Emergency Planning and Preparedness before and after Three Mile Island

Abstract

The last bastion of the often touted and quoted "Defense-in-Depth" concept against consequences of accidents at nuclear facilities, which has governed the development of commercial nuclear power for two-andone-half decades in this country, is a proper and effective emergency planning and preparedness program with respect to these facilities. This bastion has not received the support which it deserves. Proper and adequate emergency planning, rather than paying "lipservice" to it, can help alleviate many of the fears surrounding the safe operation of nuclear power facilities. In the past, the old view that emergency planning and preparedness should be "kept in the closet," away from public scrutiny, lest it "stir-up the folks in Toonerville," just won't wash anymore. Three Mile Island has changed all of that, and I look at it as a healthy, up-beat change. This accident has given us a golden opportunity to improve things and we must not fail, collectively, to take advantage of it and to learn from it and to act on it. We are unlikely to have another chance to do so.