A full-scale response exercise is planned Tuesday and Wednesday at the Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville, Nebraska.

Emergency responders in Atchison and Nodaway counties in Missouri will join their counterparts in southeastern Nebraska in the exercise.

FEMA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will observe their response.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency will host a public meeting after the exercise, on August 3rd. But because no results will be finalized at that time, the outcomes of the exercise will not be discussed.

Participants will discuss the exercise process, and members of the public are invited to attend. It begins Friday at 10:00 a.m. in the Nebraska Public Power District, Emergency Operations Facility Auditorium, at 902 Central Avenue, in Auburn, Nebraska.

Representatives from FEMA Region VII will chair the meeting and explain the exercise process. A representative from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also be present.

The two-day exercise will require the activation of emergency facilities for the states of Nebraska and Missouri, as well as Otoe, Nemaha, and Richardson counties in Nebraska and Atchison and Nodaway counties in Missouri.

The activities of participants from the state, county and local units of government will be observed and evaluated by the FEMA Region VII Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) Program. The Cooper Nuclear Station onsite performance will be observed and evaluated by NRC.

The exercise is a biennial requirement to determine the adequacy of the radiological emergency preparedness and response plans. The main goal is to test the ability of the states of Nebraska and Missouri, the utility and the participating counties to protect the health and safety of the public living in the vicinity of the power plant.

The evaluated exercise provides reasonable assurance that the appropriate protective measures can be taken onsite and offsite in the event of a radiological emergency.