NRC Denies TMI-Alert Petition to Move Children From Harm's Way During An Accident

(Harrisburg, Pa) - Three Mile Island Alert, Inc. filed a Petition for 

Rulemaking with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on

April 11, 2007 to extend host school pick-up centers at least five miles 

and preferably 10 miles beyond the plume exposure boundary zone of
Three Mile Island.  Host-schools are the destination points that children

are transportedto for “safe keeping” until their parents, guardians or

primary caregivers arrive.

The NRC rejected the Petition on January 23, 2009. (Enclosure) 

TMIA received notice on Jan. 30, 2009 at the close of business via

the U.S. Postal Service.

Eric Epstein, TMI-Alert's chairman said, “Thirty years after the 

meltdown at TMI, school children are still exposed. Harm’s way does 

not end at an imaginary ten mile line.”

    TMIA's solution to the problem of proximity was for host school 

pick-up centers to be located a minimum distance of at least five miles 

and preferably 10 miles beyond the plume exposure boundary zone. 

Host school pick-up centers need to be located at safe distances well

beyond the plume exposure boundary line due to likely delays and 

obstacles parents will encounter during a radiological emergency.

Epstein noted, “The requirements that the NRC upheld allow host 

school pick-up centers to be 10 miles from the radiation plume boundary, 

and needlessly place kids in harm’s way. " He added, "Why does the NRC 

insist on keeping children within a zone of exposure during a radiological

emergency?"

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      Three Mile Island Alert, Inc., is a safe-energy organization based in 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and founded in 1977. TMIA monitors Peach Bottom,

Susquehanna, and Three Mile Island nuclear generating stations.