Sharing Our Nuclear Power Planning Strategies

Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services Adam Stiebeling (right) discusses protocols with Kazuki Suzuki (center) and Akira Fukuda last week at the Putnam Emergency Operations Center in Carmel. ERIC GROSS Japanese officials have learned from Putnam County Emergency Services providers that a systematic phased approach is the best way to handle an emergency involving a nuclear power plant.

The contingent of six experts for Japan’s Incorporated Administrative Agency, the country’s Nuclear Safety Organization, spent last Thursday at the Putnam Bureau of Emergency Services Emergency Operations Center to explore the use of the U.S. Nuclear Power Industries Emergency Action Levels and the concept of protective action zones in responding to an emergency at the Indian Point generating station.

Koichi Narukawa, secretariat of the Japan Nuclear Safety Commission Cabinet Office, explained that his agency was equivalent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency.)

Narukawa said that in his country, “emergency planning takes place from the top down. Everything comes from the Prime Minister’s office in Tokyo to the local governments.”

In the U.S., the opposite occurs, where everything is done at the lowest levels of government, with the state and federal government taking an advisory role.

Putnam Commissioner of Emergency Services Robert McMahon said the “formal responsibility for emergency planning and response is carried out locally.”

Narukawa admitted the way “matters are carried out in the U.S. provides a better sense of responsibility to the public. My country is now considering changing the way our national strategy is performed, bringing it more in line to the way things are done in this country.”

Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services Adam Stiebeling expressed great honor that the Japanese delegation took its valuable time while in the U.S. to visit Putnam County.

“These high-ranking foreign officials have come to America to learn from our knowledge and experiences while tapping into our expertise,” he said.

Stiebeling stressed that pre-event planning, as well as educating the public, were critical components of any emergency plan: “Putnam County has tools in hand that will allow us to withstand any emergency crisis, thanks to local volunteers who are true professionals. These men and women manage emergency situations from weather to radiological events from the bottom up. This county has tremendous resources and capabilities at the local level, but we are never afraid to seek state and federal support if needed.”

Toshimitsu Homma, senior principal researcher for the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, praised the Putnam system: “Our objective is to get as much information as possible about local level protective actions. This is a great opportunity. My country’s current approach to emergencies, which begins with the Prime Minister, centers on technology. Local governments don’t have the experiences you have in the U.S. Following our tragic accident, new laws have been drafted for emergency preparedness. We will report on our findings when returning to Japan. We like the American approach and what we have observed in Putnam County.”