Canadian officials say nuclear plant warning ‘sent in error’

The province of Ontario apologized Sunday for mistakenly issuing an alert about an incident at a nuclear power plant near Toronto, according to Reuters.

People across Canada’s most populous province received a text message alerting them to a supposed incident at the Pickering plant, which Ontario Power Generation (OPG) officials said was a mistake under an hour later, according to the news service.

“The alert was issued in error to the public during a routine training exercise,” Ontario’s Solicitor-General Sylvia Jones said in a statement, according to Reuters. “The government of Ontario sincerely apologizes for raising public concern and has begun a full investigation to determine how this error happened.”

Several Ontario mayors called for a further probe into the error, with Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan tweeting “While I am relieved that there was no actual emergency, I am upset that an error such as this occurred. I have spoken to the Province, and am demanding that a full investigation take place.”

Like many of you, I was very troubled to have received that emergency alert this morning. While I am relieved that there was no actual emergency, I am upset that an error such as this occurred. I have spoken to the Province, and am demanding that a full investigation take place.

— Mayor Dave Ryan (@mayordaveryan) January 12, 2020

Toronto Mayor John Tory said that Jones had announced a full investigation into the matter, adding “I look forward to seeing the investigation results made public so we know how this error happened & what steps will be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Solicitor General @SylviaJonesMPP has announced Ontario is launching a full investigation into the emergency alert error. I look forward to seeing the investigation results made public so we know how this error happened & what steps will be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again https://t.co/xaFbd0rRDq

— John Tory (@JohnTory) January 12, 2020