Nuclear Power

About Radiological Emergency Preparedness

Commercial nuclear power plants have long been one of, if not the most regulated aspect of US Critical Infrastructure. With 98 reactors within 60 nuclear power plants in operation in 30 states, nuclear power consistently generates approximately 20% of our nation's electricity. Within the reactor core, uranium fuel pellets contained in rods produce a considerable amount of heat through a process called fission. This heat is converted into steam which powers a turbine to generate electricity for our homes.

The construction and operation of these facilities is closely monitored and regulated to prevent incidents. If the primary and secondary systems fail, emergencies are possible, including those with a radioactive release that could affect public health and safety. As a result, federal, state and local officials, in addition to these utilities are required to have comprehensive emergency plans in place to protect against and respond to incidents at these facilities. Through oversight provided by both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, these plans are reviewed, drilled and evaluated regularly to ensure they meet regulatory standards.

The State of New Hampshire has one nuclear power plant within its borders, Seabrook Station. This plant generates approximately 1,244 million watts of electricity per year, enough power to supply the annual needs of approximately 1.2 million families. It is the responsibility of the Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management to maintain New Hampshire's nuclear power plant off-site emergency plans, including annual reviews and updates.

In case of an emergency at Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant, Radiological Emergency Plans define two "emergency planning zones" to prepare for and recover from potential radiological releases. One zone covers an area within a 10-mile radius of the plant, where it is possible that people could be harmed by direct radiation exposure. There are seventeen (17) New Hampshire towns within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone around Seabrook Station: Brentwood, East Kingston, Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Kingston, New Castle, Newfields, Newton, North Hampton, Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook, South Hampton and Stratham. There are also six Massachusetts towns in the Seabrook 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone. The second zone covers a broader area, usually up to a 50-mile radius from the plant, where radioactive materials could contaminate water supplies, food crops, and livestock.

The potential danger from an accident at a nuclear power plant is exposure to radiation. This exposure could come from the release of radioactive material from the plant into the environment, usually characterized by a plume (cloud-like formation) of radioactive gases and particles. The major hazards to people in the vicinity of the plume are radiation exposure to the body from the cloud and particles deposited on the ground, inhalation of radioactive materials and ingestion of radioactive materials.

As a way to group emergencies at these facilities and coordinate appropriate responses based upon actual effects and consequences, incidents at nuclear power plants are broken into Emergency Classification Levels. From least severe to most severe, they are: Unusual Event, Alert, Site Area Emergency, and General Emergency.

• Unusual Event: Events are in process or have occurred which indicate a potential degradation in the level of safety of the plant or indicate a security threat to facility protection has been initiated. No releases of radioactive material requiring offsite response or monitoring are expected unless further degradation of safety systems occurs.
• Alert: Events are in process or have occurred which involve an actual or potential substantial degradation in the level of safety of the plant or a security event that involves probably life threatening risk to site personnel or damage to site equipment because of hostile action. Any releases are expected to be limited to small fractions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Protective Action Guideline exposure levels.
• Site Area Emergency: Events are in process or have occurred that involve actual or likely major failures in plant functions needed for protection of the public or hostile action that results in intentional damage or malicious acts; (1) toward site personnel or equipment that could lead to the likely failure of or; (2) prevent effective access to, equipment needed for the protection of the public. Any releases are not expected to result in exposure levels which exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Protective Action Guideline exposure levels beyond the site boundary.
• General Emergency: Events are in process or have occurred which involve actual or imminent substantial core degradation or melting with potential for loss of containment integrity or hostile action that result in an actual loss of physical control of the facility. Releases can be reasonably expected to exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Protective Action Guideline exposure levels offsite for more than the immediate site area.

If you or someone you know is a resident within 10 miles of Seabrook Station and requires special assistance in case of an emergency due to disabilities, access, or functional needs please consider submitting their contact information on this form.

Information submitted is used to notify local government officials in order to assist residents with emergency or evacuation needs. Information submitted will be kept confidential and used for state and local emergency uses only.