Dominion Energy and Virginia Department of Emergency Management to replace the sirens with text message alerts.
By Hank Silverberg
CORRESPONDENT
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When the North Anna nuclear power plant went into operation in 1978, Dominion Power set up a system of 68 warning sirens that would be activated in case of an accident or emergency at the power station.
Testing those sirens four times a year often startled residents within the ten-mile safety zone around the plant, even though testing was announced in advance.
But the sirens were never actually used in an emergency—and now they are being dismantled.
The sirens were silenced in February of 2023 when Dominion and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management set up Wireless Emergency Alerts (WES) to be sent out via text message to cell phones, similar to Amber alerts used for missing children.
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They supplement the Emergency Alert System (EAS) activated for radio and TV broadcasters in the region and automated phone calls to landlines within the ten-mile radius.
The new system means real time alerts for area residents without the annoying shrill and uncertainty of the sirens. The alerts will now be sent out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and will appear on your cell phone similar to those Amber alerts.
Dominion Energy spokesman Tim Eberly says the new system has been tested by FEMA and the state of Virginia to make sure it works and covers the entire ten-mile safety zone around the power plant, though no actual message has ever been sent out to the public.
Dominion Energy has contracted with West Shore Services to dismantle and remove 34 sirens in Louisa County, 32 in Spotsylvania County, and one each in Caroline and Hanover counties.
The removal will start later this month and should be finished by December. The sirens and the telephone poles they are mounted on will be recycled.
The North Anna nuclear plant, located in Louisa County, has two reactors that produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity.
That’s enough to power 500,000 homes. Combined with the Surry nuclear power plant in the Hampton Roads area, nuclear power provides about 40% of Dominion Energy’s output in Virginia.
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