Alarm Is Just a Test, not a Meltdown

From a city notice:

If you hear sirens sounding off for a few seconds on Monday and Tuesday, don't fret. It's just the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station conducting a "growl test" of its community alert siren system.

The nuclear plant tests its community alert siren system every three months. There are nine sirens in San Juan Capistrano. Each one is tested individually for a few seconds, which is known as a "growl" test.

This test is different from the annual test in October, which calls for sounding off all sirens at the same time for a 3-minute duration. In an actual emergency, the sounding of the sirens means residents should turn on their radios/televisions for instructions to find out what course of action is required.

So if you hear the sirens for a few seconds on April 15-16, it's the three-month growl test.