Southern Exposure was a Full Scale Exercise for the integration of organizations at all levels of government and demonstrate the ability to coordinate and conduct response and recovery activities during an incident at a Nuclear Power Plant.
Southern Exposure 2015: A Full Federal Participation Exercise
Introduction:
This exercise was copmpleted July 2015. Southern Exposure included the communities surrounding the H. B. Robinson Nuclear Generating Plant in Hartsville, South Carolina.
The 2015 full Federal stakeholder participation exercise integrated organizations across all levels of government, and demonstrated the ability of the whole community to coordinate and conduct response and recovery activities in response to a nuclear power plant emergency.
Federal Sponsorship and Coordination:
Federal sponsors for Southern Exposure included; the FEMA Technological Hazards Division, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
This exercise, like all FEMA Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program (REPP) exercises, evaluated the Offsite Response Organizations (OROs) as a required part of the nuclear power plant federal licensing process.
Point of Contact:
The FEMA Exercise Director for the Southern Exposure Exercise is Ms. Patricia (Patti) Gardner, FEMA Technical Hazards Division. She can be reached at 202-329-7573 or Patricia.Gardner2@fema.dhs.gov.
Responsibility for FEMA's Role as a participant in the multi-agency exercise is Robert Root, FEMA Exercise Program. He can be reached at 202-212-1931 or robert.root@fema.dhs.gov.
Exercise Objectives:
- Demonstrate the ability to coordinate mobilization of assets, personnel, and other means of support for a radiological incident, supporting state and local agencies to obtain situational awareness, determine the extent of impact, and initiate operational coordination.
- Demonstrate the ability to establish and maintain a unified command and coordination in accordance with the National Response Framework, National Disaster Recovery Framework, Federal Interagency Operational Plans - Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex, National Incident Management System, revised Environment Protection Agency Protective Action Guides, and Worker Health Safety Annex.
- Demonstrate the ability of responding organizations to integrate into local incident command and management organizations using the National Incident Management System, including multi-agency coordination systems, to synchronize National Response Framework and National Disaster Recovery Framework concepts with the processes and concepts outlined by specific department and agency authorities and NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1.
- Demonstrate the ability of the whole community to coordinate and integrate response and recovery activities for the economic and housing recovery core capabilities.
- Demonstrate the ability of the whole community to exchange critical information to protect public health and safety and the environment pursuant to the revised National Response Framework, revised National Disaster Recovery Framework, associated Federal Interagency Operation Plans (Response and Recovery), Nuclear Radiological Incident Annex, National Incident Management System, Worker Health and Safety Annex, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Protective Action Guides
- Demonstrate the ability to deliver coordinated, prompt, reliable, and actionable information to the whole community through the use of clear, consistent, accessible, and culturally and linguistically appropriate methods to effectively relay information regarding during the response.
- Demonstrate the ability to develop and provide relevant guidance and resources to address the radiological effects on the economy, environment, agriculture, and public health and safety.