Why Can't the Nuclear Bailout Bills Expand Radiological Preparedness in NJ?

Based on the latest article at NJSpotlight.com, it looks like the vote for the nuclear bailout is going to be a done deal with the Senate, Assembly, and Governor.

If the nuclear bailout bill (presently S2313/A3724, I think) is a fait accompli then the Murphy administration may want to consider requiring PSEG (and Excelon?) to increase the radius of their Emergency Planning Zones in NJ from the NRC-mandated 10 miles to 50 miles.

Some of the reasons why we need a 50-mile EPZ were explained back in 2015 in NJSpotlight.

Another reason: a substantive mandate for radiological terrorism preparedness throughout the state is still missing from the NJ Radiological Emergency Response Plan.

N.J.S.A. 26:2D-37, and other sections of the Radiation Accident Response Act, specifically limit the definition of an emergency response to a radiation accident to one that occurs (1) at a nuclear facility or (2) during a transportation accident. There is no specific mandate to develop  specific plans for responding to a nuclear disaster if it is caused by an act of terrorism and it happens outside a 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone. That's nuts.

The generous funding in these bills is more than enough to fund the mandated drills, equipment and training within a 50-mile EPZ – like it presently does within the current 10-mile EPZ. This would effectively expand the requirement for nuclear preparedness planning beyond two or three 10-mile zones into much of NJ.

If this suggestion is not included in the final bills that end up on the Governor's desk, then his  NJDEP should at least consider funding a pilot program for counties that are within the hypothetical 20-mile Dangerous Fallout Zone surrounding major urban centers within or proximate to NJ (1). The radiological planning documents already developed for the 10-mile EPZ could be provided to communities within the 20-mile DFZ in order to cost-effectively kick-start this planning.

The US GAO has been warning for years in multiple reports that the “government isn't fully prepared to handle a nuclear terrorist attack or a large-scale natural catastrophe, lacks effective coordination, and in some cases is years away from ensuring adequate emergency shelter and medical treatment”.

The US DHHS Office of Inspector General has also warned: “Although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires nuclear power plants to have emergency plans for their facilities and the immediate surrounding area, no Federal entity requires States or localities to have public health emergency plans for nonpowerplant radiological and/or nuclear (RN) incidents, such as a terrorist attack.”

This administration has walked into an opportunity to start fixing this. Batter up.

(1) The Dangerous Fallout Zone (DFZ) from a 10 kt bomb temporarily peaks at 10,000 mille Roentgens/hour, or about a million times ambient background radiation (in coastal NJ) at twenty miles from ground zero. Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation (2nd Ed. p.32) (NSSOSTP, 2010) http://www.remm.nlm.gov/PlanningGuidanceNuclearDetonation.pdf