The Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and local agencies will take part in an exercise Tuesday and Wednesday that will simulate a disaster at a nuclear power plant in Callaway County.

FEMA’s Region VII office said in a news release that the state of Missouri, along with the counties of Callaway, Gasconade, Osage and Montgomery, will take part in the exercise involving the Callaway Energy Center near the unincorporated community of Reform. The exercise is a requirement that must be met every two years to determine state and local emergency preparedness and response plans.

The exercise will test the abilities of the state of Missouri, the utility, and the participating counties to protect the public near the Callaway Energy Center, FEMA said. Emergency facilities will be activated by the participating state and local officials, and the response will be observed and evaluated by the FEMA Region VII Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program, the release said. Callaway Energy Center’s on-site performance will be observed and evaluated by officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FEMA said.

A public meeting to explain the full-scale response exercise will be held at 10 a.m. next Friday, in the Auditorium of the State Emergency Management Agency, at 2302 Militia Drive, Jefferson City.