BRIDGMAN, Mich., June 3, 2013 – Indiana Michigan Power’s Cook Nuclear Plant will hold its biennial evaluated emergency preparedness exercise on June 4. For the first time, this year’s exercise will include a “hostile action” component. In a typical exercise, personnel from Cook, Berrien County and the State of Michigan would demonstrate how they would protect the public in response to a release of radiation from the plant caused by equipment and/or weather-related problems. This drill includes plant failures caused by or in conjunction with a physical attack on the plant.

As part of this exercise, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department will activate an off-site Incident Command Post to coordinate the law enforcement activities necessary to mitigate the physical threat in addition to assisting in protective actions for the public such as evacuation of areas around the plant. On Tuesday, there will be a large contingent of law enforcement personnel and vehicles around the plant and in Bridgman during the exercise.

“We’ve long practiced our ability to protect the public from radiation releases caused by equipment failures, but in today’s world there are additional threats that we must be prepared for,” said Crissy Hutchinson, director of nuclear site services. “The addition of an attack on the plant does complicate our response. This exercise and the other drills we have held are great opportunities to practice and improve our ability to protect the public under any and all possible circumstances.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission evaluates the plant on established performance objectives, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency evaluates off-site response by Cook, Berrien County and the State of Michigan. There will be a public meeting on June 7 at 10:00 a.m. at the Berrien County 911 Center to announce the results of the exercise.

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Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its 2,500 employees serve more than 582,000 customers. It operates 3,595 MW of coal-fired generation in Indiana, 2,110 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan and 22 MW of hydro generation in both states. The company also provides its customers 250 MW of purchased wind generation.

I&M is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 39,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.