Siren test fails for Shearon Harris nuclear plant

All 81 emergency sirens within a 10-mile radius of the Shearon Harris nuclear plant were inoperable Monday morning and again Tuesday morning, according to Progress Energy, the plant's operator.

The simultaneous failure of all sirens within the nuclear facility's emergency planning zone was a first in the 19-year-history of the plant in southwestern Wake County.

The siren system at Shearon Harris is tested every 12 hours by a computer. The tests indicated that the device that signals all the sirens, called a "repeater," had failed to activate Monday and Tuesday, Progress Energy said in a notice to federal regulators.

Progress Energy officials are repairing the malfunction.

Plant operators can manually override the device to activate the sirens during an emergency.

The malfunction comes while nuclear critics are intensifying scrutiny of nuclear plant safety as electric utilities planthe nation's first new nuclear reactors in three decades.

"It's a key part of their safety and public protection system," said nuclear critic Jim Warren, director of Durham-based N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network.

Progress Energy notified emergency preparedness officials in the four counties within the 10-mile emergency planning zone surrounding the Shearon Harris plant.

The zone covers parts of Wake, Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties, and includes Jordan Lake as well as the towns of Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Moncure and New Hill.

In addition to the daily testing of the siren communications system, which does not sound the alarm, the sirens undergo a low-volume test every three months and a full-volume test once a year.