Operation “Golden Phoenix” is Los Angeles County’s next preparedness drill intended to simulate a nuclear incident in LA area. This simulation, planned for summer 2010, will include a medical preparedness session in the lead-up to larger campaign.
PSR-LA, however, believes that when it comes to nuclear weapons, prevention is the only cure, and we must work to reduce the threat to public health through disarmament and non-proliferation.
“These aren’t comfortable things to talk about, but it all begins with preparations,” said Angelo Bellomo, the county director of environmental health who oversees the Radiation Management unit.
“We think this is a great opportunity for us to open a dialogue with the 88 cities so they can begin to amend their emergency plans to include planning for a nuclear device.”
Fears of nuclear destruction have their roots in the Cold War, when governments and residents built bomb and fallout shelters to protect occupants from radioactive debris. Interest in such civil defense activities was renewed in recent years amid fears that a terrorist group or rogue nation like Iran or North Korea might gain access to nuclear weapons.
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