New York, NY –
The Indian Point nuclear power plants will get a new emergency siren system. The current sirens have been unreliable in recent tests. WNYC's Amy Eddings reports.
A new federal rule, pushed by Senator Hillary Clinton, and aimed solely at Indian Point, requires backup power for its emergency sirens, to keep them running during a blackout. Federal regulators are requiring Indian Point's owner, Entergy, to install the backup system by the end of next January.
Entergy says it decided backup power would be impractical for its 156 rotating, mechanical sirens, and has decided to replace them with electronic ones, each with their own backup battery.
The sirens have had performance problems. In one test last year, 10 of 16 sirens in Orange County did not go off. In another test, none of Rockland County's 51 sirens responded.
Amy Eddings is the local host of “All Things Considered,” which airs from 4 PM until 8 PM weekdays. She started hosting in 2004, after long-time host JoAnn Allen left for the West Coast. Before ATC, Amy was a reporter. Her favorite topics were--and still are--garbage and recycling, which she still reports on whenever she can get out of the studio.
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