 San Diego is home to the U.S. Navy's second largest surface fleet, as well as a large contingent of submarines. It also happens to be home to 1.5 million people and has the most biodiverse environment in North America. So with more than 40 percent of the Navy's major combatants being nuclear, it's critical their reactors are safe while powering the warships that protect the California coastline and America. Today's Navy is nuclear-powered, what's the likelihood of an issue? So the likelihood of a radiological incident occurring on one of the Navy's nuclear-powered warships is extremely low. We go through rigorous design processes to create reactors that are inherently stable and safe. Naval reactors have a track record of safely powering warships more than 166 million miles since 1948. Today we're underway aboard the USS Alexandria, a fast-attack submarine. It's the first-hand education side of this Navy nuclear propulsion program exercise. Cal OES, along with San Diego City, County and other agencies, are exercising a simulated emergency scenario with the Navy because, even though we all speak English, the military and agencies don't necessarily speak the same language. We believe that by working through these partnerships now, that trust and confidence in each other's abilities and understanding of how we will respond to any postulated event is thought out well in advance so there's an appropriate and timely response. Commander Christopher Carter is captain of the Alexandria. How important is safety to the overall mission? It is the foundation to what we do onboard on a daily basis. While onboard is both, Commander Carter's crew demonstrates their training, responding to a simulated emergency. When you're alone at sea, sometimes hundreds of feet below the surface, nothing is more important than safety. The submarine force places a high mark on safety and being able to execute things in a safe manner. I think that is the reason why you're here, is so that you can understand what we do on a daily basis so you can understand how we operate our reactors safely and efficiently as you saw us with some of the evolution that we did today. And that attention to safe operations begins in port. Should a highly unlikely radiological event take place, the Navy and its local, federal and state partners, including Cal OES, will be prepared to react instinctively to work together in effective response. For Cal OES News, I'm Shawn Boyd off the coast of San Diego aboard the USS Alexandria.