A scheduled emergency preparedness exercise will take place in Plymouth on Wednesday 17 June 2026, testing how residents would be told what to do in the unlikely event of a radiation emergency at Devonport Royal Dockyard.
Date: Wednesday 17 June 2026
Time: not specified by Plymouth City Council
Venue: Devonport Royal Dockyard and surrounding areas, Plymouth
Cost: no cost; no booking or attendance required
Who it affects: residents living near Devonport Royal Dockyard and the Cattedown fuel depot, including households in the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone
The exercise is being run to test plans to inform and protect the public in the event of an incident at Devonport. Residents who receive a test text message, email or leaflet do not need to take any action.
Alert messages will be tested in Plymouth
The public emergency notification system will be tested on 17 June to check how agencies would alert residents about an incident through text message or email.
A similar alert for residents living near the Cattedown fuel depot site will also be tested on the same day. The council has made clear that recipients of the messages will not need to respond or do anything differently because of the test.
The alerts form one of the public notification methods set out in the Devonport Off-site Emergency Plan, known as DOSEP. That plan covers how Plymouth City Council, the MoD, Babcock International Group, emergency services, the UK Health Security Agency and other responding agencies would work together if a radiation incident occurred at the site, which supports nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Navy.
Anyone who wants to sign up to receive emergency alerts can do so through Plymouth City Council’s website, according to the source notice.
Leaflet drops will simulate stable iodine distribution
The 17 June exercise will also include personnel simulating the distribution of stable iodine tablets to some households. Instead of tablets, residents may receive a leaflet posted through their doors.
The leaflet is part of the exercise only. Households receiving one will not need to take action.
Stable iodine tablets are included in the Devonport emergency plan as a possible public protection measure for households in areas downwind of an incident. The tablets are intended to help protect the thyroid from harmful effects of radioactive iodine if such a measure were ever needed.
For this exercise, the process is being rehearsed so agencies can test how that distribution would work in practice.
Areas within 1.5km of submarine berths are in focus
The measures being tested focus on the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone around Devonport. The zone extends 1.5km from the submarine berths and includes parts of Plymouth as well as a small area of Torpoint and Wilcove in South East Cornwall.
Residents in the zone receive a booklet explaining what to do in the event of a radiation emergency. An updated edition of that booklet is due to be distributed to households in the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone over the next few weeks.
The exercise is a routine test of emergency arrangements, not a public event with an audience, ticketing or a venue entrance. Its practical effect for most residents will be limited to possible test alerts or a leaflet through the door.
Practical details for residents
No booking is required, and there is no cost attached to the exercise.
Residents who receive a text message, email or leaflet as part of the Devonport Royal Dockyard and surrounding areas exercise should treat it as a test and take no action. The same applies to the alert being tested for people living near the Cattedown fuel depot.
Further information about emergency plans for Devonport, including a copy of the booklet for the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone, is available in the emergencies section of Plymouth City Council’s website.
Source: Plymouth City Council
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This article was based on Plymouth City Council’s public notice about the 17 June emergency preparedness exercise.
- Confirmed the exercise date as Wednesday 17 June 2026.
- Checked that residents receiving alerts or leaflets are told no action is required.
- Verified the affected locations as Devonport Royal Dockyard, Cattedown fuel depot and the...
- Confirmed the agencies named in the emergency plan from the source notice.
- Source
- Plymouth City Council
- Scope
- Plymouth
- Updated
- 2026-06-13 19:09
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