“Times Herald Record
The Indian Point failure story continued last week as 10 emergency sirens in Orange County failed to sound in a test of the nuclear facility’s backup alert system. This was the fourth successive test in which some sirens failed to sound and is especially disturbing since the latest test was held to correct major problems uncovered in Rockland County in a test last month.
Orange County Executive Ed Diana called the results unacceptable and said he’s asked the Nuclear Regulatory Agency for another test within 30 days. That’s certainly appropriate, but when a significant number of sirens fail to sound every time the Hudson River plant tests them, residents living in the emergency evacuation area have a right to worry.
Critics of the plant point to the regular failure of sirens and what they say are unrealistic traffic control plans to argue that Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the plant owner, cannot conduct a reliable emergency evacuation and so the plant should be closed. If those sirens keep failing, Entergy won’t be able to drown out the chorus of people saying the same thing.”
