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How Would I Be Told About an Emergency?

What is an Emergency Planning Zone?

An Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) is a pre-defined, geographic area that is determined through analysis to require emergency planning. This pre-planning ensures that emergency management officials can make prompt and effective decisions to protect public health and safety. Your local emergency management agencies, in consultation with the Department of Energy and Energy Northwest, created EPZ sections for those organizations’ facilities located on the Hanford Site. In the unlikely event of an emergency, members of the public could be directed to take action deemed appropriate for the EPZ section in which they reside, work or visit. Please, look at the map on page 12 (English) and page 22 (Spanish) of the Emergency Calendar (PDF) to identify which EPZ section you live in.

How Would I Be Told About an Emergency

Residents within the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) in Benton and Franklin counties would be notified by warning sirens located within the EPZ, emergency alert messages over select radio stations (following siren activation), direct telephone notification or Tone Alert Radios provided for limited use in schools and selected residences with special notification needs. Benton and Franklin counties use the CodeRED Telephone Notification System. When activated by county Emergency Management officials in response to an emergency, the CodeRED system notifies residents via phone, text or email. Residents are encouraged to sign up using the links available on their county’s Emergency Management webpage to receive the notifications.

Sign up for CodeRED at:

People using recreation areas within the EPZ at the Richland Off-Road Vehicle Park, Horn Rapids recreation areas along the Yakima River (including the Horn Rapids County Park), Rattlesnake Mountain Shooting Facility, Wahluke Hunting Area or Ringold Fishing Area will be notified by sirens sounding continuously for three minutes, followed by an audible message.

They will be told to evacuate the immediate area and tune to: The Emergency Alert System (EAS) radio station KONA 610 AM / 105.3 FM, KORD 102.7 FM, or KZHR 92.5 FM (Spanish language) for more information.

If there is an emergency on the Hanford Site that threatens public safety, people using the Columbia River will hear sirens sound continuously for three minutes, followed by an audible message. These sirens are a signal to evacuate the river. Tune to the EAS KONA 610 AM / 105.3 FM, KORD 102.7 FM, or KZHR 92.5 FM (Spanish language) for more information. Other radio and television stations may also broadcast emergency information.

In the unlikely event of an emergency on the Hanford Site, personnel and boats provided by the U.S. Coast Guard and the county sheriff’s departments will prevent boaters from entering the affected areas of the river. If there has been no radiological release, boaters will be advised to return to their launch points. If there has been a radiological release, boaters will be instructed to proceed to a monitoring station for further instructions. Additional notification will be made by the Coast Guard via an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast on Marine Band Channel 16.

The siren warning system has been expanded to serve all Benton and Franklin county residents who live in the Columbia Generating Station EPZ (within about 10 miles of Columbia Generating Station).

These sirens will inform residents to Monitor & Prepare, Shelter In Place or Evacuate based upon their location within the EPZ. Following siren system activation, residents would be encouraged to tune a radio to one of the EAS broadcast stations, KONA 610 AM / 105.3 FM, KORD 102.7 FM, or KZHR 92.5 FM (Spanish language). Additionally, schools and a few residents with special notification needs are supplied Tone Alert Radios. These radios will turn on automatically by a signal transmitted just before an emergency message broadcast.

CodeRED

CodeRED is a telephone notification system that allows county officials to contact you directly at your preferred phone number(s) during an emergency. The best way to ensure you receive emergency alerts via CodeRED is to register online.

Follow these simple steps to get started:

If you do not have internet access, would like more information or assistance with signing up, please contact:

Sirens will sound for 3 minutes

Remember: Notification of an emergency at Columbia Generating Station or a Department of Energy nuclear facility does not always mean you should evacuate. Follow your county official’s instructions. You may not need to do anything.