Also not taken into consideration is role conflict. For example, emergency personnel assigned to evacuate students, the elderly, hospitals and prisons might give priority to their families. During the Three Mile Island accident, conflict extended to nurses, physicians and technicians. At one local hospital, only six of the 70 doctors scheduled for weekend emergency duty reported for work. A nuclear power plant accident is considerably different from a natural disaster, such as a hurricane.
People often have to be prodded to leave scenes of natural disasters.
The stakes are much higher after a nuclear accident, and the passage of time does not make the estimates of danger more palatable. A study recently completed by the Sandia National Laboratory concluded that a worst-case accident at Salem I and II in New Jersey might kill more than 100,000 people. The officials for the New Jersey Radiological Response Plan were courteous, attentive and met with us privately before the official hearing. There is no provision in Delaware for public participation when those in charge have their meetings. I would hope that someone in the legislature would come forward to introduce a bill that would give us the same opportunity.