TONOPAH, AZ -- Once every year, the dozens of sirens that surround the Palo Verde nuclear plant go off as part of a test.
Not once have the sirens sounded because of a real emergency.
But that's not to say it couldn't happen.
"The actual likelihood of any accident is very small," said Steve Marshall with the
Arizona Division of Emergency Management.
The Valley's emergency management agencies have preparedness plans even though the likelihood of a disaster is small.
Their main concern is actual radiation escaping the plant in the form of a plume or cloud.
"What we're concerned with is inhalation of radioactive gases that may escape the plant," said John Padilla with the
Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management.
Only once in U.S. history has that type of incident happened, at Three Mile Island in 1979.
Should a similar emergency occur at
Palo Verde, contrary to public perception it would only affect two types of groups.
A leak smaller in scale would only affect those living within 10 miles of the plant.
A larger leak could have ramifications for those who live up to 50 miles away.
"Scottsdale is well outside the 50 mile radius," Marshall said. "Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, they're all outside."
People in several west Valley cities, including Goodyear and Buckeye, among others, could potentially have to evacuate.
"If we have the concern we may need to evacuate, we'll do it to get people out of harm's way," Padilla said.
While people are the priority, there's also a worry about crops and livestock.
The area adjacent to the plant has plenty of both.
"We have a lot of dairies in the area," Marshall said. "If the plume were to go over a dairy, we'd worry about the food, the feed and the water for the cattle."
Officials hope their Palo Verde plan, is ultimately one, they'll never have to actually use.
