A large-scale nuclear exercise at the Cherbourg naval base: what you need to know

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Ces Thursday 14 and Friday 15 November 2024and nuclear exercise predominantly civil security is organized jointly by the Manche prefecture, the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture and the Defense Security Authority.

Its purpose is to test the specific intervention plan of military port of Cherbourg which would be implemented in the event of a radiological event.

A full-scale test

On this occasion, the mermaids of the naval base and the commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin will be triggered this Thursday during the day, according to a precise scenario but unknown to the various civil and military actors.

We simply know that the initiating event will be simulated on a secret basic nuclear installation in Homet (Editor's note: belonging to the General Directorate of Armaments), dedicated to dismantling of nuclear-powered submarines.

In the commune of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the Manche prefecture will, at the same time, test the alert and information system FR-Alertamong the population within the perimeter of 2 kilometers and up to 5 kilometers around the naval base.

“The FR-Alert system makes it possible to warn anyone with a smartphone of their presence in a possible danger zone and to indicate in real time the safety behaviors to adopt », Recalls the Manche prefecture in a press release.

The alert will consist of broadcasting an information message (SMS) to all cell phones located in the area.

“It is likely that this alert will go beyond the target area and reach the surrounding municipalities, not affected by the exercise. Likewise, it could impact people traveling on the roads and on trains in the area, such as those on boats in the maritime domain. »

Expect an alert message

As this is a test as part of an incident simulation, alerting populations by sirens on the one hand and FR-Alert notification on mobile phones on the other hand, no public action is required.

In real circumstances, the population must follow the instructions given, in particular confining themselves as soon as the sirens are triggered.

For the exercise to run smoothly, the closure of the area will be simulated and many police officers and gendarmes will be mobilized on the main traffic routes.

Note that the day of November 15 will be more particularly devoted to the post-accident management of the event by the Manche prefecture, in the form of workshops.

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