John Culatto
RESIDENTS of Gibraltar who hear evacuation alarms on Thursday will NOT have to ‘take any action’, a government spokesperson said.
Alarms could go off around the Naval Base during a joint exercise between the local government and the UK’s Ministry of Defence to be ready for a radiation leak.
Held every three years, the real-time radiation rehearsal will pull together emergency services from civilian and military authorities.
Government and police coordination groups will direct the exercise on November 10.
“Evacuation alarms may be sounded during the exercise and emergency service vehicles may be seen moving around the area,” the government said in a statement.
“Members of the public can be re-assured that this exercise is a necessary part of our routine training and there is no need for them to take any action on hearing the alarms,” it added.
The government has prepared an information booklet with the MoD and Environmental Agency that is available online.
“It is hugely important to continue with these exercises as this is an opportunity to learn if and how our plans can be improved,” Minister for Civil Contingencies Samantha Sacramento said.
“Gibraltar can never be too prepared even in the extremely unlikely event of a radiation emergency.”
Minister for the Environment John Cortes, is Chair of the Radiation Response Committee.
He said that the exercises will ‘prevent any negative health and environmental impacts in such an eventuality’.
Environmental groups regularly criticise nuclear submarines that dock in Gibraltar ever since the year 2000 when the HMS Tireless anchored on the Rock for essential repairs during the course of a year.
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