This is a Drill: ODOE and Partners Activate Agency Operations Center for Nuclear Emergency Exercise

The team in the Agency Operations Center analyzing data from the simulated drill.

The simulated data showed Oregon might have to take agricultural precautions, such as sheltering livestock and not consuming milk in the affected areas.

The Civil Support Team is there to help with communications as needed during an emergency.

The team conducts a mock press conference to share information about the simulated incident as answer media questions.

On March 26-27, the Oregon Department of Energy participated in one of our regular nuclear emergency exercises. Each year, ODOE staff activate our Agency Operations Center in Salem and send staff north to Washington to simulate and practice how we would respond in the event of a radiological emergency at the Hanford Site or the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant near Richland, WA. Both sites sit along the Columbia River, just 35 miles north of Oregon’s border.

This year’s exercise was a two-day “Ingestion Exercise” with the Columbia Generating Station. In an Ingestion Exercise, the artificial radiological emergency leads to a simulated airborne release and deposition of radioactive materials from the power plant into Oregon air and onto land – which can affect livestock, milk, and crops. While the amount of radiation reaching Oregon from an incident at the plant would be below harmful levels for direct exposure to humans, our primary concern would be agricultural products in the area. In the case of a real emergency, one of our primary goals would be to protect Oregonians from consuming contaminated food, water, or dairy products.

Together with our partners — including  Umatilla and Morrow counties, Oregon State University, Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Emergency Management, Oregon Emergency Response System, Oregon National Guard Civil Support Team, and the State of Washington — we practiced tracking possible radiation based on simulated data, analyzing risks to Oregon and identifying potential protective actions, releasing information to the public and the media (including mock press conferences), and testing soil, air, vegetation, and water samples. Our staff were also present in Richland, Washington, at Energy Northwest’s response center.

The exercise was evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the federal agency responsible for overseeing nuclear power plant emergency preparedness across the country. Three FEMA evaluators joined the Agency Operations Center to observe our actions and decisions. They’ll provide a report later with feedback and suggestions for improvements. March’s graded exercise followed a “dress rehearsal” exercise we completed in February. And we’re not done yet! We’ll do a third exercise in May to practice an emergency at Hanford.

We practice these drills each year, and the feedback we’ll receive from FEMA will help us improve operations even more. We hope we never have to put our practice into action – but the drills will ensure we’re ready if we do!

Learn more about ODOE’s emergency preparedness work on our website.