Lacey, N.J., hearing set on nuclear plant evacuation plan
Asbury Park Press, N.J. --Jul. 21
Jul. 21--Emergency management officials tonight are expected to hear feedback on a controversial plan designed to evacuate towns in case a radioactive release from the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey becomes an immediate threat.
Since late last year, some Ocean County towns, lobbying groups and state
officials have intensified their opposition to the plant's intent to renew its
operating license. A renewal would allow the 650-megawatt reactor, the oldest in
the country, to generate power 20 years after the expiration of its current
license in 2009.
The evacuation plan has been cited by renewal opponents as a major reason for
the plant to close. Their main point of contention: The county road system,
which hasn't changed much since plant construction began in 1965, lacks
evacuation routes that could move fleeing residents quickly enough.
Officials in charge of the plan have said that only towns in the path of an
airborne radioactive plume would need evacuation. Plumes, they've said, travel
in one direction: with the wind. It's unlikely that authorities would need to
evacuate the entire area within 10 miles at once.
There could be as many as 243,000 people in that area during summer months,
about 63,000 more than the year-round population, according to the evacuation
plan.
Several mayors are expected to attend tonight's hearing, but it wasn't clear
to the state Department of Environmental Protection yesterday which ones plan to
speak, said Jill Lipoti, assistant director of the department's Radiation
Protection and Release Prevention office.
Brick Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli, a leader in the campaign to shut down the
reactor, will attend the hearing, said Janet Tauro, a Brick resident active in
the campaign to close Oyster Creek.
Resolutions either opposing relicensing or seeking an immediate shutdown of
Oyster Creek have been passed in 17 of Ocean County's 33 towns.
Representatives of the Department of Environmental Protection, State Police
and Department of Health and Senior Services will attend the hearing to respond
to comments and questions.
At last year's hearing, citizens and lobbyist groups -- Jersey Shore Nuclear
Watch, the Washington-based Nuclear Information and Research Service and the New
Jersey Public Interest Research Group -- unsuccessfully called on the state to
allow an independent assessment of the plan.
Annual hearings on the Radiological Emergency Response Plan are mandated
under the Radiation Accident Response Act, which became state law in 1981.
This story contained information from previous Press stories.
-----
To see more of the Asbury Park Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.app.com
(c) 2004, Asbury Park Press, N.J. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content,
contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213)
237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com