Millstone evacuation routes get fresh look

Waterford - If an accident or security emergency occurred at the Millstone Power Station today, residents of the nine communities within a 10-mile radius would be told to evacuate according to a plan written 10 years ago.

While there have been few road changes during that time that could potentially affect the recommended evacuation routes, the region's population has seen a small increase. Other factors that would affect an evacuation may have changed, too.

All those issues will be taken into account in the new evacuation plan being prepared by Dominion, owner of the nuclear plants.

"This is done every 10 years," Dominion spokesman Ken Holt said. "We're required to update our evacuation time estimates and to work with the state and the towns" in the 10-mile evacuation zone.

Data from the 2010 Census, he added, is a key piece of information used in developing the new plan. According to the Census, the population of New London County increased 5.8 percent since 2000, from 259,088 to 274,055.

As part of developing the plan, Millstone will be conducting 10-minute phone surveys of several hundred randomly selected residents of the evacuation zone. Questions will include: "How long does it take to you drive from work to home?" and "How many vehicles that are usually available to the household would your family use if an evacuation was necessary?"

The calls will take place from Wednesday through Friday, from 6 to 8 p.m., Holt said.

Reid Burdick, emergency management director for New London, said consulting the public will make the new plan a more practical, effective document than the current version.

"This is the first time we've seen Millstone using the combination of technological expertise combined with the common sense of the people," he said. "I like that they're reaching out to citizens for their input."

Millstone has hired a traffic consulting firm to prepare the plan. Its work will include studies of roadways, road conditions, traffic lights and traffic patterns at different times of the year and times of day, Holt said.

In the event of an accident or emergency in which a dangerous radiation leak was threatened, residents would be instructed to evacuate following different routes established for different parts of the evacuation zone.

In the current plan, New London residents would be directed to take Route 32 north to a shelter at Windham High School. Residents of one part of Waterford would be sent along Interstate 95 south to Route 9 north to Route 2 West to East Hartford High School, and residents of East Lyme, Lyme and Old Lyme would be sent on 95 south to Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the NRC, said the new plan will also consider various evacuation scenarios. For example, depending on how wind patterns are carrying any radiation plume, it may be prudent to do a "keyhole evacuation" of just one portion of the area and instruct other residents to "shelter in place" instead of having everyone on the roadways unnecessarily.

As it is being prepared, Millstone has been meeting with emergency management officials from the state and the nine communities. The towns will be able to use the information collected for the Millstone study for their own emergency planning for natural disasters and other events requiring evacuations, Holt said.

Richard Morris, emergency management director for East Lyme, said updating the plan is a valuable exercise because of the increase in population and increased frequency of roadway flooding in some areas that could impede evacuations.

"I feel very comfortable with what they're doing," he said.

Information being collected for the plan is also likely to be used in upcoming emergency drills at Millstone, said Ed Wilds, director of the radiation division at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. A drill rehearsal is scheduled for July 17 and the drill itself for Aug. 21.

During meetings with Millstone about the new evacuation plan, Wilds said the company agreed with his request to examine whether the current contours of the 10-mile evacuation zone, and sub-zones within it, need any adjustments.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will review and make recommendations on a draft version of the new Millstone plan before NRC would grant approval, Sheehan said. Holt said the plan is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

j.benson@theday.com