No. 09-041 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

March 3, 2009

NRC COMPLETES ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS 

FOR INDIAN POINT NEW SIREN SYSTEM INSTALLATION 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has completed enforcement actions associated 

with delays in making the new siren system at the Indian Point nuclear plant operational. 

Over the last two years, the NRC staff has levied fines totaling $780,000 against Entergy 

Nuclear Operations Inc. over the installation and launch of the new siren system. Collectively the 

two fines of $130,000 and $650,000 levied in 2007 and 2008 respectively, represent one of the 

largest penalties assessed by the agency. 

Following an inspection performed late last year, the NRC staff concluded that Entergy 

had addressed the relevant issues and successfully, albeit belatedly, placed the new siren system 

into operation and met NRC requirements. The agency staff concluded that no additional 

enforcement action was necessary and noted that after the January 2008 fine Entergy’s 

performance improved substantially. 

Entergy placed the new system in service on Aug. 27, 2008. The NRC follow-up 

inspection of Entergy’s handling of the project was conducted from Nov. 17 to Dec. 16, 2008. The 

team of inspectors evaluated, among other things, whether Entergy had performed adequate rootcause evaluations of the problems that affected the project timeliness and whether its corrective 

actions were thorough and appropriate. The team found that appropriate actions had been taken in 

those areas and concluded Indian Point now complies with NRC orders on the plant’s Emergency 

Notification System (ENS). 

“The NRC views the ability to notify surrounding populations of an emergency at a plant 

as a critical element in the agency mission of protecting people and the environment. While there 

always was an operating system capable of performing that job while the time new sirens were 

being installed, the manner in which the installation was accomplished failed to meet our 

expectations, hence the very substantial fines,” said NRC Region I administrator Samuel J. 

Collins. “After the second fine, Entergy began to meet its deadlines.” 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov
The new siren system, now available to notify the public in the event of a significant event 

at the plant, is equipped with 172 sirens located throughout the roughly 10-mile-radius Emergency 

Planning Zone for the facility. 

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included a provision directing the NRC to require nuclear 

power plants with high local population densities to have back-up power for their emergency 

notification systems, including sirens. Indian Point was the only nuclear power plant that fell 

within the requirement. 

The NRC took several enforcement actions to ensure that the new siren system was 

installed properly. In January 2006, the NRC first issued a Confirmatory Order requiring the 

installation of back-up power for the siren system at Indian Point by Jan. 30, 2007. Entergy, in 

January 2007, requested and received an extension but missed the new deadline of April 15, 2007. 

The NRC denied a second extension, and fined the company $130,000 for missing the deadline. A 

second order was issued in July 2007, with a new deadline of Aug. 24, 2007. After Entergy missed 

that deadline, the NRC issued a $650,000 fine in January 2008 “because of the significant 

regulatory engagement to date that has been necessary to achieve resolution of this issue and 

Entergy's inadequate actions” in support of the review of the system by the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) and “inadequate management oversight.” Since then, Entergy met 

project milestones culminating with placing the new system in service. 

During the recent follow-up inspection, NRC inspectors also reviewed Entergy’s program 

that involves the distribution of Tone Alert Radios to certain areas of the Indian Point Emergency 

Planning Zone. It was determined the supplemental radios were needed for certain locations where 

siren sound levels were not sufficient due to local terrain. The inspectors concluded that Entergy 

had acted in a timely manner to develop and implement the program. 

 The NRC will continue to provide oversight of the new ENS as part of its inspection 

program. In addition, after the system has been in service for a year, Entergy is required to submit 

a final design report, which, among other things, describes the ENS reliability test results for the 

year. That report will be evaluated by FEMA. 

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