Area first responders receive nuclear trainingMar 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kelly Monitz The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Nuclear materials travel along the highways on a regular basis, but more transports are anticipated along the Interstate 81 corridor in the next year-and-a-half, prompting area emergency managers to offer additional training for their teams and other first responders. Steve Bekanich, director of Luzerne County's Emergency Management Agency, acknowledged the potential for more nuclear transports through the county in the coming months. He said his team is prepared should an accident occur. "As a nuclear power plant county, we're way ahead of the game when it comes to handling potential incidents," he said, referring to PPL Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Salem Township. "We have a head start on everyone else." Still, Bekanich's team and other first responders participated in a recent training session led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Safety Division, he said. "The best of the best came in and trained our people," Bekanich said. His counterpart at the Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency, John Matz, also sought training for his team after learning about more transports scheduled to come through his county, where a long-term bridge rehabilitation project will reduce I-81 to a single lane in each direction. "We reached out to our radiological support team" and tapped resources in the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Radiation Protection, he said. Most of the training is routine, as Schuylkill County would provide support to neighboring counties with nuclear power facilities, including Luzerne County, Matz said. Neither emergency manager knows precisely when a transport will come through, but they are notified and given an approximate time frame, such as "the next day or two," Bekanich said. "We're confident we can handle an incident, at least at the onset --and we don't have to handle these alone," he said, referencing a crash in Butler Township 3 1/2 years ago. On Sept. 23, 2009, a tractor-trailer hauling construction debris from a deregulated nuclear facility in New York overturned before dawn in the median on I-81, spilling its load. Specialized crews began arriving within hours to contain and clean up the spilled concrete and steel, ensuring that none of the material -- even small fragments -- remained, he said. EMA personnel, who had arrived first, also measured levels of radioactivity, which registered at background or naturally occurring levels, Bekanich said. The U.S. Department of Energy, which was also on scene monitoring the cleanup, had likewise confirmed low levels of radioactivity. "They take this very seriously. It's not like we're going to be on our own," Bekanich said. Discreet escorts often accompany these nuclear transports, making notifications to the proper authorities and cleanup crews immediate in the event of an accident, he explained. The likelihood of an incident, though, remains very low as these materials travel in containers built to withstand a crash, he said. "There's always a one-in-a-million chance, but they can be hit by a train and not fail," Bekanich said. "I'm not concerned about them going up and down the highway." These types of transports have been passing through the region for the more than 20 years that Bekanich has been involved in emergency management, he said. kmonitz@standardspeaker.com, 570-455-3636 http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=27786427 |