Nuclear Emergency @ Pickering - Jan 12, 2020

[Northern Light]

This morning, at 7:24am, Ontario issued an Emergency Alert as follows:

At at 7:57am I am unable to gain further detail, media reports are rather scant, but linked below:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pickering-nuclear-generating-station-1.5424115

Pickering Nuclear Generating Station emergency alert issued in error, investigation launched | Globalnews.ca

"The alert was issued in error to the public during a routine training exercise being conducted by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre," Sylvia Jones, the province's solicitor general, said in a statement.

globalnews.ca

Emergency alert about Ont. nuclear plant was sent by mistake

An emergency alert warning of an unspecified 'incident' at a Toronto-area nuclear power plant Sunday morning was mistakenly sent to people across Ontario during a training exercise, prompting an apology from the province's solicitor general.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[Northern Light]

Update: As at 8:13am, the government of Ontario is saying this 'alert' was an 'oops'.

'We need answers': Mass alert about Pickering Nuclear Generating Station sent in error

The Ontario government admitted to erroneously sending out a mass alert telling of an “incident” at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station on Sunday, sending people across the region into a panic as they sent a retraction notice approximately 106 minutes later.

www.cp24.com

The Ontario government erroneously sent out a mass alert telling of an “incident” at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, the local fire chief says, sending people across the region into a panic as they continue to work on sending out a retraction.

That's one hell of an oops!

 

[Admiral Beez]

My friend at OPG Pickering says it was the Durham FD sending an accidental message. Why does a local fire department have access to province-wide alert systems?

Can you imagine if they’d accidentally sent out the more serious Zombie apocalypse, run for the hills message?

Do you guys have a go bag ready for your family’s quick evacuation?

 

[Jonny5]

 

[W. K. Lis]

Brought to you by the same people who built the alert system in Iran. The lowest bidder.

 

[karledice]

Can't trust the government to sell sand in the Sahara...I mean they are losing money selling weed...can you believe it?...yet we are taxed to death in this country

 

[tiffer24]

Ooops, again...

@opg security tells @globalnewsto they have no communications staff in today to speak on the phone. All media requests need to go through e-mail or snail mail...

 

[gabe]

I never got one.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I never got one.

Here‘s yours.

 

[smably]

As someone who works in software, I wonder what UX decisions made it possible for false emergency alerts to be sent so easily. See also, Hawaii 2018.

 

[Richard White]

My friend at OPG Pickering says it was the Durham FD sending an accidental message. Why does a local fire department have access to province-wide alert systems?

Can you imagine if they’d accidentally sent out the more serious Zombie apocalypse, run for the hills message?

Do you guys have a go bag ready for your family’s quick evacuation?

I live in the slow and horrible death zone should the plant ever meltdown. Won't die immediately but the radiation will kill me eventually.

It's why I ordered these from the City of Toronto. I live close enough in Scarborough that I am eligible to receive these should I request them.

 

[lenaitch]

It seems that the false alert was sent out during a regular system test by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. Nothting to do with OPG so not unreasonable that they didn't have any communications folks available on a Sunday morning.

While the government's systems should probably be better fail-safed, stuff happens. What I find curious, but not surprising, is the length of time for a cancellation notice to go out - almost two hours. I worked for the Ontario government for 31-years and it (and probably most others) have become so bureaucratic and risk-averse that seemingly straight-forward information releases have to be vetted through multiple eyes. Not only does this ensure that every single word is parsed from every angle, but it makes so many more people absolutely vital to the machinery of government. Contacting hordes of lawyers and bureaucrats on a Sunday morning, takes time. In a normal world, the staffer who 'made the oops' would simply do whatever to rescind it, but not in the government.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I live in the slow and horrible death zone should the plant ever meltdown. Won't die immediately but the radiation will kill me eventually.

It's why I ordered these from the City of Toronto. I live close enough in Scarborough that I am eligible to receive these should I request them.

Don't worry, there are plenty other isotopes that can kill you and you can't take pills for those

It seems that the false alert was sent out during a regular system test by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. Nothting to do with OPG so not unreasonable that they didn't have any communications folks available on a Sunday morning.

While the government's systems should probably be better fail-safed, stuff happens. What I find curious, but not surprising, is the length of time for a cancellation notice to go out - almost two hours. I worked for the Ontario government for 31-years and it (and probably most others) have become so bureaucratic and risk-averse that seemingly straight-forward information releases have to be vetted through multiple eyes. Not only does this ensure that every single word is parsed from every angle, but it makes so many more people absolutely vital to the machinery of government. Contacting hordes of lawyers and bureaucrats on a Sunday morning, takes time. In a normal world, the staffer who 'made the oops' would simply do whatever to rescind it, but not in the government.

Honestly, between the various Amber Alert shortcomings and this, my impression of how the system is used is pretty negative. It makes no sense to have a system that makes it so easy to send out an alert of this nature (with questionable fail-safes) and yet takes forever to send out a message of clarification. So what we have is a system that is unresilient towards errors AND correction of such. It's dumb.

AoD

 

[Richard White]

Honestly, between the various Amber Alert shortcomings and this, my impression of how the system is used is pretty negative. It makes no sense to have a system that makes it so easy to send out an alert of this nature (with questionable fail-safes) and yet takes forever to send out a message of clarification. So what we have is a system that is unresilient towards errors AND correction of such. It's dumb.

I just wish they had sent out an accidental meltdown alert.

"Stay calm but be advised an incident has occurred at the Pickering Nuclear Generation Station resulting in the release of high levels of radiation. All residents within 100 KM are asked to commence an orderly evacuation of the affected area immediately".

Imagine the headaches caused if that sort of notice was sent out and it took 2 hours to retract it..

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I just wish they had sent out an accidental meltdown alert.

"Stay calm but be advised an incident has occurred at the Pickering Nuclear Generation Station resulting in the release of high levels of radiation. All residents within 100 KM are asked to commence an orderly evacuation of the affected area immediately".

Imagine the headaches caused if that sort of notice was sent out and it took 2 hours to retract it..

I suspect heads would roll a little more promptly with errors of that sort. And why would anyone need an emergency alert if the issue doesn't affect anyone? That's not an emergency so far as the public is concerned.

AoD