Executive Order  No. 303: Public safety and the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station

WHEREAS, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized the issuance of a full power license under which the Seabrook Nuclear Power station located in Seabrook, New Hampshire (hereinafter the "Seabrook Station") is permitted to operate, and that said authorization was granted over the objections of the Commonwealth's officials; and,

WHEREAS, the Seabrook station is now capable of operating and does operate at full power; and,

WHEREAS, a radiological accident at Seabrook Station that results in an off-site release would constitute a public safety hazard within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which must be addressed as urgently and as capably as possible; and,

WHEREAS, the following six Massachusetts communities lie within the plume exposure emergency planning zone for Seabrook Station: Amesbury, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, West Newbury, and Salisbury (hereinafter the "six Massachusetts communities"); and,

WHEREAS, the potential public safety hazard is created by a private company; the costs of emergency planning and response should be borne in substantial part by that company consistent with federal law.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, William F. Weld, pursuant to the authority vested in me as supreme executive magistrate, and by Chapter 639 of the Acts and Resolves of 1950 as amended, order the following:

The Director of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency and Office of Emergency Preparedness ("Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency") shall begin developing the best possible emergency plans for response to a radiological emergency originating at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station.

The Director of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency shall work with the Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety, and other officials of the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions including the six Massachusetts communities, in this planning effort.

The Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency and the Massachusetts State Police shall begin working with and in cooperation with the operators of Seabrook Station to ensure adequate emergency planning and the establishment of effective warning and notification systems. The six Massachusetts communities are encouraged to also begin working in cooperation with the operators of Seabrook Station towards adequate planning and the establishment by Seabrook Station of a warning and notification system in each of the six Massachusetts communities.

The Director of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency shall work with and remain in contact with the operators of Seabrook Station to ensure that an effective warning and notification system is established as expeditiously as possible, and that emergency planning efforts are coordinated and operational.

The Director of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency and the Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health shall, and the six Massachusetts communities are encouraged to, work with Seabrook Station to determine the feasibility of establishing a system to monitor off-site radiological emissions that may emanate from Seabrook Station.

I further request that Seabrook Nuclear Power Station officials work with the Director of the Massachusetts Civil Defense Agency on all aspects of public safety programming and planning and support those programs in a manner that will ensure the public's faith in the process.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 6th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and ninety-one.

WILLIAM F. WELD, Governor

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

MICHAEL JOSEPH CONNOLLY

Secretary of the Commonwealth