ST. FRANCISVILLE — An Entergy nuclear power plant in St. Francisville's emergency notification process will be upgraded to directly push information to residents' phones as early as Wednesday, making sirens obsolete.

Entergy is in the process of installing the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System at the River Bend Station. The IPAWS is similar to how people get storm warnings through electronic devices, Entergy said.

The system has been used across the country for years and is currently used by major nuclear plants for emergency alerts. IPAWS works by sending local emergency messages to the public through mobile phones using wireless emergency alerts, to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System and also to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather radio, Entergy added.

"In case of an emergency, notifications would be shared directly with phones, radios and televisions within a 10-mile radius of the plant. Though they might not recognize the name, many southern U.S. residents are familiar with the system through tornado warnings and AMBER Alerts," Entergy said.

Entergy is working with local governments and says that the system will be in place Wednesday, eventually making local sirens that have been in use since the plant opened in the 1980s obsolete.

The monthly siren tests residents experience will be a thing of the past, but the new system will still test monthly, but "local residents generally will receive only one test message per year," Entergy said.

The plan to modernize the warning system has been in the works since last year. In September, WBRZ reported that West Feliciana Parish President Kenneth Havard was working with Entergy to replace sirens.