UPSTATE — The outdoor warning sirens around Oconee Nuclear Station will be tested at approximately 11:50 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8.

The 65 sirens within 10 miles of the Oconee Nuclear Station will sound for three minutes. To ensure they are functioning properly, it may be necessary to test some sirens more than once. Testing is performed in cooperation with emergency officials in Oconee and Pickens counties, who are responsible for sounding the sirens.

This information differs slightly from what is included in the 2019-20 Oconee Nuclear Emergency Preparedness booklets sent to residents living within the 10-mile Oconee Nuclear Plant emergency planning zone. Due to siren activation system upgrades in 2020, sirens will not sound for 5-30 seconds in January, April and July, as indicated in the booklets.

If there were ever a real emergency at the plant requiring the sirens to be sounded, local radio and television stations would broadcast information and instructions to the public.
For more information about the outdoor warning sirens, residents can refer to information available at duke-energy.com/NuclearEP.

Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns nuclear, coal, natural gas, renewables and hydroelectric generation.

That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 20,200 megawatts of owned electric capacity to about 2.6 million customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.