Covid-19 is “a significant impediment to evacuation” during nuclear accident

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and many state emergency planning authorities in conjunction with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have been conducting COVID-19 Preparedness Assessments for the offsite emergency plans around U.S. nuclear power stations. While the two-page pro forma response issued by FEMA claims there is “reasonable assurance”  that emergency plans remain “adequate” should a serious nuclear accident occur, the federal agency is silent on the fact that  entire communities within the ten-mile evacuation planning zones (EPZ) effectively remain sheltering-in-place through state-issued stay at home orders as this highly infectious viral threat continues to grow.  A closer examination of additional documentation temporarily available then mysteriously taken down from the NRC public website raises serious questions and concerns about the present efficacy of radiological emergency preparedness around nuclear power stations during the pandemic--- particularly for populations more vulnerable to radiation exposure (infants, young children and pregnant women).

Specifically, FEMA Headquarters provided its June 2, 2020 Region I assessment for the state of emergency preparedness for New England’s Seabrook (NH) and Millstone (CT) nuclear power stations that was publicly posted on the NRC Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) on June 5, 2020. The assessment of emergency planning for the Millstone Units 2 and 3 included an attachment from the Director of the State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) Radiation Division. The CT DEEP determines that “the presence of the high risk of COVID-19 transmission represents a significant impediment to any orderly evacuation because the key strategy to prevent rapid transmission and spread of the disease is to maintain social distancing and minimize movement and gathering of large populations.” State officials concluded compensatory actions are needed where “evacuation should not be considered unless measured offsite dose exceeds levels that would result in offsite doses greater than 25 rem.”  The 25 rem dose is more than 12 times the threshold radiation dose (2 rem projected over a year) that current Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines presently advise authorities to initiate public evacuation from the pathway of accidental  radioactive releases.

The CT DEEP compensatory actions further outline the plan to delay the evacuation of populations stuck in nursing homes and hospitals until radiation doses from a nuclear accident exceed 100 rem. There is no evaluation of the attrition rate for emergency responders that will balk at going into radioactive zones contaminated at levels that exceed 100 rem.  The threshold dose for acute radiation sickness is 100 rem. Even this dose disregards more vulnerable populations including infants, young children and pregnant women.

FEMA Headquarters subsequently reissued the June 2, 2020 assessment for Region I on June 15, 2020 removing the CT DEEP attachment from the NRC public record and burying documentation of the Connecticut’s Covid-19 compensatory actions that intend to raise radiation exposure limit guidelines for the Millstone 10-mile emergency planning zone and significantly delay the state’s evacuation response.

There is one critical protective action that would well serve populations hunkered down by the viral threat that is deliberately being ignored by FEMA, NRC and state authorities, that being the immediate pre-distribution of potassium iodide tablets to all residents within the nation's emergency planning zones for nuclear power stations. The American Thyroid Association (ATA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have been urgently recommending the pre-distribution of potassium iodide (KI) tablets by direct delivery through the mail to all residents within the 10-mile evacuation planning zone of every US nuclear power station. KI is FDA approved for the safe and effective prophylactic protection of populations sheltering-in-place as well as during evacuation from radioactive iodine (I-131), a highly mobile radioactive gas released early in a nuclear accident. Radioactive iodine, inhaled and ingested, will concentrate in the thyroid gland where it can cause thyroid cancer and developmental disorders particularly in vulnerable populations that include infants, young children and pregnant women.  Presently, KI protective actions though incorporated as optional in emergency planning around US nuclear power stations is voluntary. Many states do not participate or stockpile KI tablets.  In states where KI is part of the radiological emergency plan, the general population is instructed that KI pickup voluntary. Consequently on a small fraction of potentially affected populations in the event of a nuclear accident presently have KI tablets in their homes.