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EPA's Radiological Laboratories
Ready to Respond
- Main Page
- EPA's Response to the Chernobyl Incident
- Setting Guidelines to Protect the Public
- Establishing the Federal Radiological Monitoring & Assessment Center
- EPA's Radiological Laboratories
- EPA Establishes Contingency Plans for Space Shuttle Launches
- EPA Cleans Up New York Hotspot
- Leading the Federal Response
- EPA's Response to the Three Mile Island Incident
- EPA's Response to the Reentry of Cosmos Satellites
- Ready to Respond: Federal Agency Roles in Emergency Response
We use radioactive materials for medical diagnosis and treatments, defense activities, electric power generation, and industrial processes. There are some risks, however, when using radioactive materials for these beneficial activities. Careful planning and design help minimize these risks, but even the best planning and design is not enough to prevent accidents completely. We must be prepared. The accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 made this need clear.
The accident at Three Mile Island left many Americans wondering, "Who protects the public in a nuclear emergency?" President Carter answered by charting a plan for Federal agencies to work with state and local governments in responding to peacetime radiological emergencies. Approved in 1985 and revised in 1996, the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (FRERP) assigns roles to several Federal agencies that contribute to an emergency response, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The FRERP assigns a Lead Federal Agency responsibility for protecting the public and the environment at the site of an accident, while assigning the State responsibility for protecting the public and the environment beyond the accident site. Other Federal agencies assist the Lead Federal Agency and the State as needed.
EPA's three major responsibilities in the FRERP flow from the Agency's overall mission: to protect human health and the environment. EPA establishes guidelines for protecting the public from radiation exposure, such as when to evacuate or relocate citizens. EPA also monitors and assesses radioactivity in the environment from an accident to define the extent of exposure from that accident. In addition, as the Lead Federal Agency, EPA coordinates the Federal response to an emergency if a nuclear accident occurs in a foreign country or if a domestic emergency involves unregulated material.
EPA maintains two radiological laboratories that provide quality monitoring and assessment services needed in an emergency. They are the National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL), located on Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex in Montgomery, Alabama, and the Radiation and Indoor Environments National Laboratory (R&IE) in Las Vegas, Nevada. In an emergency, these labs are equipped to provide radioanalytical services at the lab or at the scene of the accident.
Experienced staff from these facilities, EPA Headquarters and EPA's 10 Regional offices make up the Radiological Emergency Response Team (RERT). The team is on standby alert at all times and , if needed, can reach any site in the United States within 24 hours, using mobile emergency response vehicles transported by ground or by Air Force cargo planes. As part of its training, the Team regularly participates in full-field exercises for simulated accidents.
EPA's radiological labs have mobile laboratories, communications and other support vehicles that can be deployed in various combinations, depending on the type and magnitude of response required. These support vehicles are equipped to provide command and control activities, sample preparation, sample storage, and supply and equipment dispatch. Using mobile equipment, staff provide radioanalytical services, including gamma spectroscopy, alpha/beta analyses, and liquid scintillation analyses. Local VHF and long-distance communication capabilities help them keep in touch with response personnel from other agencies.
RadNet
NAREL also operates RadNet (formerly the Environmental Radiation Ambient Monitoring System (ERAMS)). The system consists of sampling stations in each State that regularly collect air particulate, surface water, drinking water, precipitation, and milk samples for radioactivity analyses. The system can also track airborne radioactivity from any accidental release. If necessary, the RadNet sampling frequency can be increased to meet the needs of any radiological emergency response. Since Chernobyl, EPA has participated in the World Health Organization's efforts to develop a global environmental monitoring program.
