Day-care sites near TMI say they lack plan for evacuation

Corradi has experienced mass evacuation. But other day-care centers within 10 miles of TMI are struggling to prepare emergency plans, says a survey of 38 licensed centers by the EFMR Monitoring Group, a nonprofit organization that monitors radiation around TMI. The monitoring group sent questionnaires to 73 state-licensed centers in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster and York counties in December, asking how much support they have received from federal, state and local authorities to develop plans for a nuclear emergency. Half of the centers, caring for nearly 1,500 children, responded. Among the findings: * 87 percent don't know who would provide transportation for their children. * 58 percent don't know to which relocation center they should take children. * Two-thirds have not been provided transportation by the state, the county or a municipality. Even those with evacuation plans admitted they were relying on assumptions about where they would go and how they would get there. The survey shows that the state is not in compliance with federal regulations for a nuclear emergency, said Eric Epstein, founder of the monitoring group. "What we found is a lack of coordination for transportation amplified by a lack of vehicles," Epstein said. "There simply are not enough vehicles to take the kids there." Epstein and Larry Christian of New Cumberland claim that Pennsylvania has been out of compliance with federal Radiological Emergency Response Plans for decades.

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