State and county emergency planners, supported by hundreds of highly trained safety experts (police, firefighters, medical personnel and other officials) have developed extensive procedures for an emergency that might occur at Indian Point.

If an emergency were to occur, the county executives would receive information directly from the nuclear plant operators as well as from emergency planners and staff from all county departments. At the same time, each county executive would be in immediate and continuous communication with the county executives from the three other counties surrounding Indian Point. The county executives would also be in direct communication with state and federal officials.

Together, government officials would decide what protective actions, if any, the public should take. Their decisions and instructions would be communicated to the public through the Emergency Alert System (EAS) broadcasts as well as through other news media.

In most instances, only people living in specific Protective Action Areas would be told to evacuate. Therefore, it is most important for people to follow directions from public officials carefully to ensure a successful evacuation.

Shadow evacuation should be avoided as it causes unnecessary congestion on the roads needed by people in those Protective Action Areas that are being instructed to evacuate. County emergency plans take the possibility of a “shadow” evacuation into consideration. These plans have factored it into their procedures and training. Public awareness of the dangers of unnecessary evacuation is one way to reduce the problem.

No. Radioactive fuel in a nuclear plant has very low levels of the type of element that could cause a nuclear explosion. It should be noted that even at low concentrations, precautions must be taken so that radioactive materials produced by the uranium do not reach the environment.

All nuclear power plants in the U.S. are designed with containment buildings of concrete and steel. The 1986 accident in Chernobyl, Russia occurred in a nuclear plant that did not have a containment building.

If you choose to go to a friend or a relative’s home outside the EPZ, ask them if they will accept your pet, or arrange to have it boarded elsewhere. Pets, except for service animals such as seeing-eye dogs are not allowed inside the General Population Reception Centers.

For more information about preparing your pet for emergencies, review the the Humane Society of the United States website at http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/be_a_lifesaver_disaster_planning_can_save_your_pet_in_an_emergency.html

Radiation is energy, such as heat, light and radio waves, that moves at high speed through space or matter. One type of radiation is produced by so-called radioactive materials.

Radiation is part of nature, and humans are exposed to radiation all the time. It comes from rocks in the earth, from the sun and stars. Radiation also comes from common man-made sources, such as many building materials, smoke detectors and medical X-rays.

Radiation has been very well-studied for a hundred years. It can be very useful when properly controlled for peaceful purposes such as for medical X-rays and the production of electricity. But radiation can be dangerous. In too large a dose, radiation can cause harm by damaging living cells. Excessive doses of radiation need to be guarded against.

At every one of our country’s more than 100 nuclear power plants, every safety precaution is taken to isolate, shield and prevent radioactive materials from escaping to the environment.