Canadian nuclear power plant sends out emergency alert in error

The warning was sent out from the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station at around 07:30 local time on Sunday to people who were within six miles of the facility

dA nuclear power plant in Canada incorrectly sent out an emergency alert about an ‘incident’ to local people’s mobile phones by mistake.

The warning was sent out from the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station at around 07:30 local time on Sunday to people who were within six miles of the facility.

A second message was sent out approximately two hours later saying the first message had been an error.

Sean Granville, Chief Nuclear Officer at owner and operator Ontario Power Generation (OPG), said: “OPG has a sophisticated and robust notification process in place that we would immediately follow in the unlikely event of an incident at the station.

“I want to assure the public that there was no incident at the station and the plant is operating as designed.”

The firm said the notification was issued during a routine training exercise being conducted by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC).

Mayor of Pickering Dave Ryan noted he was “demanding a full investigation” into what happened at the plant, which entered operation in 1971 and is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

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