Laguna Beach : City to Study Effect of Evacuation Plans

The City Council will consider requesting that Laguna Beach be included in the San Onofre nuclear power plant’s emergency evacuation zone at tonight’s meeting.

Councilman Dan Kenney requested a review of San Onofre’s emergency plan for Laguna Beach in the light of the recent Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in the Soviet Union.

Laguna Beach, 16 miles from the plant, is not included in San Onofre’s 10-mile-radius emergency planning zone. Residents of areas closer to the plant would pass through Laguna Beach to northern county areas if evacuated, whereas city residents would be advised to stay in their homes.

“The (emergency) plan is unrealistic. It’s unrealistic to think that the residents of Laguna Beach are going to sit in their homes while the people in Dana Point drive through here,” Kenney said.

He added that the City Council has always been concerned that Laguna Beach was not included in the evacuation plan, but the concern was heightened by the Chernobyl accident.

“No matter what anyone says, we know from Three Mile Island and (Chernobyl) that it’s possible,” Kenney said.

Inclusion in the emergency plan might force San Onofre to more realistically prepare for the amount of northward traffic in the event of a mishap, Kenney said.

However, Bud Jackley, San Onofre emergency planner and nuclear affairs manager, said he felt that the plant’s plan is “excellent” and he feels that there is no need to upgrade it beyond “increasing public awareness” of it.