Indian Point gets almost all its sirens working

Indian Point gets almost all its sirens working
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 12, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point's latest test of its new emergency alert system yesterday found only six out of 155 sirens failing to work properly.
That's a 96 percent success rate, and the nuclear plants' officials said it is important because the exercise relied exclusively on radio-activated triggers that haven't worked in previous tests.
"This is a big step for us, because the radio-activation method has been a very difficult problem," said Jim Steets, spokesman for Indian Point owner Entergy Nuclear Northeast.
"We had a breakthrough a couple of weeks ago - it was essentially a software issue, but this is the first full-volume test we've run to check it."
Across the portions of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties within the plants' 10-mile emergency planning zone, the four-minute siren soundings went off about 10 a.m., as expected.
One siren failed in Rockland, one in Orange and four in Westchester, though Steets said spotters whom Entergy stationed at 140 of the 155 siren locations said only one of the failing sirens actually was silent.
Adam Stiebeling, Putnam's deputy commissioner of emergency services, said the fact that all of his county's sirens worked properly showed promise for the company's making its Aug. 24 deadline to have the system fully operational.
"We're on the road," Stiebeling said.
Dan Greeley, Stiebeling's counterpart in Rockland, confirmed the siren results, calling the test "a step in the right direction."
Another full-volume test is scheduled for Tuesday about 11 a.m.
Indian Point has less than two weeks to make sure that its $15 million siren system is working. The system is designed to improve on the decades-old air raid-type sirens, which will remain in place until the new system is fully operational.
Entergy has already missed two deadlines - Jan. 30 and April 15 - and had to pay $130,000 for the second transgression. It has yet to be decided what sanctions the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might impose should a third deadline come and go without success.
The company has been going back and forth with federal regulators about whether individual siren volumes were loud enough to cover each area as designed. That may end up as the primary stumbling block for Entergy to overcome.
NRC officials monitored yesterday's test, and one of them in the field agreed that the volume of the siren he heard was "quite loud."
The company also took background noise readings before and after the test, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.
Steets said nuclear plant officials were working to supply the Federal Emergency Management Agency with volume data that were acceptable to the agency. FEMA must sign off on the project before the NRC will accept it.
Steets said company officials remain confident the system will be working properly by Aug. 24.
Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.com or 914-696-8566.
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Anyone have any facts? How many people in the US died last year from working with or using nuclear energy? How many people in the US died last year from working with or using fossil fuels? Should we include the coal miners that are down in the mine right now?
Posted by: concernedvoter on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:49 pm

Here's Some Advice For All You Nit-Wits Who Have Nothing Better To Do Then Whine About Indian Point....MOVE! The Majority Of You People Bitching About The Plant Knew It Was There Before You Bought Your House In The First Place.So Why Complain Now? Pull Up Stakes And Move To Some Town Or City With A Nasty Fossil Fired Plant And Die Of Lung Cancer.
Posted by: Tuna on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:26 pm

POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THE NRC SHOULD RE-LICENSE THE INDIAN POINT POWER PLANT? NO...............61% YES..............39% A GOOD POLL IS WORTH REPEATING.
J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS
639 LOYOLA AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113
PHONE : 504-576-4000
FAX : 504-576-4428
NUKE PLANTS= MUTANTS
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:15 pm

POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THAT THE TONE OF THE NEW SIRENS IS AS MESMERIZING AS HENDRIX's "STAR SPANGLED BANNER" SOLO AT WOODSTOCK ? DEFINITELY..........169% I'M NOT SURE......-6% J. Wayne Leonard - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Leo Denault - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Curt L. H‚bert - Jr. Executive Vice President, External Affairs; former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chair and Hill & Knowlton vice-president William E. Madison - Sr. Vice President, Human Resources and Administration Mark T. Savoff - Executive Vice President, Operations Robert Sloan - Executive Vice President & General Counsel Richard Smith - Group President, Utility Operations Gary Taylor - Chief Executive Officer - Entergy Nuclear Renae Conley - President & CEO, Entergy Louisiana Joe Domino - President & CEO, Entergy Texas Hugh McDonald - President & CEO, Entergy Arkansas Rod West - President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans Carolyn Shanks - President & CEO, Entergy Mississippi Michael Kansler - President, Entergy Nuclear Northeast John R. McGaha - President, Entergy Nuclear South Michael D. Bakewell - Senior Vice President, Fossil Operations DID YOU REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR THORAZINE BEFORE THE RALLY ? OH..... THERE IS NO RALLY...?? OH.... YOURE SITTING HOME ALONE, POSTING NONSENSE AGAIN? MAYBE THE THORAZINE'S NOT WORKING!Posted by: VP_VP on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:02 pm

POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THE SOUND OF THE NEW INDIAN POINT EMERGENCY SIREN SYSTEM IS MORE EFFECTIVE ? NO............61% YES...............39%
J WAYNE LEONARD CEO ENTERGY HEADQUATERS
639 LOYOLA AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113
PHONE: 504-576-4000
FAX: 504-576-4428
DID YOU REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR POTTASIUM IODIDE PILL TODAY ?
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:21 pm