[en] According to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff training manual, in the event of a general emergency, the immediate evacuation of areas in the near vicinity [∼3 to 5 km (∼2 to 3 miles)] of an operating nuclear power plant would be warranted, preferably as a precautionary measure before major containment failure, if any. A general emergency should be keyed primarily to core-melt accident sequences, so it is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, should such a situation ever arise, there exists the possibility that people could be evacuating when, for whatever reason, the containment structure could be breached and evacuees could then be overtaken by a large, puff release. The question arises: Would the early evacuees be better off being inside a shelter, rather than outside traveling in the plume? This paper sheds some light on this question and provides some important scoping answers. Traveling at moderate speeds, it would be better to go rapidly through a puff than to stay in place and be exposed to all of it. And the earlier the warning time before the postulated release, the better. This logic leads directly to the concept of in-plant, prerelease emergency action levels (EALs) for early public warnings (or not), rather than projected doses, but that is a separate subject

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[en] This report presents a set of precalculated doses based on a set of postulated accident releases and intended for use in emergency planning and emergency response. Doses were calculated for the PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) accident categories of the Reactor Safety Study (WASH-1400) using the CRAC (Calculations of Reactor Accident Consequences) code. Whole body and thyroid doses are presented for a selected set of weather cases. For each weather case these calculations were performed for various times and distances including three different dose pathways - cloud (plume) shine, ground shine and inhalation. During an emergency this information can be useful since it is immediately available for projecting offsite radiological doses based on reactor accident sequence information in the absence of plant measurements of emission rates (source terms). It can be used for emergency drill scenario development as well

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[en] A recent review article provided a broad sample of literature regarding the administration of potassium iodide (KI) to reduce thyroid dose upon inhalation or radioiodine. Unfortunately, the article failed to address a fundamental point, to wit: for emergency preparedness, the KI issue reduces to the question: should KI be predistributed or not. This note will shed some light on this narrow, yet fundamental question

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[en] Relatively moderate scale emergency response actions by the public can provide substantial reductions in the number and chance of early and continuing health efects in the event of a major release of radionuclides from a nuclear power plant. In the event of a core melt accident scenario, early, precautionary evacuation of areas within 2 to 3 miles and sheltering elsewhere in the early time frame can substantially reduce the risk of early fatalities--to close to zero in some cases. In the further event of an actual major release of radioactivity to the atmosphere, expeditious relocation from highly contaminated areas would be necessary. This paper will discuss the calculations and emergency response assumptions that lead to these insights. Since emergency response is unlikely, the applications of these insights are more likely to be found in other areas such as emergency planning, siting and probabilistic risk analyses. (orig.)

[en] Doses which could be received while evacuating a nuclear facility following an accident involving atmospheric releases of radionuclides from irradiated fuel are estimated. The cases of travelling under a well established plume both when moving downwind and when moving across wind are considered. The theory is applicable both to radioactive and chemical pollutant cases. (U.K.)