A critical review of emergency planning for reactor accidents and spent fuel transport in the United Kingdom

There is now an extensive international literature on the range of consequences that could arise from PWR reactor accidents, from the relatively trivial health impact of small releases to full-scale national catastrophes resulting from uncontained 'melt-downs' known as 'degraded core accidents'. In Britain, detailed emergency plans exist only for accidents which the reactor system can be expected to contain: the so-called 'design base accident' dba), which because of the very low release of radioactivity to the atmosphere, has limited consequences beyond the site, and requires neither very rapid nor extensive emergency response. This report presents a review of the current plans and a critique which shows that such plans are not adequate to protect the public in the event of major accidents. The UK position on the transport of spent fuel is discussed. Rail transport is used almost exclusively except where road transport is needed to reach the nearest rail head. The present practices are extrapolated to the Sizewell B case. Considerable controversy over the percentage of the potentially dispersable radioactive material that would be released in the case of a severe accident and over the probability of such serious accident occurring. The arguments are summarized and the health implications for emergency workers at such accidents are reviewed. (U.K.)