DHS Completes Radiological/Nuclear Exercise
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced the completion of Southern Exposure, a full-scale exercise (FSE) which marked the culmination of the Southeast Transportation Corridor Pilot (SETCP). The exercise ran from October 23 through November 5, 2008, and was sponsored by the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), along with other federal, state, and local participants. The FSE was intended to demonstrate the Southeast region’s capabilities to coordinate, communicate and respond during and after a possible radiological/nuclear threat to the region’s interstate highways.
The overarching goals for Southern Exposure were established to provide participating states an opportunity to test the Southeast region alarm adjudication process, as well as exercise federal, state and local entities in adjudicating a radiological detection alarm during a commercial vehicle inspection.
Nine states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia), the District of Columbia, and the Port of Charleston, S.C., participated in the FSE, utilizing their response protocols and technical expertise to adjudicate alarms from fixed and mobile radiological detection equipment. Each entity participated in a coordinated threat stream that targeted military bases, activities and infrastructure, and some entities conducted multiple exercises during this period to evaluate the full suite of detection capabilities currently in place.
SETCP was designed to evaluate the efficacy of incorporating radiation detection systems in state commercial vehicle inspection activities, and to develop a regional threat detection and interdiction architecture, beginning at interstate weigh stations. The pilot, which began in 2006, demonstrated a regional concept of operations, including alarm resolution protocols and an enhanced regional communication infrastructure and collaboration for information exchange.
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An unexercised contingency plan could be worse than no plan at all!
Be sure to read Disaster Recovery Testing: Exercising Your Contingency Plan, Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, Editor for valuable tips, techniques and insights.
