1 1 RE: PUBLIC HEARING 2 THE NEW JERSEY RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN 3 FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS 4 7:00 p.m. 5 Wednesday, July 16, 2008 6 Location: Cumberland County Administration Building 790 East Commerce Street 7 Bridgeton, New Jersey P A N E L: 8 PATRICK MULLIGAN, HEARING OFFICER 9 (Manager of the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering within the New Jersey Department of Environmental 10 Protection) SGT. FIRST CLASS THOMAS SCARDINO, NJ Division 11 of State Police (Assistant Unit Head of the Radiological Emergency 12 Response Planning and Technical Unit) 13 JON CHRISTIANSEN, NJ Division of State Police (Executive Assistant in the Radiological Emergency 14 Response Planning and Technical Unit) 15 NICK DePIERRO, NJ Department of Environmental Protection 16 (Supervisor of the DEP's Bureau of Nuclear 17 Engineering's Emergency Preparedness Section) JEFF WINEGAR, NJ Department of Health 18 and Senior Services (Response Coordinator in the Department's 19 Operations Program for Emergency Preparedness and Response) 20 21 22 ROSENBERG & ASSOCIATES, INC. 23 Certified Court Reporters & Videographers 425 Eagle Rock Avenue - Suite 201 24 Roseland, New Jersey 07068 (973) 228 - 9100 25 www.rosenbergandassociates.com 2 1 I N D E X 2 3 PANEL PAGE 4 5 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN 3, 16 6 7 SGT. FIRST CLASS SCARDINO 6, 10 8 9 NICK DEPIERRO 7, 14 10 JEFF WINEGAR 12 11 12 13 PUBLIC PAGE 14 NONE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response3Plan 1 (July 16, 2008 - 7:00 p.m.) 2 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Good evening. My 3 name is Patrick Mulligan, and I'm the manager of the 4 Bureau of Nuclear Engineering within the New Jersey 5 Department of Environmental Protection. I will be the 6 Hearing Officer this evening. 7 The purpose of this hearing is to receive 8 testimony, comments, and questions regarding the 9 adequacy and effectiveness of the New Jersey 10 Radiological Emergency Response Plan for Nuclear Power 11 Plants. 12 In order that this hearing may be properly 13 documented, these proceedings are being recorded by a 14 Certified Court Reporter. 15 Everyone attending this meeting is asked to 16 sign the attendance sheet before leaving. The 17 attendance sheets for these hearings are used to update 18 the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering's public hearing 19 mailing list. 20 Public notice of this meeting was published 21 in the New Jersey Register on May 16th and June 2nd, 22 2008. In addition, public notice was published in the 23 Bridgeton Evening News from July 9th through July 15th, 24 2008. Copies of the public notice for the three 25 hearings were mailed in June to all persons who 4 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response4Plan 1 attended last year's hearings. 2 This hearing will proceed as follows: I will 3 provide a brief background on why we are conducting 4 this hearing. Then I will introduce the panel members 5 and ask them to briefly describe the role of their 6 organization in a nuclear emergency preparedness and 7 response. Finally, I will open the hearing for 8 comments and questions from the public. 9 The New Jersey Radiation Accident Response 10 Act requires that the Department of Environmental 11 Protection, in cooperation with the New Jersey Division 12 of State Police, conduct public hearings to take 13 comment on and to address questions relevant to the 14 adequacy and effectiveness of the New Jersey 15 Radiological Emergency Response Plan for Nuclear Power 16 Plants. These public hearings are held annually in 17 each of the three counties affected by the plan: Ocean 18 County for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station; 19 and Salem and Cumberland Counties for the Salem Unit 1, 20 Salem Unit 2, and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating 21 Stations. 22 We are here tonight to listen to your 23 questions and comments on New Jersey's Nuclear 24 Emergency Response Plan. Comments on more general 25 nuclear power issues or issues that relate to licensing 5 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response5Plan 1 or regulatory matters at nuclear power plants are not 2 within the purview of this meeting and, hence, not 3 appropriate and will not be addressed. 4 The purpose of the plan is to coordinate and 5 implement an immediate and comprehensive response at 6 the state, county, and municipal levels for a 7 radiological emergency associated with any nuclear 8 power plant affecting the State of New Jersey. Copies 9 of the plan are available for public inspection at the 10 Salem County Emergency Management Office in Mannington 11 Township, the Cumberland County Office of Emergency 12 Management in Bridgeton, the Ocean County Office of 13 Emergency Management in Berkeley Township, the New 14 Jersey Office of Emergency Management in West Trenton, 15 and in public libraries in Salem, Cumberland, and Ocean 16 Counties. 17 Now I would like to introduce the members of 18 the panel. 19 To my right, Sergeant First Class Thomas 20 Scardino and Mr. Jon Christiansen are representing the 21 New Jersey Division of State Police. Sergeant Scardino 22 is the Assistant Unit Head of the Radiological 23 Emergency Response Planning and Technical Unit; and 24 Mr. Christiansen is an Executive Assistant in the 25 Radiological Emergency Response Planning and Technical 6 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response6Plan 1 Unit. 2 To my left, Mr. DePierro is representing the 3 New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. 4 Mr. DePierro is the supervisor of the Nuclear Emergency 5 Preparedness Section within the DEP's Bureau of Nuclear 6 Engineering. 7 To my far left, representing the New Jersey 8 Department of Health and Senior Services, is Mr. Jeff 9 Winegar. Mr. Winegar is a response coordinator for the 10 Department of Health and Senior Services. If questions 11 arise that involve the responsibilities of the DHSS, I 12 will call on him for a response. 13 Now I will ask Sergeant Scardino to briefly 14 describe the role of the State Police in the plan. 15 SGT. FIRST CLASS SCARDINO: Thank you, Pat. 16 For the record, my name is Sergeant First 17 Class Thomas Scardino, and I am representing the New 18 Jersey State Office of Emergency Management, within the 19 Division of State Police. 20 Our office, as you may know, has the 21 responsibility for administering and implementing the 22 Radiological Emergency Response Plan for incidents at 23 nuclear power plants in New Jersey. 24 In addition to the preparation of 25 Radiological Emergency Response Plans, the New Jersey 7 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response7Plan 1 State Police is the lead agency in the following 2 functional areas: Notification and communication, 3 command and coordination, protective actions which 4 include evacuation, shelter-in-place, access control, 5 food, and water and milk control. Parallel actions 6 also include traffic control, decontamination, exposure 7 control, mass care, law enforcement, fire control, 8 public health, and reentry and recovery. 9 For the record, I would also like to 10 introduce Mr. Jon Christiansen from the Radiological 11 Emergency Response Planning and Technical Unit to my 12 right, and seated in the audience is Trooper William 13 Craney, one of the enlisted personnel assigned to the 14 South Regional Office of the New Jersey Office of 15 Emergency Management. 16 Thank you. 17 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Thanks, Tom. 18 Now I will ask Mr. DePierro to briefly 19 describe the role of the department in the plan. 20 MR. DePIERRO: Good evening, and, as Pat 21 said, my name is Nick DePierro, and I'll briefly 22 discuss the role of the Department of Environmental 23 Protection in New Jersey's Radiological Emergency 24 Response Plan. 25 The New Jersey Radiological Emergency 8 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response8Plan 1 Response Plan includes the plan, standard operating 2 procedures, and annexes. The plan identifies all 3 responsible state agencies and outlines their specific 4 roles in the event of a nuclear emergency. It is based 5 on five primary functions that outline the actions to 6 be performed in the event of a radiological emergency 7 at one of the four nuclear power plants in New Jersey 8 or a plant in a neighboring state. These actions are: 9 Notification and communication; accident assessment; 10 command and coordination; protective actions; and 11 parallel actions. 12 Since agency roles and responsibilities don't 13 change often, the plan essentially does not change. 14 The standard operating procedures are 15 specific instructions and guidelines used by each 16 agency when performing their specific duties. 17 Procedures are reviewed and tested annually, and 18 revised whenever necessary in order to enhance 19 emergency response. 20 The Annexes, A and B, are Radiological 21 Emergency Response Plans for the Salem/Hope Creek and 22 Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Sites. Each annex 23 describes the planning basis, the concept of operation 24 for each of the municipalities within the ten-mile 25 Emergency Planning Zones. 9 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Response9Plan 1 Under the New Jersey Radiation Accident 2 Response Act, the Department of Environmental 3 Protection has the lead role in accident assessment and 4 the control of food, water and milk following an 5 incident. Accident assessment involves two separate 6 analyses: An engineering analysis of the event at the 7 plant as it unfolds; and an analysis of the amount of 8 radiation to which the public may be exposed in the 9 event of a release. 10 Depending on the severity of an event, the 11 Department provides Protective Action Recommendations 12 to the Governor, who will make a final decision on 13 actions to be implemented to protect public health and 14 safety. Protective Action Recommendations for the 15 public may include the administration of potassium 16 iodide, evacuation, sheltering and access control 17 within the affected or potentially affected area. 18 The Act also specifies that the Department 19 will develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring 20 strategy that includes the daily monitoring of the 21 levels of radioactivity in the environment. 22 The Department also provides public health, 23 safety, and technical guidance with respect to the 24 preparation and implementation of the plan. 25 The Department's final responsibility under 10 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons10Plan 1 the Act is to conduct, in cooperation with the State 2 Police, public hearings annually in each of the 3 designated counties to determine the adequacy and 4 effectiveness of the plan. 5 Now I would like to introduce some members 6 from the Department of Environmental Protection. Here 7 with us tonight are Carol Shepard, Karen Tuccillo, Paul 8 Schwartz and Elliott Rosenfeld. 9 Thank you, Pat. 10 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Thanks, Nick. 11 Before we get to the main purpose of this 12 hearing, for us to hear what you have to say, I would 13 likes to briefly highlight some of the changes that 14 have taken place in the REP program since last year. 15 Sergeant Scardino, could you please briefly 16 describe the changes made by the State Police. 17 SGT. FIRST CLASS SCARDINO: Thank you, Pat. 18 The State Police is always undergoing 19 changes, as the environment facilitates that. But I 20 would like to discuss with the audience some of the 21 changes and enhancements within the Division of State 22 Police since the last public hearing that we held. 23 Some of the items that are noteworthy is that 24 the Division of State Police is currently undergoing 25 what we call a re-banding of its entire radio system. 11 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons11Plan 1 This will eliminate interference currently being 2 experienced and involves over 14,000 users and pieces 3 of equipment. It's a substantial effort by the 4 Communications Bureau. 5 The Division has recently installed its 6 communications channel to all 21 counties in the State, 7 thereby increasing interoperability with county and 8 local response organizations. 9 A new, state-of-the-art 911 call center will 10 be unveiled in the fall of 2009. The call center's 11 sole function will be to receive and route cellular 911 12 calls from throughout the State. Because it will be 13 embedded in the Regional Operations and Intelligence 14 Center, it will allow for a more efficient response to 15 the 911 calls. The State currently receives over two 16 million cellular 911 calls per year. Because of the 17 close relationship at the ROIC, or the Regional 18 Operations Intelligence Center, situational awareness 19 of events will be increased, and resources could be 20 deployed more efficiently. 21 The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management 22 recently complied with the National Response Framework 23 and has complied with the requirements of the National 24 Incident Management System. 25 Citizen Corps programs are growing in New 12 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons12Plan 1 Jersey. We now have 409 Community Emergency Response 2 Teams statewide, with over 15,000 volunteers. 3 Those are just a few of the noteworthy 4 accomplishments by the Division in the past year. 5 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Thanks, Tom. 6 Next, the Department of Health and Senior 7 Services has taken some very proactive steps in 8 tracking and documenting emergency worker exposure 9 limits. 10 Mr. Winegar, would you please describe the 11 proactive actions of your department? 12 MR. WINEGAR: Okay. Thank you, Pat. 13 For the record, my name is Jeff Winegar. I 14 represent the New Jersey Department of Health and 15 Senior Services. 16 The New Jersey Department of Health and 17 Senior Services is probably best known for our support 18 role to the New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey 19 DEP in the event of a nuclear emergency at a nuclear 20 power plant. We are also the lead agency regarding 21 storage, which is our state strategic stockpile, and 22 the distribution of potassium iodide or KI. 23 During an emergency at a generating plant, 24 the Department of Health also has a vital role and is 25 the lead agency for personnel monitoring and 13 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons13Plan 1 record keeping for emergency worker radiation dosimetry 2 results. 3 To help facilitate this task, we have 4 recently developed a new computer program, which we 5 call DoRIS, and that stands for -- that's the Dosimetry 6 Radiological Information System. Essentially, DoRIS is 7 a new -- it's a web-based program that keeps track of 8 all emergency workers by tracking radiation exposures 9 and also then totals their dose information. Dosimetry 10 data would be called in from the field, as it is now, 11 to the supervisors in each county. Then what happens 12 is then it's entered onto our web-based system. The 13 system, if a worker is tracking a dose, once it reaches 14 50 percent of the 1.25 rem limit, their name would 15 actually turn yellow on the program, and, as a warning, 16 e-mails are sent out to -- we receive them at the ROIC, 17 where we would be stationed, and also e-mails would go 18 out to the county, at whatever e-mail address that they 19 put in there. And then in the event that a worker 20 reaches 75 percent of the 1.25 rem, the worker's name 21 actually would turn red, and this also then leads to a 22 second batch of warning e-mails going out, so that -- 23 and we receive them at the ROIC. This allows the 24 supervisors to be able to keep track of workers and 25 then to be able to possibly, hopefully, rotate workers 14 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons14Plan 1 out that are getting -- that are approaching their 2 exposure limits. 3 The program also will keep track of exposures 4 to emergency workers, keep -- indefinitely will have 5 those records. 6 We are very proud of this new program and 7 feel that it's going to go a long way towards ensuring 8 the health and safety of emergency workers. 9 Thank you. 10 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Thanks, Jeff. 11 Finally, the Bureau of Nuclear Engineering 12 has made improvements. Mr. DePierro, would you please 13 describe the improvements made by the Bureau of Nuclear 14 Engineering? 15 MR. DePIERRO: The Bureau continually 16 strives to make improvements to our program that will 17 increase our efficiency and effectiveness, and last 18 year was no exception. 19 And I'd just like to mention some of the 20 improvements that occurred since July, 2007. 21 The BNE has established a data connection 22 with PSEG's plant computer from which BNE offices and 23 engineers and dose assessment staff can view -- where 24 they can view live data, enhancing assessment 25 capabilities in the early stages of an event. 15 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons15Plan 1 We fully automated the preparation, 2 processing, and reporting of state environmental 3 Thermoluminescent Dosimeter Data. 4 The BNE has completed an internal technical 5 systems audit of BNE's TLD, thermoluminescent detector 6 program, with DEP's Office of Quality Assurance, 7 enhancing the overall quality of its data. 8 The BNE has expanded the environmental 9 sampling program to include additional vegetation and 10 fish samples in the environs around the nuclear power 11 plants. 12 The BNE has upgraded the equipment located at 13 BNE's air sampling locations so that they are more 14 resistant to environmental conditions. 15 We have purchased and installed upgraded IT 16 equipment at all our emergency response facilities to 17 enhance the ability to share data among the assessment 18 and decision-making groups. 19 We have purchased and distributed cell phones 20 to all emergency responders to augment notification and 21 coordination of emergency response staff. 22 We've completed radiation detection equipment 23 upgrades on all our continuous radiation monitoring or 24 CREST sites. 25 We've successfully tested transmission of 16 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons16Plan 1 CREST radiation data via wireless communications. 2 And, finally, we continue to make progress on 3 the implementation of our new central computer system 4 from which acquisition of field data for the CREST -- 5 we've upgraded our computer system to enhance our 6 ability to access CREST data from the field. 7 We've provided out there in the entryway BNE 8 fact sheets which include additional enhancements made 9 last year, and if you're interested, please pick them 10 up on the way out. 11 Thank you. 12 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Thanks, Nick. 13 We will now proceed with the public's 14 questions and comments. Those individuals who wish to 15 speak should complete a speaker registration card and 16 hand it to one of the staff, Carol. 17 I will call the speakers' names in the same 18 order that I received the registration cards. Please 19 be certain to clearly print your name and address on 20 the registration card so that we may contact you if we 21 need to respond to your comments and questions more 22 fully in writing. 23 When I call your name, come forward to the 24 microphone, face the panel, and make yourself 25 comfortable. Before you begin your comments, please 17 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons17Plan 1 state and spell your name for the reporter. Speakers 2 will be limited to five minutes each. If time still 3 remains after everyone has had a chance to speak, I 4 will invite additional comments from those individuals 5 who have already spoken. 6 In fairness to the speaker and in order that 7 we all can make the best use of this time, I ask the 8 cooperation of the audience in refraining from calling 9 out. Comments from the audience will only delay the 10 proceedings and will disrupt our ability to hear and 11 accurately record the speakers' statements. 12 Thank you, and we will now proceed to our 13 first commenter. 14 Carol, do we have any registration sheets? 15 MS. SHEPARD: No, we do not. 16 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Was there anybody 17 here that would like to comment at this time? 18 (No response.) 19 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Okay. At this 20 time we will briefly recess until 7:30. We will keep 21 the record open until that time, and we will allow 22 another 10, 15 minutes for the public to arrive. If 23 anyone comes in that time, we will reopen the record 24 and take questions and comments. If no one arrives by 25 that time, we will close and adjourn the meeting. 18 Public Hearing - Cumberland - Radiological Emergency Respons18Plan 1 Thank you. 2 (A recess was taken from 7:20 to 7:30 p.m.) 3 HEARING OFFICER MULLIGAN: Okay. Let's 4 reconvene the public hearing. 5 At this point it's -- we've left the record 6 open until 7:30, and we've not received any members of 7 the public that would like to provide comments on the 8 record this evening, so at this point, we will adjourn 9 this year's public hearing in Cumberland County. 10 Thanks, everybody, for coming. 11 (The proceeding concluded at 7:30 p.m.) 12 13 - - - - - 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 I, Carol A. Farrell, CRR, RMR, C.C.R. License 9 Number XI01173, a Certified Court Reporter in and for 10 the State of New Jersey, do hereby certify the 11 foregoing to be prepared in full compliance with the 12 current Transcript Format for Judicial Proceedings and 13 is a true and accurate transcript, to the best of my 14 knowledge and ability. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Carol A. Farrell, CRR, RMR, CCR Date 22 Certified Court Reporter 23 License No. XIO1173 24 25