EDITORIAL: Plan to ditch nuclear plant sirens short-sighted, introduces unnecessary risk
A few weeks ago, the Sentinel reported that Talen Energy planned to discontinue the network of sirens it maintains in case of an emergency at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station — the nuclear power plant near Berwick.
Originally set to take effect April 1, that plan was delayed at the last minute, moving instead to October.
The sirens are strategically placed across the 10-mile emergency planning zone, which includes part of the Luzerne County portion of the Sentinel‘s coverage area — Weston, Mountain Grove, Rock Glen, Sugarloaf, and the like.
The sirens, according to the 2024 Emergency Preparedness Guide for the nuclear power plant, sound to alert the community of an emergency at the power plant and to tune in to an emergency alert broadcasting station for further instructions.
Instead of using them, Talen wants to instead use FEMA’s IPAWS weather alert system. It sends a notification to cell phones regardless of if they have an app. You could also sign up for CodeRED alerts through the Emergency Management Agencies in Columbia or Luzerne counties.
They would also use emergency alert system messages over terrestrial broadcast stations in Luzerne and Columbia Counties.
Talen says the change was approved by FEMA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and say EMA partners from the county, state, and federal levels are supportive.
In the update announcing the change, Susquehanna and Talen said the move “is not driven by cost, but rather how we can best protect the public.”
They attempted to counter certain concerns in the Frequently Asked Questions portion of the update.
“IPAWS and CodeRED are established systems that have been successfully used in our community for a number of years,” Talen says in the statement. “They offer greater functionality and reach because they can notify and provide instructions at the same time. They can also reach you even when you are not home (you don’t need to be near a siren to be notified).”
What if the phone alert doesn’t work, you don’t have your phone, or wireless service fails? Landlines and even vehicles broadcasting messages as they canvass an area are the fail-safes, according to the update.
If you turn your cell phone off or sound off at night? “IPAWS-WEA messages may not be heard; however, the landline calls from CodeRED will come through.”
This move hasn’t sat right with me since it was announced and, judging by the front page of the Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise today, I’m not alone. Municipal leaders in the communities closest to the plant — Salem Township and Berwick — both believe the plant should use sirens and phone alerts in tandem.
Effectively, the sirens should be a failsafe.
This is also, per the Press-Enterprise, not a new objection — Salem Township objected last fall when Talen met with them and the move was made anyways.
“On Monday night, Berwick council members unanimously climbed on board with Salem, saying they didn’t trust the new system to operate without the sirens,” the newspaper reports.
Unless I’m missing something, the move overlooks or outright disregards valid concerns.
Let’s say you’re driving through the area and you’re tuned to a Schuylkill County radio station, not one of the emergency alert system stations used by the plant.
If the IPAWS system fails or your cell phone is dead, the failsafe, Talen says, is to call your landline phone. Doesn’t work if you’re in a car.
Next is to send out vehicles to broadcast messages while canvassing the area.
If you’re driving from Conyngham to Mountain Grove, for example, you’d pass several sirens which could alert you and prompt you to tune to one of the EAS stations, as has been the procedure if the sirens have been needed.
This scenario is where the plan introduces unnecessary risk.
Berwick and Salem Township have the right idea. The sirens should be kept and operated in tandem with phone alerts. The systems do not need to mutually exclusive, and, for the sake of public safety, should not be.
Yes, the phone systems can achieve the EMA’s goal of getting clear information distributed with little confusion, but their effectiveness is not absolutely guaranteed and there are numerous scenarios where they would not be effective, but a siren would be.
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