The Nuclear Regulatory Commission provides standards for plans to protect the public living within ten miles of a nuclear power plant in case there is an accident that could release radioactive materials. Operators of nuclear power plants must develop emergency response plans for their facilities and they must have evacuation plans ready for residents who live within ten miles of nuclear facilities. State and country emergency planning agencies may use nuclear evacuation plans for other emergencies such as severe storms or wild fires.
Exelon Corporation is a U.S. Fortune 100 Energy company with headquarters in Chicago. With revenues of around thirty five billion dollars, it employs about thirty four thousand people. It is the largest electric holding company in the U.S. by revenue. It is also the largest regulated utility in the U.S. with about ten million customers. Exelon operates regulated utilities in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Washington, DC.
Exelon maintains and operates more nuclear power reactors than any other company in the U.S. As of 2009, Exelon has full or majority ownership of seventeen nuclear reactors at ten nuclear power plants. Exelon nuclear power plants operating under the Exelon Nuclear Partners, a division of Exelon Generation, provide nineteen gigawatts of power. Exelon also has oil and natural gas power plants, hydropower stations, solar and wind installations and two power plants fueled by methane gas from landfills.
Exelon officials claim that their top priority is the health and safety of communities around its plants. In order to implement that commitment, Exelon says that it wants to ensure that citizens are “prepared and informed about what they should do if there is an accident at a nearby nuclear facility.” Exelon is sending out an informational emergency response brochure to all the residences and businesses that are located within ten miles of any of its nuclear power plants.
The brochure contains information about emergency preparedness. This includes reception centers, evacuation routes and a list of emergency alert broadcast stations. The packet includes a card to be completed and returned by any residents who has special transportation needs. The information in the brochure can also be found on the Exelon website, www.exeloncorp.com.
The Exelon Senior Vice President of Midwest operations said in a press release that “One of Exelon’s core values is safety, and we do all that we can ensure the communities surrounding our plants are kept informed about safety procedures. Although we’ve never had an event that required residents to use these brochures, they’re important to have — just in case. People should keep them with other important documents to ensure that they’re available if needed."
Exelon says that their nuclear power plants have “multiple physical barriers and layers of backup safety systems to ensure safe operations, even in extreme conditions such as floods, tornadoes and earthquakes.” Exelon maintains teams of nuclear emergency planning experts at each of their nuclear power plants. These teams work with state, county and local emergency management officials to train personnel and test emergency plans.
