Whelen WPS-2909 EPZ Siren Test - Ashford, AL 12/11/24

On Wednesday, I met up with Aiden (@SouthGeorgiaSirens) to record one of the Farley Nuclear Plant EPZ sirens for their annual test. This system is pretty unique in that it consists of Whelen WPS-2909s that, for the most part, run on custom firmware to produce a 510 Hz alert tone as opposed to the typical 560 Hz tone. When this system, and presumably Plant Hatch in Georgia, was planned out, the plant requested that any sirens installed comply with the NRC's tone standards for nuclear plants, which calls for a siren that can produce a near 500 Hz alert tone. Sentry, ASC, and FS all can work with that between the various sirens they offer, but for Whelen, custom firmware was needed to make the ESC-2030 logic board peak lower to be compliant. McCord Communications was able to work with Whelen to make that happen. Besides possibly Hatch, I don't know any other system that has Whelens running on custom firmware like this in the USA. ANS has since taken over the maintenance of this system, and they apparently don't update the firmware in any sirens; they upgrade to new boards. As a result, some of the sirens run at 560 Hz, like this one. The majority still have their original boards, however, so in most parts of the EPZ, the ambiance is pretty much solid at 510 Hz.
This siren, along with another in town, indirectly replaced a WPS-4004, which is currently owned by the county. That siren indirectly replaced a WPS-3000 back in 2009 that has since been removed. Unlike most nuclear systems in the country, this one initially only consisted of three sirens, 3000s and then three 4004s, as it only covered populated areas (Hatch had no sirens at all and relied on weather radios given to residents by the plant). The 2909s were installed to blanket the area with coverage. A couple of the sirens are relatively close to others from the Houston County system. In particular, Columbia has a 4004/3000 pair setting about 3000 feet away from a 2909. Webb Elementary also has an R4 and 2909 located on its campus. The plant tests its sirens annually, usually on a Wednesday in December, while Houston County tests its sirens every other month on the second Wednesday of the month at noon.

[@CentralVirginiaEAS]

Nice!

[@SouthGeorgiaSirens]

Enjoyed meeting you there! Maybe we'll catch a 510Hz unit next year lol