Siren at Hanford malfunctions. No emergency

An Energy Northwest siren just north of Richland malfunctioned late Friday afternoon, but there was no emergency.

The siren associated with the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant is just north of Richland near the Columbia River in the 300 Area of the Hanford nuclear reservation.

It began chirping, but did not sound a siren or issue an alert, according to Energy Northwest.

The siren had been taken out of service by 5 p.m. and was being repaired.

Energy Northwest sirens had undergone annual testing Oct. 19.

The nuclear power plant is on leased land at Hanford that was not used in past production of plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Siren at Hanford malfunctions. No emergency."