FEMA will evaluate Maryland's ability to respond to an emergency at the Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center during a radiological preparedness exercise the week of Sept. 14.
The biennial drill will examine state and local response capabilities within the nuclear facility's 10-mile emergency planning zone and its 50-mile ingestion pathway zone.
FEMA Region 3 Administrator Andre C. McCoy said the exercises are held every other year to evaluate whether government agencies can protect public health and safety during a nuclear-plant emergency.
The 10-mile planning zone is the area where state and local officials would be evaluated on immediate emergency-response capabilities. The wider 50-mile pathway zone addresses the potential movement of radioactive material through food and other ingestion routes.
The agency will provide preliminary findings during a public meeting at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Annapolis. Representatives from FEMA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are expected to speak.
FEMA may ask participants to submit questions or comments in writing for later review and response. Written comments may also be sent after the meeting to the FEMA Region 3 news desk by email or mailed to the agency's office at 615 Chestnut St., sixth floor, in Philadelphia.
The public session is intended to share only preliminary observations. The formal evaluation will follow after FEMA reviews exercise performance and provides its conclusions to the federal nuclear regulator.
Within 90 days of the exercise, FEMA will submit its evaluation to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for use in licensing decisions. A final report is expected to be publicly available about 120 days after the drill.
FEMA's Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program focuses on offsite activity beyond a nuclear plant's boundaries. Onsite safety and response remain the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's responsibility.
The federal program was created to ensure people living near commercial nuclear plants are protected in an accident and to improve public understanding of radiological preparedness. FEMA said more information is available through its radiological emergency preparedness program.
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