WHAT IF?

Inspectors from the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived in Cherokee County Tuesday to test the effectiveness of the nuclear response plan and ensure guidelines are kept in case there is a nuclear emergency at the Catawba Nuclear Plant in neighboring York County. Ledger photo by TARA JENNINGS As many as 10,000 people could need shelter in Cherokee County in the event of a nuclear disaster at the Catawba Nuclear Plant in York County.

On Tuesday, emergency personnel simulated an emergency to test response effectiveness. They were also being monitored by officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency who, every two years, tests the effectiveness of the nuclear response plan and ensures guidelines are met. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission also monitors the emergency drills.

"We are one of the host counties for the Catawba Nuclear facility," said Rick Peterson. "We do monitoring, decontamination for evacuees and provide shelter in the event of an emergency."

The Cherokee County shelter is located at Blacksburg Middle School.

In the case of an emergency, there would be numerous pickup points throughout York County where evacuees could get rides to area shelters in host counties. The Catawba Nuclear Plant is approximately 35 miles from Blacksburg.

Although the exact results of the FEMA critique will not be available for a few months, Peterson said preliminary indications were that county emergency personnel performed well.

"I'm expecting the results to be higher than most of our surrounding counties," he said. "I think it's because we train together and work together so well. We've had training every week for the past few weeks."

There are four classes of nuclear emergencies. The first class is referred to as unusual activity, either in operations or security, but poses no threat to public safety. An alert also poses no threat to public safety but could affect the level of safety at the facility. A site area emergency occurs when a major safety equipment failure or security event in the area of the reactor or the equipment used to safely shut down the reactor is affected. Area residents are advised to listen to their Emergency Alert System and local media outlets.

A general emergency is the most serious and means there is actual or imminent fuel damage or security event such as the loss of the physical control of the station. State and local authorities would then act to protect the public and alerts would be provided. A general emergency occurs when released radioactive material exceeds strict federal guidelines.

Representatives from the Blacksburg, CKC, Buffalo and Antioch fire departments assisted along with the Department of Social Services, American Red Cross, state Department of Health and Environmental Control and Department of Transportation. The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office responded with their mobile unit along with officers from the Blacksburg Police Department.