Electronic specialists deliver 15,000 early warning decoders for Swedish Civil Defense Service

Radio alarm clock from Flensburg to alert region around nuclear power plant

15.01.2001, Flensburger Tageblatt. The Swedish Civil Defense Service is using electronics from Schleswig-Holstein, in order to test an early warning system in the area around the nuclear power plant Barsebäck near Malmö. In the event of a terrorist act, tens of thousands of households could be notified within seconds. By the end of the year, the Flensburg-based company 2WCom will be delivering 15,000 decoders, further orders may follow.

Flensburg, Malmö / Germany, Sweden. Since September 11, Civil and Disaster Defense Services are on high alert. It was as early as mid-October that the German Federal Government announced a satellite-based warning system: citizens should be warned of a possible danger from terrorists within 20 seconds – provided their radios or televisions are switched on. In Sweden, the authorities now want to test the case of an emergency in the area surrounding the nuclear power plant in Barsebäck near Malmö. Approximately 15,000 households within a radius of 50 kilometers – depending on the direction of the wind, are to be equipped with a receiver that switches itself on and increases its volume in the event of an emergency. The order for the development and delivery of this decoder by the end of the year went to the Flensburg-based electronics company 2WCom. The company name is an abbreviation for two-way-communication – wireless via radio transmission and wired via the Internet.

Werner Drews, Managing Director of 2WCom, beams as he talks about how the company won the public tender of Swedish governmental Civil and Disaster Defense Service “Räddnings Verket”: “With this assignment, we have a great reference in this new market.” Up until now, the main customers of this highly specialized electronics company were the large European broadcasting corporations, who sourced the electronic components for their transmission stations – and the corresponding know-how – from Flensburg.

The forty year old head of the company describes the receivers that are to be delivered to Sweden as a type of radio that usually sits quietly in the corner. It is equipped with two tuners. One tuner can be used to receive regular FM radio broadcasts. The other one has the sole purpose of reacting to warning signals. Otherwise, it is not heard at all. The device is equipped with a rechargeable battery, ensuring continued operation even in the event of a possible blackout.

“During the terrorist attack on September 11 there was no electricity in the surroundings of the World Trade Center. The only thing working was the radio.” says Drews. In the case of the RDS warning receiver, the device can keep running autonomously for up to 72 hours. RDS stands for Radio Data System and uses the broadcasting corporations’ transmission stations. “Actually, the decoders only provide the final link of the transmission chain, which is at the consumers’ end.” In a simple version, the RDS system is used in every car radio, where it delivers additional information, such as the name of the radio channel currently being received. When a warning message is broadcast to the RDS device, the unit automatically switches the volume to loud and can no longer be tuned down.

Werner Drews, whose family also owns 2WCom, already presented his development to the German Civil Defense Service last autumn: “Interest on their behalf is very large”, says the engineer after a visit to the agencies in Bonn. Their problem: “The Civil Defense Service was previously scaled down considerably.”

The prototype for the Swedish “Räddnings Verket” is to be ready shortly. “The hardware is run in-house on site here”, says Drews, whose electronics company mainly consists of a team of twelve engineers. “The device is developed in Flensburg and is to be manufactured in Schleswig-Holstein.” By the end of the year, the receivers are to be delivered. In addition, the Flensburg-based company has an option for the delivery of a further 20,000 receivers to Räddnings Verket.

With the Swedish project and a larger order from the Austrian broadcasting corporation ORF to modernize the RDS signaling system on the television towers, the small specialist team is almost running at full capacity. 2WCom furthermore advises Deutsche Telekom on the establishment of a new traffic news system via RDS. Core element of this technology: information on traffic jams are to be provided for car navigation systems – which then, ideally, guide the drivers around the congested areas. With this project, the team will definitely have its capacities planned through the end of the year. Drews confirms: “For any additional orders we may receive now, we will need a larger staff.”

Caption: The Swedish Civil Defense Service wants to test a radio controlled early warning system (photo below) in regions around nuclear power plants. In Germany, here the nuclear reactor Brokdorf, there is also interest in such an early warning technology.