Two citizens groups seek review of Ohio nuclear emergency
plans
02/13/03
John Mangels and John Funk Plain Dealer
Reporters
With the heightened nationwide risk of terrorist attacks and continuing
revelations of safety issues at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, two
citizens groups want the state to rethink nuclear emergency strategies.
Ohio Citizen Action and Environmental Health Watch asked Gov. Bob Taft
yesterday to commission an independent review of the adequacy of state and
county plans to deal with emergencies at Davis-Besse near Toledo and the
Perry plant in Lake County.
A Taft spokesman said the administration would consider the request.
But he added that the governor "has full faith and confidence that county,
state and federal emergency management agencies and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission are doing everything they can to protect Ohio citizens."
The citizens groups' concerns are based in part on the findings of a
consultant reporting to New York Gov. George Pataki last month. The study
by former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Witt
identified problems with emergency preparedness at the Indian Point
reactor in New York and the Millstone reactor in neighboring Connecticut
and the plans of the government agencies that serve the areas' residents.
The confidence of the two Ohio organizations in this state's emergency
preparedness also has been shaken by recent events at the Davis-Besse
plant, where an unnoticed rust hole in the reactor's lid elevated the risk
of a nuclear accident.
"Given everything that has happened . . . it makes sense for the
governor to have a similar review" to the Witt report, said Stuart
Greenberg, director of Environmental Health Watch and a longtime member of
the Cuyahoga County Emergency Planning Committee. "This is not intended to
impugn the professional competence, dedication and hard work of emergency
responders."
"We need an expert to come in and look," said Amy Ryder of Ohio Citizen
Action. The last time the regional and state plans for Perry and
Davis-Besse had such an intensive sufficiency review was in 1987, she
said.
But the state, counties and nuclear plant owner FirstEnergy Corp. do
revise their plans annually, said Jim Greer, director of the Ottawa County
Emergency Management Agency. In addition, they hold regular exercises and
occasionally put the guidelines into action when tornadoes or floods have
struck, Greer said.
The county has extensive plans in the event of a Davis-Besse accident,
he said, including a network of 81 alert sirens, an automatic
telephone-calling system to warn area residents, and the ability to access
FirstEnergy's computer monitoring of radiation levels and reactor
conditions.
"Our people are well-trained," Greer said. "We're confident they're
going to do what we need them to do, to be there to help."
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