After rejecting a NIRS petition demanding emergency back-up power for sirens within 10-mile emergency planning zones around reactors, the NRC orders Indian Point to install exactly that, due to legislation sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) that affects only the Indian Point site. January 31, 2006

July 12, 2005 NRC letter in response to NIRS request for reconsideration and reversal of the agency’s denial of an emergency enforcement petition requesting backup power to public notification sirens.  In the meantime, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton introduces legislation in US Senate to require backup power to emergency notification systems.

In the Event That a Nuclear Melt Down Coincides with Electric Grid Failure Entire Siren Systems Won't Work In Emergency Planning Zones for 28 U.S. Reactor Sites. NIRS press release. May 25, 2005.

On May 20, 2005, NRC dismisses NIRS petition to provide emergency backup power to sirens that will fail in the event of main power line failure simultaneously occurring with a nuclear accident or act of terrorism

Official NRC transcript of the April 05, 2005 Petition Review Board meeting with petitioners for backup power for emergency notification systems around nuclear power stations

NRC Denies Public Petition For Battery Back Up Power to Emergency Sirens: Nuclear Accident Notification Systems Broadly Vulnerable to Grid Power Failures. NIRS/PC press release. May 20, 2005.

When the electrical grid fails due to adverse weather or mechanical failure all too often emergency notification systems around nuclear power stations simultaneously lose all power. Electrical grid failure is potentially an initiating event for a nuclear accident and most probably the opening of an attack by terrorists on a nuke. On February 23, 2005 NIRS in coalition with 16 organizations and several county governments petitioned the NRC to take emergency enforcement action to require nuclear power station operators to provide emergency backup power sources, preferably through photovoltaic panels, for emergency notification siren systems nationwide.

NIRS’ December 13, 2004 comments in response to U.S. Health and Human Service’s issuance of inadequate draft federal guidelines dated November 08, 2004 for distributing potassium iodide (KI) as a thyroid blocking agent in the event of a nuclear accident or an act of radiological sabotage.

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) draft guidelines for Section 127 of the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 outlining a federal strategy for the distribution of potassium iodide (KI) issued November 08, 2004 for limited comment.

Nuclear Monitor (March 2004) Special Edition article on the issues of emergency planning following the Three Mile Island accident on March 28, 1979.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s accident classification system.

James Lee Witt Associates 2003 report commissioned by the State of New York which is critical of emergency planning around the Indian Point nuclear power station near New York City and located amidst the most densely populated zone of the United States.  Many aspects addressed in the Witt report are applicable to nuclear power station emergency planning zones across the United States.

James Lee Witt Associates 2003 report Appendices A-L

James Lee Witt Associates 2003 report Appendix K

NIRS Fact Sheet: What You Should Know About Potassium Iodide and Atomic Fallout

Emergency Planning for Nuclear Power Accidents, July 13, 2001

NIRS' comments on potassium iodide distribution, August 1999