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Central Kitsap

The simulated explosion of a bomb and the subsequent danger to nuclear weapons has federal, state and local agencies converging on Kitsap County this week.

The "incident," which involved a theoretical terrorist attack, occurred at 1 p.m. Monday without real nuclear weapons. That, however, had no bearing on the mass of emergency personnel from across the country who scrambled to respond from their home offices as soon as they were notified of the explosion. They are dealing with each step of the "crisis" as it unfolds in real-time, with the drill scheduled to end with agency debriefing Friday.

Ground zero, near the Bremerton Motorsports Park on Clifton Road, has a working perimeter in place, and teams are preparing to transport the weapons off site on Thursday. The spread of simulated radiation has forced teams to look at realistic conditions — such as wind direction and geography — to neutralize the threat to the outlying community as soon as possible.

The exercise, led by the Department of Energy and referred to as Diablo Bravo, allows county emergency teams and federal agencies to assess disaster management techniques and communication between teams stationed both at the incident site and the information headquarters at the county fairgrounds.

Because of the relatively close distance between ground zero and the submarine base at Bangor, and given the nature of the weapons involved, the Navy also has a hand in the exercise and is evaluating how well it communicates information to the public.

"Communication in routine events or in an emergency are always a challenge," said Sean Hughes, deputy public affairs officer for Navy Region Northwest. "Scenario aside, we as the Navy anywhere in the U.S. or overseas want to work closely with our communities to ensure we are ready to support them in any kind of response."

Both Hughes and the Department of Energy declined to comment on whether the county was chosen as an exercise location because of the proximity to the submarine base.

To assist in providing the conduit for information to the public, the county has opted to use PIER Systems, a privately-owned communications group based out of Bellingham.

The county uses the group's services for emergency situations when the public would overwhelm the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management Web site with inquiries.

During the recent December floods, the Department of Emergency Management activated PIER's Web application, which allowed users to be seamlessly directed to another site and submit questions and receive answers without congesting Internet traffic. The same application was used by the Coast Guard — most notably during Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan — and it is currently in use by teams fighting the string of California wildfires to disseminate information to the public.

"There is unquestionably the need for collaborative communication in an event like this, whether simulated or real," PIER Senior Vice President Marc Mullen said in a press release issued Monday. "Rapid changes in news technology and how the majority of the public gets its information means that we have to rethink the way we communicate with them."

But being able to communicate effectively with the public is only half the issue.

A problem facing these scenario "players," as they are referred to by exercise coordinators, is coordinating communication not only with the media, but between the personnel at ground zero, those in the control center at the fairgrounds and weapons experts from across the country.

"It's all about information flow," said Mike Gordon, operations coordinator with the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management.

With many agencies and departments sending teams from as far east as Washington D.C., establishing a viable communications system is a primary focus.

Gordon commented that only "minor communication issues" have occurred so far and that overall, things seem to be working smoothly.

Jim Danneskiold, an accident response team member and spokesman for the DOE-owned Los Alamos laboratory, said that pulling personnel together from different departments and having them work together prepares emergency teams for when the threat turns real.

"Communication is always the biggest issue," he said. "If you don't have the experience... then you're not ready."