Residents in the southeast Houston area this week may see a larger presence of military personnel, aircraft and people in protective equipment, but it’s part of a weeklong training exercise and poses no risk or interference for residents.
From May 1-5, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will conduct nuclear incident training exercises in and around NRG Park, Hwy. 288 to Hwy. 145, I-10 to Hwy. 225, and in and around Ellington Field. Several state and local law enforcement, fire, emergency management and public health agencies, including the
Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the
Houston Police Department, will also participate, according to a city of Houston news release.
The exercises will allow participants to practice and enhance their response in the event of a nuclear incident in the U.S. or overseas. The trainees will conduct operations in personal protective equipment to simulate realistic conditions, and the exercises will include aircraft from federal and local law enforcement agencies, according to the release.
Neither the media nor the public is allowed to observe the training due to its “sensitive nature.” The trainings are part of a series of regularly scheduled U.S. biannual exercises, and similar trainings have been conducted across the country since 2012, the release said.