Archive - Tuesday, 6 January 2004


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Action plan for nuclear disaster

AN emergency plan to deal with a major incident at Oldbury Nuclear Power Station will be put before councillors in Monmouthshire this week.

Chief of the Emergency Planning Service, Alan Young, will update Cabinet members on the development of emergency response arrangements at the power station, situated only four miles away from Chepstow.

The report presented at a meeting on Wednesday details how all agencies would deal with an accident or terrorist attack at the Severnside atom plant.

Oldbury Power Station has a statutory duty to develop an on-site emergency plan, but legislation called the Radiation Emergency Preparedness and Public Information Regulations (REPPIR) 2001 requires local authorities to develop off site procedures.

The off-site plan released in December 2002 focused on an emergency planning zone extending 3km from Oldbury Power Station, but not the 15km zone that includes Monmouthshire.

This weeks Cabinet report states countermeasures could include the evacuation of a 4km zone around the site, not including Monmouthshire.

Residents within the 15km zone should also be included in the distribution of potassium iodate tablets, which protect the thyroid gland, and are presently only distributed in the 3km zone.

Cabinet members will be told this week a number of joint agency meetings were held in 2003 to progress the off-site plan.

Further arrangements included the development of systems of initial public warning through the media and a cohesive public health policy is now under discussion.

A system for notifying organisations in the wider area has been agreed and will be co-ordinated by the Gwent Police Major Incident arrangements and the council's 24 hour emergency planning service.

Alan Young, head of the emergency planning service, said: "With a multi agency foundation, we must work together to protect the public as best we can in any circumstances.

"Our emergency arrangements are well practised and well in hand and we will put in place these arrangements on our side of the estuary."