Calvert Cliffs Evacuation Plan Flawed, Inadequate
Solomons – Citizens and experts held a news conference
overlooking the Thomas Johnson Memorial
Bridge today to expose weaknesses in
the emergency evacuation strategy for the area around the Calvert Cliffs nuclear
power plant and to present evidence that a new nuclear reactor in Southern Maryland, as proposed by Constellation Energy, puts
area residents at even greater risk.
“How can we even think about building a third reactor when
we can’t handle an emergency evacuation from two?” said CalvertCounty
resident Bob Boxwell.
Critical flaws in the evacuation plan identified by experts
include:
Transit
bottlenecks: The Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge, the sole evacuation route
for residents on the southern half of the Calvert peninsula, is a
bottleneck even under normal conditions. Calvert County
has one main four-lane road, Maryland State Highway (MD) 2/4, bisecting
the county north to south, which would serve as the northern evacuation
route. Currently, there are 50,000 residents who live in the 10-mile
radius evacuation zone that would have to traverse these limited capacity
roads to exit the high risk area.
No siren
back-up: The emergency sirens intended to alert residents in case of an
accident are powered by the off-site power grid and lack a back-up power
source. Loss of off-site power
could lead to an accident requiring the sirens to be activated, but when
needed most, the sirens would not work.
Emergency
responder attrition: Sociologists
studying the Three Mile Island nuclear accident of 1979 documented that
the entire spectrum of first responders -- from emergency medical
technicians to doctors, nurses, and emergency room staff -- exhibited
“role conflict,” either delaying or entirely abandoning their assigned
responsibilities during the disaster, in order to tend to their own
personal or family’s needs.
Research conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists
suggests that nuclear reactors are at their highest risk levels when first
constructed -- their “break in” phase -- and as they degrade with age and enter
their “break down” phase. The two reactors currently at Calvert Cliffs were the
first in the country to have had their original 40 year licenses extended by an
additional 20 years beyond originally intended.
“A brand new untested reactor design coupled with two aging
reactors at Calvert Cliffs could be a perfect storm for a catastrophic radioactivity
release,” said Beyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps.
“The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reported that a
major accident at either of Calvert Cliffs’ current reactors would kill or
injure over 43,000 people,” said Dr. Gwen DuBois, a Baltimore medical doctor and spokesperson for
Physicians for Social Responsibility. “A
giant new reactor, and the inadequate emergency preparedness, would create the
possibility for an even worse medical disaster,” she added.
“Terrorists are not known to target wind turbines,” said by
David Kosmos, Program Associate for Maryland PIRG. “Constellation Energy should
turn its back on dangerous nuclear power and invest in safe 21st
century technology that will lead us towards a clean and safe energy future.”
