***FALSE EMERGENCY ALERT*** You may have seen this message on your TV tonight.There is NO emergency. This message went out in error # ReadyNJpic.twitter.com/qzh0l9rZ03 

 CLOSE A look back at Vineland fire and rescue scenes circa 1955 to 1960. Photos from The Daily Journal archive. Produced by Adam Monacelli. 
 
 This emergency broadcast regarding the nuclear power plant in Salem County was sent erroneously, authorities said Tuesday night. (Photo: NJ Office of Emergency Management) 
 
 LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK – The emergency alert that popped up on TV screens across South Jersey on Tuesday night was sobering, if not terrifying: A “NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WARNING” is underway, it announced in capital letters. 
 
 But it was a communication meltdown, not a nuclear one. And local officials quickly scrambled to inform frightened residents that the message was sent by mistake and no actual emergency was unfolding at the Salem/Hope Creek nuclear complex. 
 
 New Jersey State Police said Wednesday the errant message was sent during a scheduled training exercise, but did not identify what agency was responsible for the scary screw-up. County and nuclear plant officials blamed the state for the mistake. 
 
 "At 8:45 p.m., a training message was created in order to test an electronic communications system," state police said in a news release. "The message was intended for a small group of emergency management personnel who were participating in the exercise. As a result of a coding error, the message was publicly broadcast. The coding error has since been identified and corrected." 
 
 ***FALSE EMERGENCY ALERT*** You may have seen this message on your TV tonight.There is NO emergency. This message went out in error #ReadyNJpic.twitter.com/qzh0l9rZ03 — NJOEM (@ReadyNJ) May 24, 2017 
 
 Officials from PSEG Nuclear, which operates the nuclear complex along the Delaware River in Salem County, emphasized there never was an actual emergency at the site. 
 
 The annual drill was conducted by the state Office of Emergency Management, which is under the jurisdiction of the state police; PSEG Nuclear; and county authorities. 
 
 Utility spokesman Joe Delmar said authorities were practicing how they would respond to a “worst-case scenario.” 
 
 “It seems one of the drill messages was put out there across the emergency broadcast system as a real event,” Delmar said. It's the first time a false alert has ever been sent regarding a problem at the nuclear complex, he said. 
 
 Buy Photo New Jersey regulators are taking public comments on a draft water intake and discharge permit for the twin Salem nuclear reactors on Artificial Island. (Photo: Carla Varisco/The News Journal) 
 
 The fake warning was initiated by the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, said Delmar, adding no alerts of any kind were supposed to be broadcast publicly as part of the drill. 
 
 "We apologize for any inconvenience," the state OEM said in a social media post Tuesday night letting residents know there was no cause for alarm. The office did not confirm it caused the problem or elaborate on the nature of the coding error. 
 
 The unintentionally broadcast message read: “A civil authority has issued A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WARNING for the following counties/areas: Cumberland; Salem, NJ; at 8:54 p.m. on May 23, 2017 effective until 9:54 p.m.” 
 
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 Officials in the two counties responded by using their reverse 911 systems to correct the error. 
 
 Cumberland County’s OEM said it made about 69,000 of those calls, of which about 30,000 were answered, by 10:30 p.m. 
 
 There is NOT an emergency at the Salem Nuclear plant. Any message received is an error. — Salem County OEM (@SalemCountyNJ) May 24, 2017 
 
 The three-reactor Salem/Hope Creek nuclear complex on Artificial Island, in Lower Alloways Creek, can generate enough energy to power 3 million homes. It is the second-largest nuclear generating facility in the country. 
 
 What if there had been an actual emergency at the nuclear complex? 
 
 Delmar, in a post on PSEG Nuclear's Facebook page, said the state “makes recommendations to take specific protective actions. In the event of a real emergency, you would have received more specific instructions. We are working with the NJ State Police right now on how the drill information was mistakenly distributed. We apologize for the confusion. Please be assured that your safety and the safety of our community is our number one priority.” 
 
 There is NO emergency at the Hope Creek nuclear plant. A drill was mistaken for an actual emergency. Again, there is NO emergency. — PSEG (@PSEGNews) May 24, 2017 
 
 State police said any response to an actual emergency would include additional alerts with information about evacuation routes and "reception centers." 
 
 To sign up for reverse 911 alerts in Cumberland County, visit www.co.cumberland.nj.us/OEM. 
 
 CLOSE Lacey Township Mayor Peter Curatolo speaks about his plans for the township after the closing of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. STAFF VIDEO BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO 
 
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– Residents in two New Jersey counties were watching television Tuesday night only to suddenly be warned of an emergency at the nation's second-largest nuclear generating facility. The warning, sent out via the state's emergency broadcast system, was a false alarm, albeit one that was—in the words of the Daily Journal—"sobering, if not terrifying." According to the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, the false emergency alert read: "A civil authority has issued a NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WARNING." It was sent to residents in Cumberland and Salem counties, WNBC reports. Officials at PSEG Nuclear, which runs the Salem/Hope Creek nuclear complex, say there was no emergency at the facility. A spokesperson says state police were conducting a "worst case scenario" drill Tuesday night. It appears one of the messages for the drill was accidentally made public via the emergency broadcast system. The Office of Emergency Management, which issued the false alarm, apologized "for any inconvenience."