Emergency Planning Zones

Oak Ridge Reservation Emergency Planning Zones

State and local agencies, in coordination with the DOE, have defined an Emergency Planning Zones (EPZ) around the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). This EPZ is the approximate five-mile area from the centers of the ETTP, ORNL and Y-12 sites, comprising the “risk” jurisdictions of Anderson, Knox, Loudon, and Roane Counties, and City of Oak Ridge.

The EPZ is the area where planning is done by DOE, State, and local agencies to implement specific preparedness actions to reduce or minimize the impact to public health and safety in the event of a DOE emergency.

ORR Emergency Planning Sectors

Multiple emergency planning sectors have been defined within the five-mile EPZ. The sector boundaries conform to natural, jurisdictional, and man-made landmarks. These sectors are a tool to apportion emergency resources to the impacted area, issue protective action recommendations to residents who are impacted by an offsite release, and for residents to quickly identify if they are within the impacted area.

If an emergency occurs at the ORR that requires citizens to take protective actions, EAS and social media messages will provide the sector or sectors that may be affected by the hazardous materials release.