News has been spreading on the seacoast that the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant has degrading concrete, a concern for many living nearby.

As a kid growing up within the 10-mile emergency zone of Seabrook's Nuclear Plant, I never knew much about it.

Many don't.

Here is what I knew as a kid...and took with me as an adult.

"We live near a nuclear plant. Nuclear radiation is bad. If there were ever an incident, I would be SOL because I live too close..."

Now that is HORRIBLE planning as a kid, let alone an adult.

So, when news was shared in the past two weeks about the degrading concrete, I decided to figure out an actual emergency plan for my family.

Who is at risk if there is an emergency at the Seabrook Nuclear Plant?

According to a Mass.gov article, only a 10-mile radius around the Seabrook, NH, Nuclear Plant would need an evaluation plan.

That stretches as far north as Stratham, Greenland, Rye (Not Portsmouth), and as far south as Newburyport, Newbury, and West Newbury.

Not to be dramatic, but I think I would be concerned if I lived just outside of that 10-mile radius (which I do).

Back in 2011, during the Fukushima nuclear accident, wind gusts complicated their 12-mile evaluation plan. Because of the spread of radiation, communities 30 miles from the Fukushima plant still remain uninhabitable.

What to do if there is an emergency at the Seabrook Nuclear Plant?

There are far too many unique scenarios to list here; however, I will say that state websites (such as the Mass.Gov Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant site) lay out comprehensive emergency plans.

When to shelter in place VS when to evacuate
If you are with your pets, bring them with you
If your kids are at school, leave them - they will be transported outside of the emergency zone
Etc.

Living just "outside" of the emergency planning zone in Portsmouth, NH, has me checking up on the actual procedures...and I think you should too.