[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66588-66592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27861]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 50
[Docket No. PRM-50-79]
Lawrence T. Christian, et. al.; Receipt of Petition for
Rulemaking
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing for
public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking, dated
September 4, 2002, which was filed with the Commission by Lawrence T.
Christian, et al. The petition was docketed by the NRC on September 23,
2002, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-50-79. The petition requests
that the NRC amend its regulations regarding offsite emergency plans
for nuclear power plants to insure that all day care centers and
nursery schools in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities are
properly protected in the event of a radiological emergency.
DATE: Submit comments by January 15, 2003. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of
consideration can only be given to comments received on or before this
date.
ADDRESSES: Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.
For a copy of the petition, write to Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rules
and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
[[Page 66589]]
You may also provide comments via the NRC's interactive rulemaking
website at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. This site allows you to upload
comments as files in any format, if your web browser supports the
function. The petition and any public comments received are available
on the site. For information about the interactive rulemaking website,
contact Carol Gallagher at (301) 415-5905 or via e-mail at [email protected].
The petition and copies of comments received may be inspected, and
copied for a fee, at the NRC Public Document Room, (first floor) 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. These same documents may be
accessed via the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS accession number for the petition is ML022590350.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Office of
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. Telephone: 301-415-7163 or Toll-free: 1-800-368-5642. E-
mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission received a petition for
rulemaking dated September 4, 2002, submitted by Lawrence T. Christian,
et al. (the petitioners). The petition was docketed by the NRC on
September 23, 2002, and assigned Docket No. PRM-50-79.
The Petitioners
Lawrence T. Christian submitted a letter and attachments stating
the substance of the petition. Mr. Christian identified himself as a
resident of the evacuation zone around the Three Mile Island Nuclear
Power Station (TMI) and as the father of two preschool-aged children,
including a four-year-old daughter who attends a nursery school within
eyesight of TMI. Attached to the petition are pages bearing the
signatures of over 3,000 public co-signers. Most of the co-petitioners
indicated that they were residents of the State of Pennsylvania.
The Petitioners' Interest in the Requested Action
According to the petitioners, there are currently no Federally-
mandated requirements specifically designed to protect daycare centers
and nursery schools located in the evacuation zones around nuclear
power stations. They believe that this regulatory deficiency puts
preschool children at risk in the event of a nearby radiological
accident and undermines FEMA requirements that offsite plans adequately
protect the public health and safety.
The petition states that Mr. Christian became aware of this
situation after he contacted several daycare centers and nursery
schools in his York County, Pennsylvania, community, and learned that
none of them has an adequate emergency evacuation plan in case of a
radiological emergency at the nearby TMI plant. Mr. Christian conducted
an informal survey of local daycare and nursery school directors, and
learned that most of them do not know what to do in case of a
radiological emergency. Mr. Christian found that most daycare and
nursery school directors in his area:
1. Do not believe that they have been given adequate information or
training to handle an evacuation of children in their care during a
radiological emergency.
2. Do not have copies of radiological emergency evacuation plans
for their localities.
3. Are frequently uncertain or mistaken as to how an evacuation of
their own institution would proceed. Some directors assume that parents
would pick up their own children; others assume that center or school
staff would have to transport the children, but have no clear plan for
executing a staff-run evacuation. Some mistakenly believe that York
County would provide emergency bus service and relocation centers if an
evacuation were necessary.
4. Do not know where children would or should be taken in the event
of an emergency evacuation in response to a radiological accident.
5. Do not know whether the children in their charge would be
transported in approved child-safety seats during an evacuation.
6. Assume that, if no organized mass transportation were provided
for the children in their charge, daycare center and nursery school
employees would be required to stay in the workplace until every child
had been safely picked up by their parents.
7. Believe that the question of evacuation plans for their
institutions needs to be addressed in a systematic way.
The petition states that Mr. Christian reported his findings to the
York County Board of Commissioners and the York County Director of
Emergency Management, expressing his alarm at this gap in emergency
planning. Mr. Christian received responses from the York County
Director of Emergency Management and the Executive Director of York
County's Department of Emergency Services indicating that Pennsylvania
State law did not require licensed daycare centers and nursery schools
to plan for radiological emergencies, and that the county did not have
the authority to mandate such planning. Mr. Christian was advised by
York County emergency management officials to ask municipal government
officers in his community for emergency planning assistance concerning
local daycare and nursery schools.
According to the petition, municipal government officials advised
Mr. Christian to have the director of his daughter's nursery school
work with Exelon Corporation, which owns and operates TMI, to develop
an evacuation plan for the school. The school director requested
Exelon's assistance, but had received no response after 30 days.
Moreover, the school director informed Mr. Christian that her
institution did not have the resources to arrange for bus or van
transportation for students in the event of an emergency, and that,
should an accident occur at TMI, the school would have to request that
parents pick up their children individually.
The petitioners note that Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) regulations pertaining to Radiological Emergency Readiness
Planning (RERP) mandate that emergency offsite plans protect the public
health and safety, and they stress that preschool-aged children are
members of the public covered by that mandate. The petitioners believe
that voluntary, ad hoc emergency evacuation plans that rely on parents
to enter an evacuation zone to pick up preschool students during a
radiological emergency are inadequate to protect the health and safety
of the children at risk. The petitioners claim that Federally-required
RERPs already mandate that public and private elementary, middle,
junior, and high schools located in evacuation zones around nuclear
power plants be provided with designated relocation centers, designated
emergency transportation, rosters of emergency bus drivers, and
educational materials about radiological emergency procedures. These
institutions are also required to undergo state of readiness checks and
must be included in local radiological emergency preparedness
exercises. The petitioners contend that because no corresponding
standard measure of adequate protection currently exists for daycare
centers and nursery schools in the vicinity of nuclear power
facilities, Federal, state and county emergency plans do not properly
take these preschool institutions into account.
[[Page 66590]]
The Petitioners' Request
The petitioners request that the NRC immediately establish a
standard measure of adequate protection by creating new rules requiring
that emergency planning for daycare centers and nursery schools located
in evacuation zones be included in the offsite emergency plans of all
NRC nuclear power facility licensees. The petitioners request that the
NRC amend its regulations to insure that all children attending daycare
centers and nursery schools within the evacuation zone are:
1. Assigned to designated relocation centers established safely
outside the evacuation zone.
2. Provided with designated transportation to relocation centers in
the event of an emergency evacuation.
3. Transported in approved child-safety seats that meet State and
Federal laws as they pertain to the transportation of children and
infants under 50 pounds in weight or 4'9'' in height.
The petitioners also request that the following be mandated by NRC
regulations:
4. The creation and maintenance of working rosters of emergency bus
drivers and back-up drivers for nursery school and daycare center
evacuation vehicles, and the establishment of a system for notifying
these individuals in the event of a radiological emergency. These
rosters should be regularly checked and updated, with a designated
back-up driver listed for each vehicle and route.
5. Notification of emergency management officials by individual
preschools as to the details of each institution's radiological
emergency plan.
6. Annual site inspections of daycare centers and nursery schools
within the evacuation zone by emergency management officials.
7. Participation of daycare centers and nursery schools within the
evacuation zone in radiological emergency preparedness exercises
designed to determine each institution's state of readiness.
8. Creation of identification cards, school attendance lists, and
fingerprint records for all children who are to be transported to a
relocation center, to insure no child is left behind or is unable, due
to age, to communicate his or her contact information to emergency
workers.
9. Development by emergency management officials of educational
materials for parents informing them what will happen to their children
in case of a radiological emergency, and where their children can be
picked up after an emergency evacuation.
10. Stocking of potassium iodide (KI) pills and appropriate
educational materials at all daycare centers and nursery schools within
the evacuation zone.
11. Radiological emergency preparedness training for all daycare
center and nursery school employees within the evacuation zone.
12. Listing of designated relocation centers for daycare centers
and nursery schools in area phone directories so that parents can
quickly and easily find where their children will be sent in case of a
radiological emergency.
13. Establishment of toll-free or 911-type telephone lines to
provide information about radiological emergency plans and procedures
for daycare centers and nursery schools within the evacuation zone.
14. Creation of written scripts for use by the local emergency
public broadcast system that include information about evacuation plans
and designated relocation centers for daycare centers and nursery
schools.
The Petitioners' Justification
In support of their request, the petitioners detail their reasons
for asking the NRC to change its regulations to include the
aforementioned protective measures aimed at securing the health and
safety of preschoolers in evacuation zones surrounding nuclear power
plants. The petitioners stated reasons for requesting that the NRC
amend its rules to mandate these emergency planning measures are as
follows:
Establishment of Designated Relocation Centers
The petitioners note that FEMA emergency planning regulations
require that the health and safety of the general public be protected
in the event of a radiological accident at a nuclear power plant.
Preschoolers are part of the general population and their well-being
must be provided for. The petitioners claim that the designation of
emergency relocation centers for all elementary, middle school and high
school students is already standard practice, and contend that the
establishment of such centers for preschoolers is no less vital.
Because the thyroid glands of young children are highly susceptible to
damage by exposure to radiation, the petitioners stress that children
attending daycare centers and nursery schools in the evacuation zone
should be moved to safety as quickly and as efficiently as possible. If
parents are forced to backtrack into the evacuation zone to fetch their
preschool-aged children and carry them to safety one-by-one, frantic
parents will clog evacuation routes. The petitioners conclude that
radiological emergency plans should provide for the mass evacuation of
children from daycare centers and nursery schools located in the
evacuation zone to relocation centers situated at a safe distance from
the nuclear power facility.
Provision of Designated Transportation; Creation of Working Rosters of
Emergency Bus Drivers
The petitioners note that most daycare centers and nursery schools
currently have no access to public school buses or school bus drivers.
If frantic parents must drive personal vehicles into the evacuation
zone to pick up their children during a radiological emergency,
evacuation routes will be clogged with private cars, the evacuation
will be impeded, and the health and well-being of preschool children
will not be adequately protected. Therefore, the petitioners conclude
that the NRC should require that offsite emergency plans provide for
designated busses or vans, manned by designated emergency drivers, to
transport children from daycare centers and nursery schools located in
the evacuation zone to designated relocation centers.
Use of Assigned and Installed, Approved Child-Safety Seats in the
Evacuation of Preschoolers
The petitioners note that newborns and infants cannot safely be
placed on a standard bus seat and transported out of the evacuation
zone. Unrestrained children could roll or fall off the seats and be
injured or killed en route to designated relocation centers. Federal
law requires all children under 50 lbs or under the height of 4'9'' to
be placed in federally-approved child safety seats when riding in motor
vehicles. The use of approved child-safety seats is the only safe and
legal way to transport small children. The petitioners conclude that
NRC regulations should require that infants and young children being
evacuated during a radiological emergency be properly secured in
approved child safety seats.
Notification to Emergency Management Officials; Annual Site
Inspections; Inclusion of Daycare Centers and Nursery Schools in
Radiological Preparedness Exercises
The petitioners maintain that these measures are necessary to
insure that daycare centers and nursery schools properly comply with
the requested regulations and implement the
[[Page 66591]]
suggested emergency planning provisions.
Use of Identification Cards, School Attendance Lists and Fingerprinting
To Keep Track of Children During an Emergency Evacuation
The petitioners note that most children under the age of three do
not know their parents' legal names, but will simply identify them as
``Mommy'' or ``Daddy''. Preschool children are also typically unable to
state their home address or phone number. Young children therefore have
no effective means of communicating their parents' names or contact
information to teachers, caregivers, or emergency workers. The
petitioners conclude that identifying and tracking young children
through the use of ID cards, school attendance lists, and
fingerprinting is necessary to ensure that no preschool-aged child is
left behind in a radiological emergency.
Preparation of Educational Materials for the Parents of Preschoolers
The petitioners contend that such materials are necessary in order
to properly inform parents about procedures for evacuating their
preschool-aged children from the danger zone in case of a radiological
emergency.
Stocking of KI Tablets and the Preparation of Relevant Educational
Materials for the Parents of Preschoolers
The petitioners note that preschool-aged children are particularly
susceptible to thyroid damage due to exposure to radiation. Since the
ingestion of KI protects against this damage, the petitioners contend
that KI should be stocked by daycare centers and nursery schools in the
evacuation zone for distribution to the children their charge in case
of radiological emergency. However, because parents may be unaware of a
young child's allergy to iodine, the petitioners believe that daycare
centers and nursery schools should prepare for possible future
radiological emergencies by having parents sign release forms giving
daycare and nursery school workers standing permission to administer KI
to their children, in the proper children's dose, in case of
radiological emergency.
Radiological Emergency Preparedness Training for Employees of Daycare
Centers and Nursery Schools
The petitioners maintain that radiological emergency preparedness
training is necessary to equip employees of daycare centers and nursery
schools to properly respond in case of a radiological accident.
Phone Listings for Designated Relocation Centers Assigned to Local
Daycare Centers and Nursery Schools; Toll-free and 911 Information
Lines
The petitioners claim that many parents are not acquainted with, or
may not even have access to information about emergency procedures for
evacuating their preschool-aged children from the danger zone following
a radiological accident. Moreover, even if parents are well-informed,
in the event of a radiological emergency, someone other than a parent
(e.g., a grandparent, neighbor or friend) may be called upon to pick up
a child from a designated relocation center. These individuals will
need quick access to information about emergency plans and designated
relocation centers for local preschools. Finally, the general public
should have access to this information. The petitioners conclude that
dedicated information lines and easy-to-find phone listings should be
set up in order to avoid confusion in case of an emergency.
Creation of Written Scripts for the Public Emergency Broadcast System
Which Include Information About Emergency Plans and Designated
Relocation Centers for Daycare Centers and Nursery Schools
The petitioners believe that, during an emergency, parents might
panic if they cannot locate their children and do not have timely
information about their movements in the event of an evacuation. The
emergency broadcast system could be used to inform parents that their
preschool-aged children have left their buildings and are en route to
designated relocation centers. The petitioners contend that this will
free parents to redirect their efforts toward escaping the danger zone
themselves, rather than further exacerbating traffic problems by trying
to move back into the evacuation zone to fetch their children from
daycare centers or nursery schools. Finally, the petitioners say, the
general public should have access to such information during a
radiological emergency. The petitioners conclude that the public
emergency broadcast system should prepare to disseminate information
about the evacuation of daycare centers and nursery schools in the
event of a radiological accident.
Specialized Evacuation Needs of Preschool-aged Children
The petitioners also offer a statement in support of their request
which focuses on the specialized evacuation needs of preschool-aged
children. They note that very young children are more difficult to
safely transport than school-aged children and would require more and
different kinds of care from emergency workers. The petition makes the
following points in this connection:
1. Most children under the age of three have no effective way of
communicating their parents legal names, but identify them only as
``Mommy'' and ``Daddy''.
2. Most children under the age of three cannot tell you their home
address or phone number, and therefore have no effective means of
communicating their contact information.
3. Infants and newborns are usually unable to walk, so they are
completely dependent on others for their safe relocation during an
emergency evacuation.
4. Infants and newborns have special dietary and sanitary needs.
5. Infants and newborns can be easily injured if not properly
handled, due to the weakness in their young spines and necks.
6. Preschool children must be transported in approved child-safety
seats when being evacuated. Young children cannot ride unsecured in bus
seats, as they might fall off and be injured or killed.
7. Unlike public school teachers, nursery school teachers and
daycare center employees have little or no emergency evacuation
training.
8. Infants, newborns, toddlers, and preschoolers are physically and
emotionally dependent on adults for their overall well-being. During an
emergency, these needs are greatly amplified. Planning and training
for, and providing proper supervision of the emergency evacuation of
such young children is a therefore a necessity.
9. Very young children have an especially high susceptibility to
damage and health risks caused by radiation exposure. Because they are
especially vulnerable, children in daycare centers and nursery schools
require special protection in a radiological emergency.
The Petitioners' Conclusion
The petitioners maintain that without new NRC requirements
concerning offsite emergency plans no standard measure of adequate
protection will ever exist for daycare centers and nursery schools
located within evacuation zones surrounding nuclear power facilities.
The petitioners note that a FEMA fact sheet concerning emergency
radiological planning states that Federal law mandates that ``plans and
preparedness must be determined
[[Page 66592]]
to adequately protect the public health and safety by providing
reasonable assurance that appropriate measures can be taken offsite in
the event of a radiological emergency.'' The petitioners add that
society as a whole has a moral obligation to make sure that every
possible measure is in place to insure the safety and well-being of
young children.
The petitioners contend that, if the NRC refuses to require the
basic protections for preschoolers laid out in the petition, the agency
will be perpetuating an improper implementation of FEMA regulations as
they pertain to properly protecting the public in the event of a
radiological emergency. The petitioners stress that the NRC's principal
duty is to safeguard the public, and maintain that, barring the
adoption of the provisions requested by the petitioners, the NRC will
be guilty of negligence in the fulfillment of its duty.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of October, 2002.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 02-27861 Filed 10-31-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P