Levels of Emergencies
There are four levels of emergencies covered by the emergency plans at nuclear power plants. Each level requires specific actions to be taken by the plant operator and offsite officials. These levels, in order of increasing severity, are:
  • Unusual Event
  • Alert
  • Site Area Emergency
  • General Emergency
Select this link to review the NRC's definitions of these emergency levels.
The four levels of emergency in a pyramid with unusual event at the base and general emergency at the top.  Severity increases as you go up.