Emergency preparedness for nuclear electric generating facilities in foreign countries: A brief survey of practices

This report summarizes the emergency plans for accidents at nuclear power plants in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. Soviet Union documents were examined, but no published information was found on the subject. The study of foreign plans was to determine what U.S. planners might learn that could be useful to them. Plans of the foreign countries were published before the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island and reflected a generally accepted premise that a serious nuclear emergency would never occur. Therefore, there are few ideas of immediate use to U.S. planners. Most countries have since begun to re-examine their emergency planning. The study also discusses the emergency action levels, warning systems, evacuation management and procedures, and public information and education for people living near nuclear power plants and defines roles of nuclear facility operators and roles of the government. (author)