In the event of an emergency at the Farley Nuclear Plant in eastern Houston County, how would you receive critical information?

Plant Farley’s Joint Information Center recently opened its doors to allow media to interact with emergency management officials. The Headland location is a command center in the event of an emergency at the nuclear plant in Columbia.

“We would have public information officers here from all the involved entities and we would all be in touch with our counterparts at other operation centers getting the latest information,” said Alabama Power Communications Specialist Linda Brannon. “Our No. 1 priority is the public health and safety.”

All nuclear plants are required to have a joint information center separate from the main facility. Gregory Robinson with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency said it’s important to have one because it will be the only place with accurate information about what is going on, should an event occur.

“All of the people who are authorized to speak on behalf of the different agencies will be here in the joint information center, so that’s the importance of this building,” Robinson said. “It gives you an opportunity to have some sense of confidence, I would say, if you know you’re going to the right source to get the correct information.”

Robinson said it’s also important to have a place where the emergency management officials can run through drills and go over information.

“We really take these drills and these meetings serious because information that’s passed here in these meetings is information that may be life-saving,” Robinson said. “We think it’s better to prepare for these type situations than trying to respond to a situation and you know not having any practice to it.”

This story originally appeared on WDHN in Dothan.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)