Issue - meetings

Tony Harwood (Resilience and Emergency Planning Manager) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr M Hill, OBE, (Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services) introduced the report that set out the Revised and updated Radiation Emergency Preparedness and Public Information Regulations (REPPIR) that were published in May 2019 and the new Associated Code of Practice for offsite planning, which required the County Council to comprehensively review and update its offsite plan for Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station. The report presented a summary of how KCC aimed to carry out those duties.

2.    Mr Harwood informed the Committee that REPPIR 2019 placed a duty upon upper tier local authorities to ‘make, maintain and test’ at least every 3 years offsite emergency plans for nuclear installations. They further described duties relating to informing the public and to health protection countermeasures which were to be taken in the event of a radiation emergency. Revised and updated REPPIR regulations were published in May 2019 alongside an associated Code of Practice for offsite planning, which required KCC to comprehensively review and update its offsite plan for Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station. Mr Harwood confirmed that the Consequence Report for Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station was received on 20th September. It was recommended that a revised DEPZ be developed, which remained at approximately 2.4km radius, by the County Council in consultation with key stakeholders, but which was adjusted to respond more effectively to the geography and demography of the local area. This enabled a precautionary approach in relation to countermeasures and better reflected the pattern of development in the locality.

3.    Officers responded to comments and questions as follows:

(a)  Mr Harwood informed Members that the 2.4km proposal was the most practical layout to administer and that stakeholders, including local residents, were familiar with this established configuration. The 2.4 km DEPZ countermeasures for the public included ‘shelter in situ’, stable iodine tablet distribution or evacuation from the area. Currently the Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station operator (EDF Energy) distributed public information to all residents and businesses within the DEPZ. Residents and businesses were also issued with a calendar detailing required countermeasures, a supply of stable iodine tablets and advice for residents and others within the DEPZ to ‘go in, stay in, tune in’, close all doors, windows and turn off air-conditioning in the event of a radiation emergency. Previously, the aforementioned duties fell within the remit of the operator (EDF Energy), however, under the REPPIR 2019, the responsibility fell to upper tier authorities. Mr Harwood assured Members that the proposed 2.4km was practical and pragmatic and was based on risk, empirical evidence and data.

(b)  In terms of duties and responsibilities of staff, Kent County Council operated a 24/7 Duty Emergency Planning Officer system which was backed up by on-call 24/7 Duty Recovery Directors, Tactical Managers and an on-call emergency response team which enabled administrative support. Mr Harwood assured Members that KCC always placed its resident’s safety at the heart of its decisions and that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 214