WVDP participates in annual large-scale, full participation exercise

Springville Journal, 10/25/24 —

The Department of Energy and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project recently conducted a large-scale, full-participation exercise that included Cattaraugus County Emergency Services, Cattaraugus County 911 Dispatch Center and Sheriff’s Department, DOE-HQ Watch Office, Argonne National Lab Mock Media Team, and evaluation assistance from DOE-HQ. This exercise, which was based on a hypothetical incident involving contamination event due to sabotage by an insider threat, tested the skills and response of these local agencies as well as the site’s Radiological Controls Department, Environmental Department, Emergency Medical Response Team, Security Force and Operational Response Team, Technical Support Center and Emergency Operations Center.

It’s been stated that during an emergency, you always fall back on your training. Disasters can occur at any time, and a knowledgeable, well-trained emergency response team can significantly improve the outcome of any event. Exercises provide real-world training and constructive feedback to improve areas identified during the hypothetical emergency scenario.

Jennifer Dundas, DOE-WVDP Assistant Director of the Office of Technical Services, commented on this year’s exercise.

“Exercises allow us to safely test the knowledge and response of our organization through a real-life scenario that includes challenging situations. We understand the importance and benefit of having trained emergency responders working at West Valley.”

This large-scale exercise, held at the WVDP site, was designed to validate the team’s response to an unannounced hypothetical incident and their ability to minimize the potential impact on employees, the public and the environment.

Kevin Murray, CHBWV Senior Emergency Management Specialist, reiterated a quote he had heard during one of his training courses: “Because you never know when the day before … is the day before. Prepare for tomorrow.” He stressed the importance of being prepared for any situation through training and drills/exercises. “You can never predict the future or what will happen tomorrow; however, by being prepared we can effectively deal with any situation to minimize or prevent its impact on people, property, and the community. This is why we continue to train, learn, and evaluate our performance.” DOE-WVDP staff and WVDP personnel helped develop the scenario and supported the exercise as controllers and evaluators. This included coordinating the many tasks that had to occur to make it more realistic and truly test responders from beginning to end.

For more information

on the West Valley Citizen Task Force, please contact:

Nancy Raca, Facilitator
West Valley Citizen Task Force
c/o Highland Planning
nancy@highland-planning.com