Emergency Planning

I am agnostic on nuclear power – bit of a cop out I know. Interestingly, however, (particularly in terms of raised perceptions of nuclear danger in the context of Japan) this article reveals. “There have been two spillages of radioactive waste and a breakdown in an emergency cooling system at Britain’s nuclear plants in the last three months, according to a report to ministers leaked to the Guardian.

“A brown puddle containing plutonium five times the legal limit leaked from an old ventilation duct at the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria. This exposed “a number of shortfalls in the design”, says the report.

“Groundwater at the Torness nuclear power station near Edinburgh was contaminated with radioactive tritium (an isotope of hydrogen) leaking from two pipelines. At Hartlepool nuclear station on the north-east coast of England, the backup cooling system was put out of action by a faulty valve.”

It seems to me that the apocalyptic reports of nuclear fall-out often lead to very small exclusion zones which because of the rural location of our power plants, should something more catastrophic happen would perhaps radiate out to 20-25 miles.

I am intrigued by the level of detailed planning and provision for those rural communities likely to be affected in such a scenario by the public bodies that serve them.

I once almost drifted professionally into the world of “Emergency Planning” and I wonder what level of robustness underpins the thinking of those responsible for it in this context?