If the unthinkable happens — another Three Mile Island, or a terrorist attack that breaks through the flimsy security of our nation’s nuclear power facilities — would you know in time to evacuate? Maybe you have heard the test drill of one of those emergency alert sirens and think that the trademark wail would warn you to get away. But what if the power is out? The power, that is, that enables those sirens to operate? Well, then, surely those sirens have battery back-ups, right? Wrong. “In the event of a nuclear accident or an act of terrorism at a U.S. nuclear power station simultaneously occurring with an electrical grid failure, only 27% of the nation’s 62 nuclear power emergency planning zones using public notification siren systems are prepared to fully operate their emergency sirens independent of the main power lines,” warns the Nuclear Information and Resource Center. In response to a citizen petition for emergency enforcement petition, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed that some but not all of the sites without backup power are preparing to create battery backups. The NRC actually denied the petition, arguing that the concerned citizens should instead use a petition for rulemaking process that can take as long as two years. Get more information, including a list of known nuclear power stations with emergency planning zone siren failures, at the NIRS website.