October 20, 2005
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Oct. 20, 2005—Southern California Edison, California Park Service, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, the cities of Dana Point, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Orange and San Diego counties will cooperatively conduct the annual test of the Community Alert Siren System on Wednesday, October 26, 2005.
The 49 community alert sirens, strategically located within the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone, will be sounded twice for a period of 3 minutes between 10 a.m. and noon.
Flyers and other educational materials announcing the scheduled test are being distributed to inform residents, businesses and schools located within the 10-mile radius of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Community alert siren tests are required by federal regulations and would be used in the unlikely event of a nuclear emergency at the nuclear plant. They are intended to alert residents to turn on their radios or televisions and await instructions that will be aired over the Emergency Alert System (EAS, formerly Emergency Broadcasting System).
Emergency instructions and information can be found in the South Orange County and North San Diego County Coastal SBC (formerly Pac Bell) Telephone Directory Customer Guide White Pages.
Before and during the siren test, broadcasts on the primary EAS radio station (KWVE 107.9) in Orange County will state "THIS IS ONLY A TEST.” The Community Alert Siren System can be used by local government to inform residents of other non-nuclear emergency conditions.
Note to Editors: An SCE spokesman will be available (9:30 - 11 a.m.) for interview during the siren test. The spokesman will be positioned in front of San Clemente Siren #7, located in the San Clemente Municipal Parking Lot, on Del Mar Street, just above the railroad tracks and the San Clemente Municipal Fishing Pier.
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Located in northern San Diego County, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is operated by Southern California Edison and is jointly owned by SCE (75%), San Diego Gas & Electric (20%), and the cities of Anaheim and Riverside (5%). Its two reactors produce more than 2,200 megawatts of electricity - enough power for 2.2 million homes and businesses.
