From Lake Anna Life:
For those who live within a 10-mile radius of Dominion Energy’s North Anna and Surry Nuclear Power Stations, the alert sirens will soon be replaced with wireless emergency alerts that will come directly to a cellphone. This change is being made in partnership between Dominion Energy and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and is valuable as it will permit public officials to communicate what to do in the event of an emergency more efficiently and effectively than the current siren system.
The Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system will use the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which is FEMA’s national system for local alerting which provides emergency information to citizens through WEAs to cellphones. IPAWS has precise geo-tagging which allows individuals within the Emergency Planning Zones (EPZ) to be identifies, alerted, and notified almost instantly in an emergency regardless of if the individuals live, work, or are vacationing in the area.
This transition from sirens to WEA is expected to take place March 1, 2022. Until then, both sirens and WEA are available to warn citizens in the event of an emergency.
To ensure the public is aware of the transition, public outreach is being made. Residents living near North Anna and Surry Nuclear Power Stations will begin to receive mailed notifications. These mailings will take place again in February 2022. In addition, radio and digital ads are running and will continue through February 2022.
Additional information on this transition may be found here: http://dominionenergy.com/sirenschangetowireless.
