Emergency sirens to be tested at nuclear generating station west of Phoenix
Nov 30, 2021, 6:00 PM | Updated: Dec 1, 2021, 8:04 am
Palo Verde Generating Station (Maricopa County photo)
(Maricopa County photo)
WINTERSBURG, Ariz. (AP) — Emergency sirens designed to alert nearby residents of a problem at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station about 50 miles west of Phoenix will be tested on Wednesday.
The 70 sirens located within a 10-mile radius of the plant near Wintersburg will sound for three minutes at noon and again at 12:30 p.m. Maricopa County will also test a system that send alerts to cell phones once at 12:15 p.m. The system will only send signals to devices in the test area.
The sirens or cell phone alert systems notify people in the area that they need to turn on their radios or televisions to get news and instructions on how to respond.
The tests are required by federal regulators and overseen by state and local emergency management agencies. The agencies will have people near each of the sirens to ensure they are operating and that the wireless alert system is working correctly.
The Palo Verde plant is the largest power plant of any kind in the U.S. and has three nuclear reactors that were completed in the mid-1980s. It is operated by Arizona Public Service Co. and is owned by APS and a consortium of other power companies.
