YORK, S.C. - Duke Energy engineers Monday will begin upgrading all 89 public alert notification sirens around Catawba Nuclear Station. It will take approximately four months to complete the project.
After each siren is upgraded, a "growl test will be performed. During this test, the siren will be sounded at a very low volume for 15-30 seconds to ensure the siren, all associated hardware and monitoring equipment are working properly. People in close proximity to the siren may hear the test and see the siren rotate. Sirens will not reach full volume during these tests.
These siren tests are different from the full-volume siren tests performed once each quarter in cooperation with emergency officials in York, Gaston and Mecklenburg counties.
Anyone hearing a siren around the nuclear station and unsure if it is a test or an emergency should tune to a local radio or TV station or contact Duke Energy Community Relations at 803-701-3600.
Duke Energy Carolinas owns nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas, renewables and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 20,000 megawatts of owned electric capacity to about 2.4 million customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at www.duke-energy.com.