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This is the second large-scale
exercise in a week, putting local, state and federal officials to
the test. An exercise that began Friday in the Metro East area and
concluded on Tuesday tested the state's ability to respond to
large-scale emergencies and for the first time included a mass
evacuation and sheltering component.
"If disaster ever strikes Illinois -- whether it's a terrorist
attack, a pandemic flu outbreak or an accident at a nuclear power
plant -- we need to make sure we have emergency plans in place to
keep people safe," Blagojevich said. "That's what these exercises
are about -- seeing what works and what doesn't and making
improvements, so if a real disaster occurs, we're ready."
The accident scenario portion of the Illinois Plan for
Radiological Accidents exercise started Tuesday, with Exelon
officials notifying the state of a simulated problem at the
Braidwood Nuclear Power Station. The State Emergency Operations
Center in Springfield, already activated to deal with the terrorist
scenario exercise in the Metro East area, also began focusing on the
Braidwood situation.
As it would in a real accident situation, the state will dispatch
the Unified Area Command and the Illinois Emergency Management
Agency's radiological assessment teams to the area. The Unified Area
Command will coordinate state and local law enforcement to establish
evacuation routes and ensure the orderly evacuation of people if
scenario events necessitate a mock evacuation. The radiological
assessment teams, including mobile laboratories, will be dispatched
to measure simulated radiation in the environment and provide data
that will help the state develop protective action recommendations.
While most nuclear power plant exercises conclude once the
scenario issues are resolved, ingestion pathway exercises include a
third day in which state and federal agencies coordinate on actions
to protect the public from simulated radiation released during the
accident portion of the exercise. Representatives from several state
agencies will work with the radiological assessment teams to
demonstrate coordination necessary to collect environmental and
agricultural samples.
During this exercise the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
also will be testing a newly developed tool for measuring radiation
on the ground. An Illinois Department of Transportation helicopter
has been equipped with radiation-detecting instruments that use
global positioning system equipment onboard the helicopter to
establish the location of radioactive deposition. During a real
accident situation, data collected from the new detection device
could be sent directly to decision-makers in Springfield to help
develop actions to protect the public from ingesting food items
potentially contaminated during a radioactive release.
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 There are six operating nuclear power plants in Illinois, and
because each must demonstrate emergency preparedness every two
years, the state participates in approximately three Illinois Plan
for Radiological Accidents exercises each year. Once every five to
six years, Illinois also must participate in a larger ingestion
pathway exercise to demonstrate the state's ability to collect and
analyze environmental samples and make recommendations to the public
for minimizing exposure to radioactive material through possible
ingestion of contaminated foods.
The exercise will be evaluated by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, to determine if the state can demonstrate that it has
procedures, equipment and personnel sufficient to ensure the safety
of the public.
To additionally challenge emergency response personnel, the
terrorism scenario exercise that began Friday in the Metro East area
was concluding on Tuesday with simulated efforts by the State
Weapons of Mass Destruction Team to take down a terrorist cell. The
exercise also included an evacuation and sheltering scenario;
recovery and treatment of mock victims from a building collapse; and
a test of the state's ability to receive, stage and distribute
emergency medical supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile.
More than 1,000 federal, state and local responders participated in
this major emergency response exercise.
Earlier this year, a three-day exercise tested Illinois' ability
to respond to simultaneous major emergencies, including a pandemic
flu outbreak and a terrorist attack in the Chicago metropolitan
area.
Last fall, Blagojevich directed the state to aggressively test
the state's preparedness plans after such plans in the Gulf Coast
failed to safeguard people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
[News release from the governor's
office]
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