North Carolina Emergency Management wants the public to be aware of Duke Energy’s plans to test the sirens at four nuclear plants that have areas within North Carolina that may hear the tests. The full volume tests will take place on Wednesday, January 10th, 2024, and last approximately 15-20 seconds, except for the Brunswick Nuclear Plant where the test could last up to 3-minutes. Some sirens may need to be tested more than once to ensure they are functioning properly.
No public action is required for these tests and local broadcast stations will not interrupt regular programming to broadcast Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages. If there were a real emergency at one of the facilities requiring the sirens to be sounded, local radio and television stations would broadcast information and instructions to the public.
The tests will take place within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) of each facility and will include:
- Catawba Nuclear Station – Located south of Charlotte, just below the border in York South Carolina, will include all 89 sirens within 10 miles of Catawba Nuclear Station sometime between 11a.m. and 1p.m.
- Brunswick Nuclear Plant – Located in Leland, will test all 38 sirens within 10 miles of the Emergency Planning Zone between 10a.m. and 11a.m. This test will be approximately 3 minutes long.
- Harris Nuclear Power Plant – Located in Raleigh, this test will include all 85 sirens in the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) at approximately 10:00 AM.
- McGuire Nuclear Station – Located in Charlotte will test all 67 sirens within 10 miles of the Emergency Planning Zone sometime between 11a.m. and 1p.m.
For those residents who live and work in the Emergency Planning Zones surrounding each of the plants be sure to know what zone you are in. You should also review the safety and preparedness information posted on Duke Energy’s website in case of an emergency at any of the plants.
For more information about the outdoor warning sirens, residents can refer to information available at duke-energy.com/NuclearEP.