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ALABAMA –

Nuclear sirens conk out in storm

TVA safely shut down its Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama with emergency backup power this week, but power outages across the Tennessee Valley still left the utility without enough emergency sirens to warn nearby residents of potential safety problems at both Browns Ferry in Alabama and the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Soddy-Daisy.

In a notice to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission released Friday, TVA said more than 60 percent of its sirens around Browns Ferry and about a third of its warning sirens around Sequoyah were inoperable this week when electricity service was lost to the sirens following Wednesday’s tornadoes and wind storms.

With so many sirens not working, TVA has had to be prepare plans to use police vehicles with loud- speakers to notify residents living within 10 miles of the plant should a nuclear accident occur. . . (more)

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/apr/30/nuclear-sirens-conk-out-storm/

Ala. nuclear plant cited for safety
ATLANTA (AP) – Federal regulators ordered in-depth inspections Tuesday at a nuclear power plant run by the Tennessee Valley Authority in northern Alabama after deciding the failure of an emergency cooling system there could have been a serious safety problem.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a rare red finding against the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant near Athens, Ala., after it investigated how a valve on a residual heat removal system became stuck shut. Safety regulators said only five red findings – the most severe ranking the agency gives to problems uncovered in its inspections – have been issued nationwide in the past decade. . . .

http://www.nbc29.com/story/14616420/apnewsbreak-ala-nuclear-plant-cited-for-safety

TVA restores power grid, system vulnerable as it recovers from storm