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Agencies from across the country will be taking part in a nuclear alert exercise at Sellafield later this month to test the off-site emergency procedures in the unlikely event of an incident at the plant.

Cumbria County Council and Sellafield Ltd will be hosting the exercise, named Oscar 9, which will take place all day on Thursday 24 September and will be based around the Sellafield site and the West Cumbria Emergency Control Centre at the Summergrove complex near Whitehaven. 

Also participating in the exercise will be Whitehaven School which will act as a mock media centre and St Benedict’s RC High School, who will host a reception centre for acting evacuees. As part of the exercise, there may be an increased number of emergency vehicles moving around the area and the Sellafield site siren will be sounded.

All the agencies who may be involved in any potential emergency response such as this will be testing their readiness in this exercise. 

Mike Smyth, Head of Resilience for Cumbria County Council, said: "This county has been at the forefront of developing plans for dealing with emergency situations for many years, including an incident at Sellafield.

"These exercises are held every three years and provide not only an opportunity to test the plans but also provide an opportunity for many of the agencies to meet and work together to enhance their effectiveness in response to a major incident." 

ENDS

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