Emergency Vocabulary

In the event of an emergency on the Oak Ridge Reservation, you will hear one of the following terms during public announcements. Each term indicates the magnitude of the event and will help you understand any necessary protective actions.

• Operational Emergency: an event that does not involve a release of hazardous material, but may require a response by the site (such as calling the fire department).

Events resulting in the airborne release of hazardous materials are classified into three levels of severity.

• Alert: harmful levels of a material were released, but have not left the facility boundary.
• Site Area Emergency: harmful levels of a material were released beyond the facility, but have not left the site.
• General Emergency: harmful levels of a material have the potential to travel offsite or have already traveled offsite.