Did you know this?
"— Four million people now live within 10 miles of the 65 operating sites. (Population in overlapping zones was counted only once for this part of the analysis.) Back in 1980, with 38 nuclear sites, only 1.5 million people lived that close.
— Overall, from 1980 to 2010, the average population in the 10-mile evacuation zones ballooned by 62%, from 39,762 to 64,363.
— Populations within the 10-mile radius have more than doubled at 12 of the 65 sites during the same 30-year period.
— The most explosive growth occurred around the two-reactor Saint Lucie complex near Fort Pierce, Fla., where the 10-mile population of 43,332 in 1980 grew 366% to 202,010 in 2010. Others in the top five: the two-unit Brunswick complex near the North Carolina coast, which increased 326% from 8,164 to 34,782; Monticello, 35 miles from Minneapolis, where population rose 314% from 14,130 to 58,538; the two-unit Turkey Point site, 20 miles south of Miami, up 302%; and the two-unit San Onofre facility in San Clemente, Calif., up 283%.
— Among newer reactors, the biggest jump occurred around Shearon Harris, 20 miles southwest of Raleigh, N.C., where population nearly quadrupled from 24,700 in 1990 to 94,465 in 2010. Three other facilities where populations more than doubled during the same 20-year period are the three-unit Palo Verde site, 50 miles west of Phoenix; two-unit McGuire site, 17 miles north of Charlotte, N.C., and the two-unit Catawba complex in South Carolina, 18 miles south of Charlotte.
— About 120 million people, almost 40% of all Americans, live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, according to the AP's analysis of 2010 Census data."
What's worse, the emergency evacuation plans in cities with nuclear plants are out-of-date, unrealistic, and untested. Take Indian Point near New York City, for example, where two plants operate:
"If a 50-mile order were ever issued for Indian Point, it would take in about 17.3 million people — 6% of all Americans, according to an AP population analysis. That would include parts of New Jersey and Connecticut and all of New York City, except for a chunk of Staten Island.
"'At no time in the history of man has anyone tried to move 17 million people in 48 hours,' said Kelly McKinney, New York City's deputy commissioner of preparedness."
June 27, 2011 | USA TODAY
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