The Town of Amherstburg is hoping to get provincial cooperation as it updates its nuclear response plan.
The town has delegated the responsibility of updating the plan to Deputy Fire Chief Lee Tome, who has been lobbying the province to put some cash behind a plan update, as well as draft guidelines similar to those already in place at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Tiverton. These guidelines would be set in the event of a nuclear incident at the nearby Fermi II nuclear power plant in Michigan.
Amherstburg Mayor Aldo DiCarlo says the town has pretty much been on its own as far as coming up with an emergency response plan.
"We obviously do not have that kind of control, as it's in the United States," says DiCarlo. "So when you read the provincial guidelines, they're very specific to the nuclear plant in the province, and we don't have that."
The current plan places responsibility for a response to a nuclear accident at Fermi on the shoulders of the town. The updated plan would reduce the primary emergency zone from the current 23 km to the standard 16 km that is the U.S. standard, as well as provide for distribution of the K-I pill, a potassium iodide tablet taken to reduce or prevent the effects of radioactivity. A report on the updated plan was presented to Amherstburg town council on Tuesday night.
DiCarlo, though, has a hard time understanding why the province has not recognized the unusual situation Amherstburg is in.
"As I understand it, we are the only one in Canada with exposure from another country, so we are very unique," says DiCarlo. "However, when you look at how long Fermi's been there, I always ask myself 'Has it really taken this long to figure that out?'"
DiCarlo says while he is not anticipating an event at the Fermi plant, it does not hurt to have a plan ready just in case.
"It's not something that you want to say you don't have to worry about, but at the same time, it's also something that's not an impending storm on the horizon that's coming your way," says DiCarlo. "It's just something where you don't want to be in that position and then wonder 'Why didn't we have this in place?'"
DiCarlo credits authorities at the Fermi plant, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for being willing to work with the town. He says the plan has not had a significant update since 1998 and he also praises the work Deputy Fire Chief Tome has already done working with the province.