If Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center was ever under attack, local emergency personnel and city and county officials would be better prepared thanks to a training exercise conducted Tuesday at the Callaway County Joint Communications Center.
Officials face different scenarios each year in the annual training, and this year intruders invaded the plant - planning to set off an explosive. In the scenario, intruders also placed boobie traps at fuel sites.
Lt. Clay Chism with the Callaway County Sheriff's Office said that "hostile action-based drills" have been required for local officials post-9/11. Chism said Callaway County officials are responsible for emergency response outside of the nuclear plant, while Callaway Energy Center security would handle actions on its property.
Because the hypothetical event was criminal, law enforcement played a primary role in the simulated response. Chism acted as the incident commander and was located at the nuclear plant during the drill, along with members of the sheriff's office, Fulton Police Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Federal Bureau of Investigations. All of these agencies, Chism said, would be necessary in order to keep the situation under control.
"(The training) was certainly a great reminder of how an event at the nuclear plant would tax the resources we have," Chism said.
Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers said the training came in good use several years ago during an ice storm. The drills typically focus on a natural disaster, he said, and the chance to train at a high level is unique in mid-Missouri. Myers said Tuesday's scenario was the first he's experienced that was law enforcement heavy.
"(This training) makes sure we are prepared to deal with any emergency we may have," Myers said.
The four-hour drill, Chism said, was two part - officials needed to show how they would respond to a nuclear plant incident and how law enforcement would carry out its investigation before and after finding suspects.
"Anytime we do a training event at the plant, we use it as an opportunity to better our response," Chism said, adding that it's imperative that the response is "nothing short of perfect."
At the home base were Callaway County Joint Communications dispatchers and its director, Michelle Kidwell; the Callaway County Commission; county officials from the health and road departments; Callaway County Ambulance District Director Charles Anderson; City of Fulton administrators; City of Fulton Fire Department officials; Myers and Matthew Palmer with the Callaway County Sheriff's Office.
Four representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) observed and graded their performances based on six areas of classification. FEMA Technological Hazards Programs Specialist Cara Christianson-Riley said the agency has 90 days to finalize its report. The report includes evaluations of more than 40 state, county and non-governmental agencies, including Callaway County and Missouri's State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), that are compiled by 24 evaluators, according to a FEMA press release. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state of Missouri will receive copies of the report. The agency has 60 days to return comments to state and local governments.
According to the release, the six broad areas evaluated in the drill are:
•Emergency operations management, which must "ensure that the emergency response included clear instructions, that procedures were followed and agencies had the necessary tools to perform their jobs."
•Protective action decision making, which must "ensure that decisions on evacuation or sheltering the public were made correctly and in a timely manner."
•Protective action implementations, which must "ensure that actions to protect the public were properly executed."
•Field measurement and analysis, which must "ensure that protective action recommendations were technically correct."
•Emergency notifications and public information, which must "ensure that the public was informed that an emergency existed and provided information in a timely and accurate manner."
•Support operations/facilities, which must "ensure that monitoring, decontamination and medical procedures were followed at hospitals, reception centers and shelters for the public."
Christianson-Riley said any identified issues can be classified in three areas: plan issue, area requiring corrective action (ARCA) or deficiency. A plan issue does not reflect a problem with drill performance, but with the emergency plan that needs correcting, according to the release. An ARCA means that a FEMA representative saw an "inadequacy of organizational performance" that does not have a harmful affect on public health and safety. The issues are minor, and Christianson-Riley said the flaw must be corrected within two years. The worst classification is a deficiency, which means the problem must be solved within 120 days of the exercise.
Callaway County officials most likely won't have to worry about any severe performance problems. At the end of the training, the four FEMA representatives gave brief feedback - which was all positive.
Going around the room for input on the exercise, each official who commented stated that communication was crucial in the drill. Officials reported updates in 30-minute intervals, but could come sooner if developments made it necessary. Each person also utilized WebEOC, an online tool that allows agencies across the state to monitor information during emergencies.
Kidwell's primary role in the exercise was to lead coordinating communication.
"It brings everybody together and sinks up that network going on," Kidwell said. "It provides an opp to fill any gaps in any of our plannings."
This year, Kidwell brought on Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) Region F officials - an operations chief, liaison officer who was stationed at the nuclear plant command post and support staff. If the hypothetical scenario were to happen, Kidwell said she would request assistance from MACC, an organization comprised of 13 counties in the region.
MACC Operations Chief and Cooper County Emergency Management Agency Director Tom White was present during the training, giving announcements and updates to assist with coordination and communication. Bringing various officials together, he said, is essential because each possess a special set of skills necessary for the public's safety. The entire process, he added, requires a "tremendous amount of coordination." Throughout the drill, officials were given various obstacles to solve.
"You have to look outside the box and be ready for anything and everything that may arise," White said.
FEMA will host a public meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday in the auditorium of the State Emergency Management Agency, located at 2302 Militia Drive in Jefferson City, to explain the exercise process. FEMA Region VII representatives will chair the meeting, according to a FEMA press release, and a representative from NRC Region IV office, located in Arlington, Texas, will talk about on-site activities conducted at the Callaway Energy Center during the exercise.