NRC Y2k FAQ:http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/Y2K/Y2KFAQ.html NERC Summary of Plant readiness:http://www.nerc.com/~y2k/summaries.html I recently downed one of NERC's Excel spreadsheets containing their most result survey results. 15 replies had arrived from nuclear plants showing their statistics of readiness in various categories. This was as of June, so may be old news, but poignant to me. According to the NRC FAQ, there are 103 nuclear plants in this country alone. Only 15 have reported to the NERC? Does this raise any eyebrows but mine? -Draco42 -The Rookie

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

Answers

Draco - here's the link to the NRC FAQ you provided above. Do you have a URL for the NERC Excel spreadsheet?

Here's some interesting tidbits I gleaned from the above FAQ - dated April 9, 1999.

2....By July 1, all licensees must affirm to NRC that their facilities are Y2K ready. [or what? What happens if they missed that must deadline? We already know... NOTHING! If they missed that deadline.. no problem.. tell the NRC that you plan to make the next deadline - Jan. 1, 2000.]

According to industry sources, there may be as many as 17 plants that are not Y2K ready by July 1. ["as many as 17"??...there were actually 35. twice as many weren't ready as had indicated to the NRC they would be ready. Implications on those plants that exptect to be *ready* as late as Nov. or Dec. ????]

5.If a Y2K problem occurs at a nuclear power plant, can it be shut down safely?

Yes. In a majority of plants, the systems required to safely shut down a plant are analog, not digital, thus not susceptible to Y2K problems. Where digital devices are used in safety systems, they are either not susceptible to the Y2K problem or are Y2K compliant. If necessary, a nuclear power plant can be shut down manually. [majority? More than half? Certainly not all. Which plants are which?]

7.How will loss of offsite power or disturbances on the electrical grid affect nuclear power plants during the Y2K transition period?

Nuclear plants are required to have multiple connections to the electrical grid so that the failure of one connection will not affect the others. Depending on the design of the plant it may shut down automatically if all offsite power is lost. Each plant has redundant and independent onsite power supplies which, by design, can provide power to safely shut down the reactor and keep it in a safe condition.

8.If diesel generators at nuclear power plants are needed to provide backup power, how reliable are they and for how long can they operate?

Diesel generators are tested regularly and are required to have at least a 7-day supply of fuel oil on which to operate. Many [not all] plants are planning to take precautionary measures to have additional fuel oil onsite as part of their site specific Y2K contingency planning efforts. We also know from experience that diesel generators will reliably supply back-up power for extended periods of time. For example, the diesel generators effectively provided power to the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in Florida for several days during hurricane Andrew in August 1992.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

I believe NERC relies on the NEI to provide the nuclear information for the DOE reports, which constitutes all 103 nuclear facilities.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

From the NRC FAQ:

"NRC inspectors will review Y2K activities at all 103 nuclear power plants between April and June 30."

But compare (from nuke.westlab.com): U. S. Operating Commercial Nuclear Power Plants Listed by State

"Currently there are 109 NRC-licensed commercial nuclear power plant reactors in 32 states. There are 71 different reactor sites - each site may have one or more reactors." [my emphasis]

(The last revision on this page is shown as December 27, 1995.}

Then compare this NRC site tallying U.S. commercial nuclear power reactors, state by state. Page last updated on 16 February 1999. It shows (by my count) 111 reactors in 31 states.

Odd discrepancies here.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

Tom:..103...109...111..."Odd discrepancies here."

Its the *digit* thing again.

And have we heard anything at all about the "non-comercial" plants?

The recent GAO report blasting the NRC for lax controls on non-profit agencies mentioned one that I am downwind from (and one that has repeated violations) Lawrence Livermore Lab. How many other "non-profit" nuclear facilities are there that we are not hearing anything about regarding their Y2K status? How many decommissioned nuke power plants that still require power to maintain their cooling pools? How many DoD sites?

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

Linda, The NERC spreadsheet database is here. -http://www.nerc.com/~y2k/summaries.html- There are all of them for this year and some of last year.?? I forget. As of June, the readiness report had 15 nuke replies. Where's the other 88 or 96 or 98? June 30th was a while ago. (Funny thing is, I received a notice from my local coal/hyrdo plant that said they were prepared to have power generation all through the transition. As of June 30th. Now it is amazing to me that they were ready on the exact deadline. ???)(Their internal systems like billing and such still need work. heh.)

-- Anonymous, July 18, 1999