Crescent Junction, Utah ― The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management’s (EM) Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project conducted a multi-agency response exercise at its Crescent Junction disposal cell site on December 2, 2024.
December 12, 2024
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The exercise simulated a thundersnow incident involving lightning. Thundersnow is a winter thunderstorm which includes thunder, lightning, and precipitation in the form of snow. This weather phenomenon has occurred in Utah as recently as March 2024.
The onsite exercise was intended to evaluate both the project and the surrounding community’s emergency organization’s abilities to respond to an event at the Crescent Junction site, which is in a remote location approximately 30 miles north of Moab. Response times for an onsite emergency are most likely to be longer than normal, therefore practice scenarios are crucial learning tools for the project.
The incident simulated was of a lightning strike which resulted in a life-threatening injury and a fire that engulfed a vehicle and a fuel tank. Project personnel practiced emergency event procedures; site-wide ‘Stop Work’ protocol; fire management procedures; and medical response plans including patient assessment, stabilization, and transport.
“This emergency exercise was critical training and it ensures that our workers know what actions to take in case of a real-world incident. It was fantastic that local first responders were able to partner with us. We’ll use the lessons learned from this exercise to continually improve our readiness and to plan future exercises,” said Moab Project Engineer Chris Pulskamp.
Contributor: Barbara Michel