New Jersey officials apologized Wednesday for accidentally broadcasting false alerts to residents that a nuclear power plant disaster was underway.
State officials sent out a televised alert shortly before 9:00 p.m. Tuesday night that a “Nuclear Power Plant Warning” was in effect for two New Jersey counties. The State Office of Emergency Management accidentally requested the broadcast during a scheduled emergency drill at the nearby PSEG Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Power Stations.
The Cumberland County Office of Emergency Management told local media outlets the warning was accidental, and officials issued a reverse 911 call shortly after the broadcast to inform local resident there was no emergency at the nuclear power plant.
State officials admitted the power plant warning was an error and apologized for the mistake. The apology came after thousands of panicked residents called authorities about the supposed power plant warning.
***FALSE EMERGENCY ALERT*** You may have seen this message on your TV tonight.There is NO emergency. This message went out in error #ReadyNJ pic.twitter.com/qzh0l9rZ03
— NJOEM (@ReadyNJ) May 24, 2017
“We are conducting an emergency drill,” Joe Delmar, spokesman for PSEG Nuclear which owns the nearby nuclear power plants, said Tuesday night. “Some of the drill scenario was mistaken for an actual emergency. We are working with the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management to correct this information. Again, there is no emergency.”
Utility, state, and county emergency management officials have detailed plans on what to do if there was an actual emergency at one of the nuclear power plants.
The Salem/Hope Creek plants are two of New Jersey’s three operating nuclear power plants. The plants comprise the second-largest commercial nuclear generating complex in the U.S.
Send tips to andrew@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.