Public Meeting to Discuss Nuclear Power Plant Exercise

Kansas City, MO - A public meeting will be held Thursday, May 14, 2026, to discuss the evaluation results of a graded exercise at the Cooper Nuclear Station located near Brownville, Nebraska.

Members of the public and the media are invited to attend this meeting beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Cooper Emergency Operations Facility, 902 Central Avenue, Auburn, Nebraska. Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Region 7 office, located in Kansas City, will chair the meeting and discuss offsite activities. A representative from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Region IV office, located in Arlington, Texas, will discuss the onsite activities.

The States of Missouri and Nebraska, along with Nemaha and Richardson Counties in Nebraska and Atchison County in Missouri, will participate with Cooper Nuclear Station in a one-day exercise on Tuesday, May 12. The exercise will require the activation of emergency facilities by the participating state and local officials. The activities of the state, county and local units of government will be observed and evaluated by FEMA. Cooper Nuclear Station onsite performance will be observed and evaluated by officials from the NRC.

The exercise is a biennial requirement to determine the adequacy of the radiological emergency preparedness and response plans. The primary focus is on the ability of the State of Missouri and Nebraska, the utility and the participating counties to protect the health and safety of the public living in the vicinity of the Cooper Nuclear Station. The evaluated exercise provides reasonable assurance that the appropriate protective measures can be taken in the event of a radiological emergency.

FEMA is responsible for evaluating offsite plans and exercises for states and counties through the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program. The NRC is the federal agency responsible for evaluating onsite emergency plans and exercises for nuclear power plants.

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