Orange County NC Website
~~~s~~~~a~~~ ~~ <br />~~ <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />A Resolution <br />Calling for Coordinated Emergency Management and Evacuation <br />Planning Within the 50-Mile Radius Ingestion Pathway for Potential <br />Discharge of Airborne Nuclear Waste Material from the Shearon <br />Harris Nuclear Power Plant <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners has a long and well- <br />established practice of advocating for any and all activities that would <br />promote the public health, safety and welfare, particularly in regard to <br />feasible threats to that health, safety and welfare; and <br />WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners has a long and well- <br />established record of concern and activism related to the potential <br />magnitude and catastrophic consequences of an airborne release of <br />nuclear waste materials from the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant; and <br />WHEREAS, information developed within the least eight years has demonstrated the <br />vulnerability of spent nuclear fuel to combustion with ensuing airborne <br />release and dispersion of extremely harmful and dangerous nuclear waste <br />material as a consequence of accident or sabotage/ terrorism; and <br />WHEREAS, there .exists an area of a ten-mile radius around the Shearon Harris nuclear <br />power plant for which there are in place emergency management and <br />evacuation plans of debatable efficacy in case of a catastrophic accident <br />and airborne release of nuclear waste material from the plant; and <br />WHEREAS, an airborne release of nuclear material may stem from an uncontrollable <br />.event of several days or greater duration that would affect at least all of the <br />fifty-mile radius ingestion pathway area; and <br />WHEREAS, the fifty-mile radius ingestion pathway around the Shearon Harris plant <br />contains approximately two million persons, the state capital, Fort Bragg, <br />the Research Triangle, four major universities and a number of smaller <br />universities, hundreds of public and private schools, thousands of <br />businesses, dozens of local government jurisdictions; millions of pets, and <br />a rich natural environment; and <br />WHEREAS, there is no coordinated emergency management and evacuation planning <br />for the portion of the ingestion pathway beyond the area defined by the <br />ten-mile radius around Shearon Harris; and <br />