ECLs for Field Staff Hello and welcome to the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s online training course Emergency Classification Levels. Please type your name, both first and last, and press enter.
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Introduction Working closely with Xcel energy, FEMA and local units of government, the state of Minnesota has developed detailed emergency plans that address actions to be taken to protect the health and safety of the public surrounding both the Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear generating plants. These plans are practiced routinely with oversight from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The purpose of this training is to explain how an emergency at a nuclear power plant is classified and what actions are taken by offsite organizations at each classification level.
Emergency Classification Levels There are four emergency classification levels, each having its own level of response. The classification levels are listed here in order of increasing severity:
First is a Notification of Unusual Event - Next is the Alert – Then a Site Area Emergency - And finally a General Emergency
A Notification of Unusual Event is a low level event which poses no threat to public safety but which warrants an increased awareness on the part of plant and off-site agency personnel. No release of radiation requiring an offsite response is expected.
An Alert is also a low level condition which poses no threat to public safety, but for which precautionary mobilization of certain response functions is appropriate in case conditions degrade. Small amounts of radioactive material could be released but would be only inside the plant. And any release is expected to be only a small fraction of the Environmental Protection Agency Protective Action Guidelines for exposure levels.
For a Site Area Emergency, conditions have degraded to a point warranting the full activation of response functions. Small amounts of radioactive material could be released into the atmosphere near the plant, but these are not expected to exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s Protective Action Guidelines for exposure levels beyond the site boundary. However, precautionary protective actions for high risk portions of the general public might be recommended.
At a General Emergency, conditions have degraded to a point threatening public safety for which some form of protective actions will be initiated. Radioactive releases may exceed the Environmental Protection agency’s Protective Action Guidelines beyond the site boundary. Protective actions based on actual or projected data may be required for those people living and working within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone surrounding the plant.
1 | P a g e During radiological emergency preparedness drills and exercises, we usually begin at one of the lower ECLs such as the Alert and move progressively through the ECLs until we have completed all of our actions through the general emergency. We do this in order to demonstrate all of our plans and procedures for each emergency classification level. However in the unlikely event of an actual emergency at a nuclear power plant, there would not necessarily be a steady progression from one ECL to the next. In fact, historically speaking when an ECL has been declared by a nuclear power plant, the emergency usually begins and ends with the same ECL.
The remainder of this training will go into greater detail as to what actions are taken by offsite response organizations at each of the emergency classification levels just discussed.
Notification of Unusual Event The following actions will be taken if a notification of unusual event is declared by either Prairie Island or the Monticello nuclear generating plant.
Even though a notification of unusual event is a low level event which poses no threat to public safety, it does require that offsite agency personnel be made aware of the situation. Therefore, if an NUE is declared at Prairie Island, both MN and WI would be notified as would the Prairie Island Indian community and the risk counties of Goodhue and Dakota in Minnesota and Pierce County in Wisconsin.
If it were declared in Monticello, then Minnesota would be notified along with Wright and Sherburne counties.
While the state and the utility may initiate communications about technical issues, due to the low level of severity posed by a notification of unusual event, neither the offsite agencies nor the utility would activate their Emergency Operation Centers at this time.
Alert The following actions will be taken if an ALERT is declared by either Prairie Island or the Monticello nuclear generating plant.
Even though an ALERT Emergency Classification Level is also a low level condition which poses no threat to public safety, precautionary mobilization of certain response functions needs to occur in case conditions degrade.
For this reason, the governor signs and issues a predetermined Emergency Executive Order activating the State Emergency Operations Center and portions of the National Guard.
At this time, county emergency operations centers will also activate. In the case of Monticello, it will be Wright and Sherburne Counties and in the case of Prairie Island, Goodhue and Dakota counties would activate in MN and Pierce County would activate in Wisconsin.
A state patrol helicopter would then be dispatched to a county staging area so that emergency notifications could be made in recreational areas.
2 | P a g e Emergency Worker Decon sites are placed on standby. For problems with Monticello, these would include the Zimmerman Fire Department in Sherburne and Rockford Fire in Wright County. Or, for issues at Prairie Island, it would be Hastings Fire Department in Dakota County and Red Wing Fire Department in Goodhue County.
At the Alert emergency classification level, Target is notified to discontinue the distribution of potassium iodide from Target pharmacies. The reason for this is because if conditions at the plant degrade to the point where protective actions such as evacuations are required to protect the public, it is in everyone’s best interest to follow these instructions rather than wasting time by lining up at Target Pharmacies.
Click on the voucher for a brief explanation of Minnesota’s potassium iodide distribution program.
Each year planning guides are mailed to all the residents that live within the 10-mile emergency planning zones of each of the nuclear power plants in Minnesota. These planning guides contain important emergency information regarding what the people should do in the unlikely event of a release at one of the nuclear power plants.
In addition to information, these Planning guides also contain a voucher that families, businesses and dependent care facilities can bring to Target Pharmacies within the 10-mile emergency planning zones and exchange for potassium iodide. Potassium Iodide, also known by its chemical symbol KI, is pre- distributed on a voluntary basis to members of the general public so that everyone in the proximity of either of the nuclear power plants has access to potassium iodide should the need arise. A standing order from the Minnesota Department of Health authorizes the secondary protective action of taking KI when directed to evacuate or shelter-in-place in affected areas. KI is not distributed post incident and is not available at reception centers.
Site Area Emergency The following actions will be taken if a Site Area Emergency is declared by either Prairie Island or the Monticello nuclear generating plant. At this classification level events at the nuclear power plant are much more serious and a full activation of response functions begin to occur and Precautionary protective actions for high risk portions of the general public will be reviewed and possibly recommended.
At the Site Area Emergency, the governor issues a predetermined declaration of a “State of Emergency “
The declaration authorizes the use of state agencies and resources to assist in the affected areas. The declaration is a precautionary measure and is necessary for any formal request of assistance to be made to the federal government, should conditions become even more serious.
The State Emergency Operations Center now recommends to counties that have school districts inside the 10-mile EPZ to relocate the children to their designated sister schools located outside the 10-mile EPZ
And all schools bordering the 10-mile EPZ are notified not to send school children home who live within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone.
3 | P a g e Reception centers are also set up and staffed to receive and monitor evacuees in case protective actions become necessary. Also, Congregate Care Centers managed by the Red Cross are activated near the Reception Centers.
At a Site Area Emergency, preparations are made to evacuate or shelter in place special populations should the need arise:
These would include:
Jails and Prisons
Nursing Homes, Dependant Care Facilities, Daycares
And Government facilities such as Emergency Operations & Dispatch Centers.
Also, rail and river traffic is suspended within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone – this includes the North Star Commuter Rail Line around the Monticello Plant.
General Emergency The following actions will be taken if a General Emergency is declared by either the Prairie Island or the Monticello nuclear generating plant. Remember this is the highest of the 4 emergency classification levels, which means that conditions have now degraded to a point where public safety is threatened and some protective actions will be initiated.
When a General Emergency is declared by a nuclear power plant it means that a release of nuclear material is either occurring or is likely to occur. Therefore protective actions are implemented to protect the public and emergency workers; these include evacuating the public or having them shelter in place. In combination with this, as a secondary protective action, the use of Potassium Iodide is approved for the general public and emergency workers.
The population that is evacuated or sheltered in place is based on plume projections and computer models that take into account:
the amount of radiation that is or may be released
wind speed
and wind direction.
Live media briefings are initiated to push out the evacuation or shelter message.
Special News Bulletins are released to the media.
As Protective Action Decisions are implemented, necessary traffic and access control points are setup and staffed to facilitate evacuee traffic flow and to restrict re-entry into the evacuated area.
4 | P a g e These traffic control points are located at the border of the evacuated area. Each road that crosses into it would, at least initially, require staffing by either the sheriff’s office or the state patrol. Eventually, as the incident progresses and barricades are put in place, at least some of this burden could be transferred to the National Guard.
As people leave the evacuated areas surrounding either the Monticello or Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plants, they would be directed to one of three reception centers. If evacuating from around Monticello, the general public would go to either the Princeton Reception Center in Mille Lacs County or the Rogers Reception Center in Hennepin County. And if evacuating from around Prairie Island, they would be directed to the Cottage Grove reception center in Washington County.
At the reception center, people and their vehicles can be monitored for radioactive contamination and if contamination is found it can be cleaned.
The Department of Agriculture issues an agricultural embargo for the evacuated or sheltered area. This means no food or food products can be moved either into, out, or through the area that has been embargoed.
In addition, the DNR puts restrictions on hunting, fishing and recreational land use in the areas where the evacuation has taken place.
As unlikely as a release at a nuclear power plant is, recent events have shown us that we must not be complacent and that we need to be prepared if the unthinkable happens. This training has outlined a partial list of basic actions that would be taken based on the severity an emergency at a nuclear power plant. For more detailed information about the actions taken at each emergency classification level and the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program please review the fact sheets and other documents on our website at: hsem.dps.mn.gov
Test By clicking “NEXT” you will begin the assessment portion of the training module. Please complete each question and click “SUBMIT” when you have completed your answer. At the end of the assessment, you will receive your score.
On the following slide, you will receive your certificate listing your name, agency, the name of the course, today’s date and your score. If you would like a copy, click the printer button located at the bottom of the certificate, but be sure to adjust your printer preferences to print your certificate in landscape rather than portrait. Printing your certificate is for your own records and is not used to track your training. In order to receive credit, you MUST press the “POST RESULTS” button at the bottom of the following page. Once you do so you will be directed to enter your Adobe ID or e-mail address and password. If you do not have an Adobe ID and password, you can get one by clicking on the light blue text on this slide or by visiting Acrobat.com.
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