
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 17, 1995                   TAG: 9506200074
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SURRY                                 LENGTH: Medium

NUCLEAR PLANT SIRENS STILL NOT WORKING

Sirens for the Surry Nuclear Power Station that used to warn neighbors as far as 10 miles away of an emergency still are not working. But officials have a temporary alternative.

As a backup, state police, county deputies and volunteers would be dispatched to the neighborhoods around the plant to warn people, Virginia Power officials said Thursday.

During a mock emergency Wednesday, the 61 sirens used to alert neighbors in a 10-mile radius of the plant failed to operate. State and utility officials have been unable to pinpoint the problem.

``I know that we're not relying on them, and we will not do so until we know why they failed and we can fix that,'' said utility spokesman James E. Norvelle.

Norvelle said volunteers and law enforcement officers would drive through neighborhoods using loudspeakers to tell residents to turn on their radios for information should an actual emergency occur while the sirens are being repaired.

The backup plan has the approval of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Norvelle said.

Activation of the sirens is supposed to begin with a button at the Surry Sheriff's Office. When pushed, the button is supposed to send a signal over telephone lines to a radio transmitter at the power plant. The transmitter, in turn, sends signals to all 61 sirens, which should then sound.

None of the 61 sirens worked even after switches were thrown at the primary site in Surry and two backup locations.

``What is so frustrating is that we have three separate locations, a primary and two backups, and each one failed. For all we know, the problem could be different at each site,'' Norvelle said.

It took emergency officials about three hours on Wednesday to activate the sirens. The control panel at the Surry Sheriff's Office was replaced by Virginia Power workers, and the circuits tested satisfactorily.

Norvelle said emergency officials were stunned at the system failure because all of the circuits had been tested successfully Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

Wednesday's test was a ``no-notice'' drill, which is performed at Surry every other year, said Michael J. LaCivita, director of information with the Virginia Department of Emergency Services.

by CNB