Indian Point To Get Bi-Annual Preparedness Test
Release Date: September 19, 2002
Release Number: HQ-02-150
Washington, DC -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be conducting a plume phase, full participation exercise on September 24, 2002, at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant to evaluate the emergency preparedness of New York State and the four counties within a ten-mile radius of the plant to respond to a radiological emergency. The last full participation exercise for Indian Point was conducted in November 2000.
At the September 24th Indian Point exercise, FEMA will be specifically evaluating the following six criteria of radiological emergency preparedness:
- Emergency Operations Management
- Protective Action Decision Making
- Protective Action Implementation
- Field Measurement and Analysis
- Emergency Notification and Public Information
- Support Operations and Facilities
"The federal government conducts full participation exercises bi-annually at all nuclear power plants to provide a reasonable assurance that emergency response plans can be implemented," said Joseph F. Picciano, Acting Regional Director, FEMA Region II. "Carefully evaluating these six key areas of preparedness will help us provide that assurance."
FEMA, through its Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) Program, has been the lead federal agency for state and local emergency planning and preparedness for communities near nuclear power plants since 1979. FEMA's responsibilities include reviewing and evaluating emergency response plans developed by state and local governments, assessing local and state radiological emergency exercises and coordinating activities of other federal agencies involved in the radiological preparedness process. In addition to FEMA, the principal federal agencies include the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Public Health Service and the departments of Defense, Energy, Interior, Transportation and Agriculture.
Upon completion of the exercise on September 24, and after any additional evaluations are completed, a final report will be compiled and forwarded to the NRC and will be made available to the public. Prior to completion of the report, comments on the results of the evaluation will be solicited from the counties and the state and will be considered for inclusion in the final report.
Last Modified: Friday, 25-Jul-2003 09:45:10