Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will advise doctors, rescue workers and government officials on what to do if an atomic bomb detonates on the US mainland.
The briefing, scheduled for Tuesday, will be chaired by an expert panel with speakers including specialists on radiation safety and medicine.
It includes talks entitled “Preparing for the Unthinkable” and “Roadmap to radiation Preparedness”.
The CDC says a nuclear detonation on US soil is “unlikely”, but acknowledges an attack would have “devastating results” and first responders would need to take action immediately in order to save lives.
This comes amid a period of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with the nuclear-armed North showing no signs of backing down in its continued pursuit of bigger and more powerful weapons.
And just last month, officials in the US state of Hawaii tested the island’s nuclear attack alarms which have sat silent since the end of the Cold War.
Writing on its website, the CDC says: “While a nuclear detonation is unlikely, it would have devastating results and there would be limited time to take critical protection steps.
“Despite the fear surrounding such an event, planning and preparation can lessen deaths and illness.
“For instance, most people don’t realise that sheltering in place for at least 24 hours is crucial to saving lives and reducing exposure to radiation.
“While federal, state, and local agencies will lead the immediate response efforts, public health will play a key role in responding.”
President Donald Trump has been engaged in a long-running war of words with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, with the pair trading personal insults mixed with threats of nuclear war.
In a New Year’s address earlier this month, despot Kim warned his latest weapons had the range to reach anywhere in the United States.
He went on to say the “nuclear button” was always on his desk should he need to order a launch.
In response, Mr Trump tweeted his arsenal of nukes was far more deadly, adding he had a “bigger and more powerful” nuclear button.
However Bert Kelly, a spokesman for the CDC, insisted next week’s briefing had not been planned as a result of the President’s tweets.
Mr Kelly told the New York Times the meeting “is part of CDC’s longstanding and routine work, similar to work it does to prepare for other possible health emergencies, with the goal of ensuring the public health community is prepared for all types of health threats.”