Distinguishing Human Responses to Radiological Emergencies

Abstract

Inherent in the revised emergency planning regulations recently issued by the federal government is the assumption that people will follow official protective action advisories during a nuclear reactor accident. In this paper the authors argue that this is an unrealistic assumption and present empirical evidence which supports the proposition that a radiological emergency in likely to give rise to a high degree of extreme public behavior. Their analyses indicate that less than one-third of the households on Long Island are likely to follow instructions in the event of an accident at the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station. Among the families who would not follow instructions, some would underreact but most would overreact. Perceived distance from the plant and age of household head appear to be the strongest discriminators among those who are most likely to follow orders, those most likely to underreact, and those most likely to overreact. Implications for radiological emergency preparedness and response planning are discussed. 71 references, 3 figures, 8 tables.