Virginia powerplant holds nuke disaster simulation
On Tuesday, nuclear plant officials and emergency responders recently participated in an exercise to simulate an accident at the Surry atomic power plant in Virginia; Dominion Virginia Power, which operates the state’s four nuclear reactors, regularly holds exercises like these at the Surry plant, but following Japan’s nuclear disaster, the exercises have become even more important
On Tuesday, nuclear plant officials and emergency responders recently participated in an exercise to simulate an accident at the Surry atomic power plant in Virginia. Under the exercise, dangerous radiation had been released, but winds blowing in a southern direction had prevented its spread and there was no need to evacuate the city.
“These are the type of events you plan for and hope you never have to activate,” said Ken Jones, a former Newport News fire chief and the city’s current emergency management coordinator.
Dominion Virginia Power, which operates the state’s four nuclear reactors, regularly holds exercises like these at the Surry plant, but following Japan’s nuclear disaster, the exercises have become even more important. In addition, twice a year the plant holds an even larger simulation which includes firefighters, police officers, health officials, and local government administrators.
In the most recent exercise, officials from six nearby counties including Surry, Isle of Wight, and Williamsburg met in separate offices to run through emergency response checklists that included evacuating students from local schools, keeping boaters out of the James River, and distributing potassium iodide pills.
