Indian Point (Nuclear Plant) Warning Sirens Fail

[brooklynite]

WHITE PLAINS -- The lame-duck emergency siren system for the Indian Point nuclear power plants locked up during a test Wednesday and had to be taken out of service, county and company officials said.

The computer problems meant that the area within 10 miles of the nuclear plants was without its primary means of emergency notification, at least temporarily.

...snip...

Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, owner of the plants, said the system was purposely taken down so experts could troubleshoot computer glitches that marred a morning test of the 156 sirens.

...snip...

``In the event of a real emergency we could if needed quickly reboot the computer and hopefully restore the system to service,'' he said. ``We can't say for sure.''

http://newsradio88.com/pages/13178.php
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Seems like a reasonable basis for our "energy independence" strategy...

[jpak]

1. Both planes that hit the WTC on 9/11 overflew Indian Point

without challenge.

Nothing to worry about though...

[benburch]

2. Well, then, SHUT DOWN the plant until you get it fixed.

Jesus, this is the sort of thing that give nuclear energy a bad name.

[bananas]

4. "Jesus, this is the sort of thing that give nuclear energy a bad name."

You can say that again.

[Ignacio Upton]

11. You can't just shut down Indian Point

I live about 30-45 minutes from there and if you suddenly just closed it without replacing the amount of electricity it gives, then my area's electricy bills will skyrocket. I want to see it shut down in the long run, but it should be done gradually, and with another source of energy to replace it.

[benburch]

12. Just until they fix the sirens.

It's called MOTIVATION.

And yes, you can just shut it. It is shut down for a few months every few years for refueling. And nukes shut down for lots of reasons, some of them unpredictable.

[bananas]

3. In a real emergency, they would unplug the sirens

and hope they could fix it before anybody noticed.
There are no evacuation plans, if the sirens go off it would be worse than hurricane Rita where the freeways became parking lots - that was with several days warning.

[Trillo]

5. There's no manual override to sound the siren?

In order for the siren to sound a computer must initiate it? Why?

[Benhurst]

6. Must have forgotten to put in new batteries when they

changed their clocks back to standard time. :silly:

[Sirveri]

7. This is why computers are bad.

They do not need computers to initiate sirens, what they need is a button under a cover that someone can hit that will connect those sirens to a energy source and keep it connected. It's a really simply switch to make, and considering all they do is generate electricity they shouldn't have trouble finding a power supply. Hell have a giant air horn with an electric switch.

[iconoclastNYC]

8. This is why we need more oversight over nuclear plants.

I think that the states should have independant nuclear inspectors to double check the federal inspectors/inspections. One set of inspectors is not enough.

[truthisfreedom]

9. hmm. these are the "run away! run away!" sirens, then?

as fast as you can?

[latebloomer]

10. Lovely, just lovely

And yesterday I heard on the radio that the plant is leaking radioactive water into the Hudson River. But it's nothing to worry about, we were assured.