Amherstburg is revisiting its Nuclear Emergency Response Plan.
Council agreed to separate the plan from their Emergency Response Plan, the first step towards a province wide proposal to update nuclear emergency procedures according to deputy fire chief Lee Tome.
The town could be in the line of fire should Michigan's Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant melt down.
Tome says the town hasn't made changes to their nuclear response plan since 1998.
He told AM800 News the town needs an updated plan in the unlikely event of a nuclear disaster.
"Out existing plan prior to that was in 1998, and there's a significant number of changes that had to be made to it," Tome says. "The province put out a proposal for updates to the provincial nuclear response plan last week. What we're trying to do is make some changes that will be in line with that."
Tome says it will take some time to revise the plan before they know how much it will cost.
"We're looking at increasing our funding to ensure we have the appropriate equipment, the appropriate training. We're hopeful once the changes to the provincial plan are made we'll be able to then solidify our plan," he says.
Only $25,000 of their plan is funded by Fermi, but Tome says it costs the town more.
Tome says the town will be exploring other funding options to make sure residents aren't footing the bill.
"We get approximately $25,000 a year from Fermi. That's funding we use towards our plan, but we spend more than that," says Tome. "What we're looking at is finding out what funding source we can get to make sure that the residents of the town of Amherstburg aren't paying for the program."
He went on to says facilities in Ontario are responsible for funding a response plan in areas that may be affected by a nuclear disaster.
Tome says both Fermi and Michigan law enforcement have been supportive in the process to this point, but the province has no authority to force an American nuclear power plant to fund the town in the case of a nuclear emergency.
He says there isn't a set timeline on when the new plan will be completed, but they hope to have it in place before a full emergency response drill by Fermi in 2018.