lure, Chimney Rock , North Carolina;

Whereas nuclear power is generally the most water intensive energy technology and 60 % of the continental US experienced drought conditions this summer (2012 ); the  proposed WS LEE nuclear station would use 47 million gallons of water a day from the Broad River to cool and operate the plant which already services the Cliffside Coal Plant 16 miles upstream using 20 million gallons of water per day;

Whereas a US and European scientific study published this year (2012) Source: “Nuclear, Coal Power Face Climate Change Risk: Study” by David Fogarty, revealed the likelihood of extreme drops in power generation at nuclear plants resulting in either complete or almost-total shutdowns are projected to triple and that most significant US impacts will be at power plants inland along major rivers in the Southeast;

Whereas the AP1000 Westinghouse reactor proposed for the WS LEE nuclear plant is under a court challenge for safety issues and design flaws exacerbating concerns for potential accidents;

Whereas the federal Price Anderson Act leaves the financial responsibility of a nuclear accident to the affected citizens and municipalities and whereas Asheville could experience threats to agriculture, decrease in tourism, radiation exposure leading to health consequences, environmental degradation, and an influx of evacuees from towns closer to the reactor site.

Whereas the citizens of Asheville deserve the greatest possible protection from nuclear power accidents and the greatest possible preparation to mitigate the effects of nuclear accidents;

Whereas current NRC emergency planning regulations are inadequate to provide a sufficient level of protection for the citizens of Asheville;

 BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE

Supports the expansion of current Emergency Planning Zones from 10 to 25 miles around U.S.

Nuclear sites;

Supports the creation of a new Emergency Response Zone of 25 to 50 miles around US nuclear reactor sites that would require nuclear power utilities to identify evacuation routes and provide this information to the public within this zone;

Supports the expansion of the Ingestion Pathway Zone from 50 miles to 100 miles around US nuclear reactors sites;

Supports emergency evacuation exercises that practice response to situations involving regionally-appropriate initiating or concurrent natural disasters;

Supports the petition for Rulemaking submitted by 38 organizations across the United States on February 15, 2012, since endorsed by more than 2700 organizations and individuals, and docketed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as PRM-50-104.  In addition, the City of Asheville will inform the Secretary of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the appointed Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners of its support for PRM-50-104.

SAFE Carolinas

Asheville, NC

Contact:  Laura Sorensen  lsredoak@gmail.com