“This is such
an incredible
industry and
there’s always
something new to
learn.”
Appling County EMA Director, Bruce Dane, gives a briefing during a
FEMA-evaluated exercise at Plant Hatch.
said Morrison. “Working with federal agencies, they
help mitigate the potential impact of radiation to the
food chain, including water supplies, agriculture and
livestock.”
Local EMAs are an important part of the
preparedness effort as well, working with local medical
facilities to ensure they have the training to handle
patients appropriately during a nuclear emergency.
“There’s a lot that goes into making sure a community
is prepared,” said Bergman. “We make sure there is
training and help coordinate resources for reception
centers and sheltering, medical service drills and
emergency vehicle decontamination, to name a few.”
Though the team is always busy, 2018 promises to
be an exceptionally active year for them, with FEMA
evaluated exercises at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro,
Georgia, and Plant Farley near Dothan, Alabama.
During these exercises, evaluators will grade the state
and local government emergency planning and
preparedness activities that take place beyond the
nuclear power plant boundaries.
“These exercises can be stressful because we try
to anticipate anything that could possibly happen,”
Morrison said. “The FEMA evaluators present a
variety of challenging scenarios and you never know
what they will come up with.”
The team is undeterred by those challenges and
constantly strives to improve their response by keeping
current with the latest developments in nuclear safety.
“This is such an incredible industry and there’s always
something new to learn,” said Morrison. “It really is
cutting edge technology.”
Combining that technology with the technical
expertise of the REP team, GEMA/HS, state partners
and local EMAs are working together to keep
Georgians safe.
DISPATCH