Panel Discusses Response to San Onofre Emergency

The importance of disseminating quick and accurate information through the media in the event of an emergency at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was discussed Friday at the sixth annual meeting of the Interjurisdictional Planning Committee.

San Clemente Fire Chief Thomas F. Dailey, representing his city on the committee and acting as chairman at the meeting, said reliable information made public as quickly as possible when an emergency occurs can prevent panic and possible injuries.

As an illustration of how unconfirmed rumors and misunderstandings can cause confusion, the committee, meeting at the Dana Point Resort, was shown a videotape of an event at the Rancho Seco Generating Station in 1986.

The film described the confusion that followed a reported explosion at the plant. In fact, there had been a minor fire at the plant at the same time a small pipe bomb exploded several miles away.

Ken Baskin, vice president of Southern California Edison Co., the principal operator of the San Onofre plant, said that, “clearly, factual information given in a timely manner” can prevent overreaction by the public and thus avert panic.

The planning committee is responsible for warning systems and other precautions, including the establishment of evacuation routes for people living within a 20-mile radius of the San Onofre plant. The plant is in San Diego County just south of San Clemente.

Representatives on the committee come from Orange and San Diego counties, the cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, the California Parks and Recreation Department, the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton and Southern California Edison Co.