Nuclear incident ‘training exercise’ taking place in the US this week

Jessica Kwong

Published January 29, 2025 7:53pm Updated January 30, 2025 7:18am

Mandatory Credit: Photo by U S National Guard/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock (14420581a) Trenton, New Jersey, USA - U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Robert Wittig, left, closes the helmet on Senior Airman Russell J. Bongiovanni's EOD-10E bomb suit, both explosive ordnance disposal technicians with the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, during the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High Yield Explosives Characterization, Exploitation, and Mitigation Course JCCEM at the CURE Insurance Arena with FBI; New Jersey State Police, and members of the Delaware and Idaho WMD-CSTs were trained by the Eniwetok Group, LLC (EGL). Joint Agency Turnout For CST training, Trenton, New Jersey, USA - 27 Mar 2024 — Participants in the nuclear incident exercises are using aircraft and personal protective equipment ‘to simulate realistic conditions’. (Picture: Shutterstock)

A nuclear training exercise has been somewhat quietly underway in the US this week.

The ‘large-scale, multi-agency nuclear incident training exercise’ kicked off in Schenectady in upstate New York on Sunday and is continuing through Friday.

It is an opportunity for participating agencies to ‘practice and enhance operational readiness to respond in the event of a nuclear incident in the United States or overseas,’ stated FBI Albany.

‘The training exercise will not pose any risk to area residents; the public does not need to be alarmed by training-related activity, including the presence of military personnel and aircraft, and people in protective equipment,’ stated the office.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by U S National Guard/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock (14496074a) Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA - U.S. Army Sgt. Eric J. Boyer, left, assists Sgt. Christopher Mejia, both survey team members with the New Jersey National Guard's 21st Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team, in parking during a training exercise at the Surf Stadium in Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 14, 2024. WMD-CST's identify chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear substances; assess and advise civil authorities on response measures to man-made or natural disasters. New Jersey, Idaho CSTs Perform Interagency Training, Atlantic City, USA - 14 May 2024 — The nuclear incident exercises are an opportunity for participating agencies to ‘practice and enhance operational readiness to respond in the event of a nuclear incident in the United States or overseas’. (Picture: Shutterstock)

Mandatory Credit: Photo by U S Army/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock (12196340a) Georgia, United States - Staff Sgt. Namon Bledsoe, acting first sergeant for the 274th Movement Control Team, Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, dons his protective gas mask during a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear training exercise on Fort Stewart, Georgia, Feb. 23, 2021. When used properly, protective gas masks and mission oriented protective posture gear minimizes a Soldier's exposure to possible CBRN environments. (photo by Spc. Aaliyah Craven) Movement Control Team Conducts CBRN Training Exercise, Georgia, United States - 23 Feb 2021 — The nuclear incident exercises do not pose a risk to the public (Picture: Shutterstock)

It comes amid recent heightened fears of a World War 3 being triggered. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said WW 3 could begin if the West keeps ‘escalating the situation’ in the war in Ukraine.

But FBI Albany Public Affairs Officer Sarah Ruane said she believes planning for the exercise started before that, in spring 2024.

‘This is an exercise of the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Ground Collection Task Force, which would support the investigation of a nuclear incident,’ Ruane told the Daily Mail.

‘The Task Force mission is to collect nuclear debris samples for analysis at the national laboratories.’

FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) — Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) last month before US President Donald Trump (right) assumed office warned of World War 3 (Picture: AP)

FBI Albany stated that it is part of the federal government’s regularly scheduled biannual exercises and that similar drills have been done across the country since 2012.

Participants are using aircraft and personal protective equipment ‘to simulate realistic conditions’, according to FBI Albany.

No further details were provided on the the exercises could look like.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by U S Army/ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock (12196330a) Muscatatuck Urban Training Cente, Indiana, United States - A Soldier and engineer from the 409th Engineer Company, based in Aurora, Colorado, stands on a pile of rubble and directs his fellow Soldiers where to look for possible survivors of a building collapse at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Butlerville, Indiana, during exercise Guardian Response 21. Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers, Engineers, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) specialists, as well as medical units are conducting Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) training at the multi-million dollar facility to help prepare them to respond to a CBRN catastrophe at home or abroad. (Official U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent C. Powell) Search and Rescue, Muscatatuck Urban Training Cente, Indiana, United States - 22 Apr 2021 — The nuclear incident exercises are taking place January 26 to 31, 2025 (Picture: Shutterstock)

Due to the ‘sensitive nature of the capabilities being implemented’, the activities are not open to the media or the public to view.

The drills are taking place across Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties at sites including Albany Airport and Stratton Air National Guard Base.

The involved agencies include the FBI, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy and various state and local partners.

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