It’s a disaster exercise that Kewaunee County hopes never to have to implement, but they passed the test with flying colors.  A drill to determine the readiness of the Kewaunee County emergency response team in case of a nuclear incident at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Two Rivers was successful last Tuesday, August 15.  The Biennial Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program, Full-Participation, Hostile Action Based, Plume Exposure Pathway Exercise is required every eight years by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Kewaunee County Emergency Management Director Tracy Nollenberg says a lot of training and preparation goes into the one-day exercise.  She says over 100 people from different agencies in Kewaunee County were involved starting back in June with the reception center portion for emergency responders.

The reception center in Kewaunee County would be located at the Luxemburg-Casco Intermediate School in case of an emergency.  There were 88 demonstrations and 22 capabilities to evaluate that generated hundreds of observations between Kewaunee County, Manitowoc County, and the State of Wisconsin.  Nollenberg notes Kewaunee County is involved because any county within a ten-mile radius of an emergency planning zone (nuclear power plant) is required to participate in the FEMA-evaluated emergency response exercise.  The finalized FEMA report from the exercise will be made available in 90 days.