What If Disaster Struck the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant?

Officials at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and Orange County’s emergency response agencies say there are plans in place for dealing with an earthquake, tsunami or other natural disaster that could compromise the nuclear power plant south of San Clemente.

Though first-responders to a natural disaster or nuclear catastrophe have well-rehearsed plans, the first responsibility for safety lies with individual residents and families, experts say.

“In the first moments of a disaster, we’re going to look at our priorities and take care of those,” said Brenda Emrick, a community educator with the Costa Mesa Fire Department and a member of the O.C. committee that developed the countywide emergency response plan in the event of a nuclear disaster. “We are going to count on the community to be prepared.”

What Would Happen at The Plant

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station spokesman Gil Alexander said as $674-million, at the plant were completed last month, that operators at the plant spend more time in a control room simulator than commercial pilots spend in cockpit simulators.

"Those who control those reactors are carefully and ,” Alexander said. “A control room operator in San Onofre, after the initial training and licensing, will spend one week out of every six re-training."

Alexander said there are multiple layers of fail-safes for every procedure involved in running the plant; the automatic controls are designed to rely on human checks, and in turn, to check human mistakes.

"A nuclear plant control room's systems are designed to safeguard the plant, including shutting down without operator intervention," Alexander said. "We call it 'defense in-depth.' We never rely on just one defense or safety measure. Everything is double and triple."

Seven people operate the controls at all times, he said.

But what if the worst happens and the plant is compromised?

Plant spokesman Chris Abel said there is not a specific plan to deal with an earthquake, wildfire or other incident because the response depends on many different factors regarding the severity of the disaster and conditions inside the plant. The planning at San Onofre—supported by routine drills and training—is flexible and involves as many as 1,200 people, more if necessary.

“We have four emergency response teams that have 100 people each,” Abel said. “And there are 800 people who are trained to back them up.”

Members of the team include technicians, academic personnel and professional personnel, each assigned to specific duties, Abel said.

“For example, I’m on one of the teams—I would be the media liaison,” he said.

Physicists, maintenance personnel, software experts and dozens of others with specializations linked to every part of the plant would be called into action to secure each specific operation and element of the generating station in the event it were compromised by disaster, Abel said.

Furthermore, there is a fire department dedicated specifically to the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, he said.

What The Government Would Do

In the event of an earthquake, tsunami, flood, wildfire, nuclear event or other disaster, emergency response agencies have developed comprehensive, countywide plans of action.

Information about these well-rehearsed plans and disaster preparedness in general is available at the committee’s ReadyOC website.

In the event of a nuclear disaster, depending on the factors involved, firefighters from the San Onofre Fire Station would likely respond to the plant.

Officials would use the “reverse-911” AlertOC telephone system to call residents with instructions to evacuate, to stay put and shelter or perhaps to consume potassium iodide pills that help keep the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine that could be shed in a nuclear event.

Landlines are automatically registered into the alert system, but people should also register their email addresses and cell phone numbers.

If evacuating from a nuclear event, residents should make their way to the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Emrick said that’s where ReadyOC has determined agencies would set up a radiation decontamination center with special showers and other measures to treat those exposed to radiation.

What Residents Should Do

Residents should have items and plans in place to help themselves and their families through a disaster.

Donna Boston, the county’s emergency planning official with the Sheriff’s Department, said residents should look to the ReadyOC website for a comprehensive list of items that every household should have on hand.

Three days' worth of food and water, matches, flashlights, candles, a hand-crank radio, a first-aid kit and other supplies all belong in

More important than supplies, Boston said, is to have a plan that everyone knows about and understands. Make sure pets are included in food and water supply calculations and make a place for family members to meet if one or more aren’t home at the time of the disaster. Residents are also advised to create a phone tree for extended family members.

Boston said phone lines are often jammed during an emergency but that texting and email networks typically remain functional. It may be faster and easier to text loved ones.

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