Week-Long Nuclear ‘Training Exercise’ Being Held in Major US City
The FBI on Tuesday warned residents of a Texas city that a week-long nuclear incident training exercise it taking place this week.
In a bulletin issued to the public, the FBI’s Houston office told Houston residents that the exercise will last starting Monday until Friday. The training exercise will occur around NRG Park/SH 288 to SH 146 to I-10 E to Hwy 225 and at Ellington Field in both Houston and Harris County.
“A large-scale, multi-agency nuclear incident TRAINING EXERCISE will take place May 1-5 in southeast Houston and Harris County. The training exercise will NOT pose risks to area residents,” the bureau office wrote late last week.
The FBI added: “Please do not be alarmed by training-related activity, including presence of military personnel/aircraft and people in protective equipment.”
⚠️ A large-scale, multi-agency nuclear incident TRAINING EXERCISE will take place May 1-5 in southeast Houston and Harris County. The training exercise will NOT pose risks to area residents. Please do not be alarmed by training-related activity. @HoustonOEM pic.twitter.com/MCNLyC2QNq
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) April 28, 2023
The FBI did not provide more details about the training.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, a similar “major radiological incident exercise” was carried out last May in Austin, Texas.
Officials said that other federal agencies involved in the exercise are the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security. Some local agencies such as the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the Houston Police Department, and various emergency services will also be involved, they told local channel KHOU-11 TV.
Local law enforcement agencies as well as the FBI are also still looking for an at-large shooting suspect who killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, located near Houston, over the past weekend. The suspect was identified as Francisco Oropesa, 38, a Mexican national who was in the United States illegally. So far, there have been no leads.
His neighbors reportedly asked him to stop firing his gun because a baby was trying to sleep, officials told local news outlets. Authorities later added that video footage showed Oropesa heading to their house.
The FBI bulletin about training also comes days after President Joe Biden warned North Korea’s regime that a nuclear attack would be responded to with overwhelming force from the U.S. military. Biden made those comments when he met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in South Korea last week.
It also comes after Russian officials have repeatedly warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will spark a nuclear conflict. Since the war erupted in February 2022, there have been repeated warnings from Kremlin officials about the specter of nuclear conflict between Moscow and the West, although U.S. officials have not said there is any indication that Russia may use a nuclear device.
“Every day when they provide Ukraine with foreign weapons brings the nuclear apocalypse closer,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently heads Russia’s Security Council, in March. “Let’s imagine … the leader of a nuclear power visits the territory of Germany and is arrested,” Medvedev said, referring to a recent International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “In this case, our assets will fly to hit the Bundestag, the chancellor’s office and so on.”
