During a drill this week, an "earthquake" shook the Callaway Energy Center, breaking equipment and leaking radioactive water into the plant.
The damage was imaginary, just like the earthquake. It was part of a biennial energy exercise to test the Ameren plant's disaster preparedness, as well as the emergency response teams and other agencies in the area - and the nuclear plant passed with flying colors.
"Their performance gives us reasonable assurance that the plant can protect the health and safety of the public," said Paul Elkmann, senior inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Region 4.
Elkmann and Norman Valentine, senior site specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's region 7, presented some preliminary results from the exercise at a public meeting Friday.
Aside from making sure the nuclear plant's responses were adequate, his team also confirmed the test was tough enough and will check back to see if any problems observed during the exercise are corrected.
"There are three levels of issues," Valentine explained.
Valentine said the plant had no level one issues, which are the most serious, and seems to have no less-urgent level-two issues either. The third level includes very minor issues. He added these are preliminary results.
The nuclear plant wasn't the only participant in the exercise.
"We evaluated over 70 response organizations at 22 locations," Valentine said.
In addition to emergency operations centers, these organizations included schools, nursing homes, the Fulton Medical Center, the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, the Fulton Police Department and more. Agencies in Gasconade, Osage and Montgomery counties were evaluated as well.
"Some of these were done as interviews over a couple of months," Valentine said.
Final results from the exercise will be submitted in 90 days, he said, and will be viewable through the NRC.