Emergency managers graded in Catawba Nuclear Station exercise

Posted November 1, 2012 7:49 pm | Filed under Local News
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A midst a natural disaster in the northeast, nuclear regulators and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were in York County this week as county emergency management officials conducted a drill Tuesday with a mock earthquake and subsequent disaster at the Catawba Nuclear Station.

Thursday morning, regulators held a public comment period on the drill, with FEMA Technical Hazards Chief Conrad Burnside saying York County handled the incident well.

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York County Emergency Management Director Cotton Howell said the drill involved a number of agencies in York, Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties. . York County Emergency Management Director Cotton Howell tells WRHI the exercise simulated 147 different issues that experts weren’t allowed to “fix” at the nuclear plant.

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The exercise in York County was graded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Howell says the drill was modeled after some limited experience in global disasters.

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Burnside oversaw the drill and says York County passed with flying colors.

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The exercise is conducted once every two years and grades the response levels of participating agencies.