PLUMEX2024 Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Preparedness Field Drill at Okeeheelee Park 

January 10, 2024 - The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with FEMA, state, Southeast Florida Regional All-Hazards Incident Management Team, county, municipal community partners and first responder agencies, conducted a regularly scheduled biennial St Lucie Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Preparedness Field Drill at Okeeheelee Park in suburban West Palm Beach, Florida.
The FPL owned/operated St Lucie Nuclear Power Plant is located on Hutchinson Island, about four miles northeast of the City of Port St Lucie. Parts of St Lucie and Martin counties lie within the 10-mile plume exposure pathway emergency zone.
For more than 40 years, Palm Beach County serves as a host reception for evacuees (up to 150,000 estimated) from this 10-mile zone, should evacuation be necessary, providing congregate care (monitor/decontaminate exposed evacuees, dispense potassium iodide if needed, and coordinate temporary sheltering) at two Radiological Emergency Reception Centers.
This exercise demonstrates Palm Beach County’s abilities to implement plans and procedures to protect the health and safety of the public in the event of a radiological emergency at the nuclear plant.