Radiological facts you should know if you live or work in Brevard County:
We have very few radiation issues to concern ourselves with within Brevard County; however, it would be unfair not to mention all the potential issues with radiation. The southern part of our county from Malabar Road South is in the 50-mile ingestion pathway of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power plant located on Hutchison Island near Fort Pierce. The plant participates in many exercises with all the regional agencies that could be involved if an accident took place. Our county has a plan for sheltering and hosting evacuees from the 10-mile emergency planning area that surrounds the Plant as well as providing traffic control, security and, if needed, decontamination.
The Space Center will sometimes have launches with major radiological sources on board and our county team works with the Space Center to ensure that our public is well protected and not put at risk during the these launches. Launches like this are advertised many years in advance so public and private input can be incorporated into protective plans. The most recent Launch of this type was the Mars Science Lab project that sent the rover, "Curiosity", to Mars in November of 2011.
There is always a potential for an accident along the interstate that might involve a vehicle transporting approved industrial or medical radiation sources. Our county's Special Response Team is well prepared to handle such tasks.
There are only 3 nuclear power plants in Florida and they are the St Lucie Plant, the Turkey Point Plant in the Miami area, and the Crystal River Plant on the West Coast. The towers seen from 528 between Brevard and Orlando are not part of a nuclear power plant.
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