NRC Audit reveals Y2K success at Nuke Plants

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No Problems with The Nuke Plants All is well. I'm certainly relieved, how about you?

Detailed report for the audited plants is available at the NRC site mentioned in the article.

NRC Says Y2K Audits At Nuclear Plants A Success WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An audit of 12 U.S. nuclear plants showed the facilities on schedule to address their potential Year 2000 computer problems and meet the industry's target date for readiness of July 1, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday.

``No problems were found at the plants that will interfere with the ability of their computers to control key safety systems starting next year,'' according to the NRC.

The agency conducted the audits on-site between last September and January of this year.

The Year 2000, or Y2K problem refers to computers' potential inability to recognize dates beginning with Jan. 1, 2000 and beyond. Many computer systems were designed to read only the last two digits of a calendar year.

If the problem is left uncorrected, these systems would read ``2000,'' as ``1900'' and could cause widespread malfunctions to plant equipment and operations.

The plants audited included Brunswick in North Carolina; Hope Creek in New Jersey; Davis Besse in Ohio; Wolf Creek in Kansas; Monticello in Minnesota; Seabrook in New Hampshire; Watts Bar in Tennessee; Limerick in Pennsylvania; Waterford in Louisiana; North Anna in Virginia; Braidwood in Illinois; and WNP-2 in Washington state.

Since many nuclear plant operators own more than one site, the corporate-wide nature of the Y2K audits impacted more than the 12 plants, leaving successful results at 42 of the 103 operating plants in the country, NRC said.

The agency said it had no indication Y2K computer problems exist with safety-related systems in nuclear power plants. Most commercial reactors have protection systems that do not rely on computer dates and are not vulnerable to the ``bug.'' Results of the audits and related information can be read at the NRC Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/NEWS/year2000.html.

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-- Anonymous, April 29, 1999

Answers

By far the most disturbing part of this press release is the attempt to extrapolate 12 plant audits to 42. Come on nuke boys, this is a sad attempt at smiley facing a real risk.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 1999

ROFLOL. But what about the ability to produce power? There is a lot more than just "safety" to think about though that in itself is some good news. Notice how the article side-stepped the REAL issue?

-- Anonymous, April 30, 1999

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