Report on false Pickering nuclear plant alert coming today

Ontario is set to release a report today on what led to a false alarm being issued about a nuclear incident last month and the response to it.

Solicitor General Sylvia Jones tapped the chief of Emergency Management Ontario to conduct an investigation.

The alert about an incident at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station was pushed to cellphones, radios and TVs across the province on the morning of Sunday, Jan. 12.

The emergency notification warned of an unspecified incident, but said there was no abnormal release of radioactivity and people near the facility didn’t need to take protective actions.

An all-clear alert was sent to cellphones nearly two hours after the original notification.

Jones has said the error occurred during a routine training exercise being conducted by the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.

CBC