An Overview of the Indian Point Alert Notification System

Indian Point Energy Center’s new Siren Alert Notification System (ANS) is the most technologically advanced system in the country. There are two actions that occur when this new system is activated in an emergency situation: sirens will sound and Code-RED (a reverse dial phone system) will activate. To further enhance Communications efforts in an emergency, some residents and businesses qualified for a tone alert radio, but all residents are encouraged to sign up for the NY-Alert system. Read more about these communication tools below.

SIRENS

The sirens are an outdoor alert mechanism to make residents within the 10 mile emergency planning zone (EPZ) that they need to tune into one of the emergency alert system (EAS) radio and television stations for important information.

In the event of a true emergency, the dozen or more local broadcast stations that serve the EPZ would interrupt programming to provide the alert and necessary “next step” information to residents. You can find a complete list of EAS stations in the emergency planning handbook distributed by your county. You can also access them on our website at http://www.safesecurevital.org/emergency/index.html.

There are 172 new sirens in Indian Point’s new system – 16 more than the previous system – covering an additional 60 square miles and possessing full diagnostic capabilities to ensure emergency planners are aware of any system faults or failures. This 172 total includes 77 in Westchester; 56 in Rockland; 23 in Orange; 16 in Putnam County. The cost of the advanced, new system was approximately $30 million.

There are several ways to activate the new system, including: radio signal, cell phone and an internet-based method. The alert system also has back-up power supplies for each and every component, including the sirens themselves. Each siren is battery driven to ensure operation—even during a local power outage—as required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and orders issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The new sirens have no rotating or moving parts, greatly reducing the chance of mechanical failure, can be activated and communicated via three pathways versus one pathway in the old system, and are mounted on steel poles versus wood.

One of the many benefits of our new siren system is the ability to test and monitor the performance of each siren, and the communications to them, in a manner that is virtually inaudible to residents – it’s called silent testing. During a silent test, the public may hear the new sirens make a popping sound followed by a high-pitched tone, similar to turning on a speaker.

CODE-RED

Significant enhancements have been included in the construction of the new $30 million, state-of-the-art alert notification system for Indian Point…enhancements that go above and beyond the back-up batteries required by federal law. Construction of the new system included technologies which further increase the system’s functionality and effectiveness. These improvements include the ability to:

• Engage the notification system using multiple means (i.e., telephone, radio and cell phone);
• Test the sirens “silently” as often as requested or necessary without disturbing our neighbors; and
• Enable the counties to implement a reverse dial notification of their residents in the event of an emergency through Code-RED (telephone) technology.

The Code-RED system is an extremely high-speed telephone communication service that employs a one-of-a-kind Internet mapping capability that enables users to target calls based on geographic location. Furthermore, the system includes a high speed telephone calling system capable of delivering customized, pre-recorded emergency messages directly to homes and businesses at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. Because these calls are placed from outside of the affected areas, the call volume will not jam the phone lines resulting in an extremely high contact rate.

This reverse dial system has proven very successful in other parts of the country, especially in Florida where it has been used to contact hundreds of thousands of residents during hurricane threats.

Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties have adopted this new Code-RED technology Entergy has offered while Westchester County will continue to use its own similar system that has worked well for the county during past emergencies. The counties are already using pre-existing lists to test the Code-RED system in conjunction with the current testing of the new Indian Point system. Once the alert notification system is declared fully operational, residents within the emergency planning zone (EPZ) will be able to register their phone numbers with their own county’s emergency service officials.

TONE ALERT RADIOS

To supplement the new siren system, but only in selected areas, some residents have been offered Tone Alert Radios. In accordance with the design report, homes being offered Tone Alert Radios fall within selected areas that may have reduced acoustic coverage, even though they may be within audible range of the sirens. The radios are tuned to WHUD and are tested on a regular basis by the station. This approach has been publicly supported by FEMA.

To date, we have issued notices to all of the approximately 2,000 addresses eligible to receive a tone alert radio.

NY ALERT

We encourage all residents to sign up for NY-AELRT (http://www.nyalert.gov). It is an all hazard alert system operated by the State of New York that issues important emergency information on issues you select; Indian Point is one of those options. They can issue messages vial e-mail, text message, phone calls, etc. If you need assistance registering, please let us know and we may be able to help you.

OFFICES OF EMERGENCY PLANNING

Entergy is always available to answer questions you have regarding emergency planning through our website (www.safesecurevital.com) or our siren project hotline (1-800-986-5106). However, for your reference, contact information for individual county emergency planning offices are provided below.

• Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services: 1-800-942-1457
• Westchester County Office of Emergency Management: 1-800-942-1452
• Rockland County Office of Fire and Emergency Services: 1-800-942-1450
• Orange County Department of Emergency Services: 1-800-942-7136
• State of New York Disaster Preparedness Commission: 1-518-292-2312