“Following two separate power outages within the past two weeks, Entergy
Nuclear Northeast — owner and operator of the Indian Point nuclear power
plants — today announced it would install a back-up power system for all
156 sirens within the site’s 10-mile emergency planning zone.
The latest power outage came last night as heavy thunderstorms rolled
through the Mid-Hudson region, knocking out 20 sirens for several hours.
Eleven of them were in Westchester, eight were in Rockland and one was in
Orange County. All were back on line as of 9 a.m. today.
Entergy spokesman Larry Gottlieb told MidHudsonNews.com today the company
has tasked its security consultants, Giuliani Partners, to come up with a
plan to provide back-up power for the sirens. He said it was “inexcusable”
to have lost power to the sirens twice in two weeks.
“Local residents deserve the guarantee of backup power for all sirens and I
truly hope Entergy expedites the process of installing this backup system,”
said Congresswoman Sue Kelly, who has been pressing the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission on the issue.
“I welcome Entergy’s commitment today to make this important change,” said
Senator Hillary Clinton. “It’s the right thing to do for the safety and
security of the people who live around the plant.””
