30 U.S. Nuclear Plants Still Need Y2K Fix - Agency

Updated 7:57 PM ET August 4, 1999By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that 30 nuclear power plants still needed to upgrade their computers to be immune from the so-called millennium bug but described remaining problems as not serious.

Electrical utilities have retooled their computers to avoid possible year 2000 (Y2K) problems in older computer systems that use only two digits to represent the year. Experts fear that many computers worldwide could malfunction or crash on Jan. 1 if they misread the year as 1900 instead of 2000.

The commission said 73 of the nation's 103 operating nuclear power plants were completely Y2K-compliant and the work that needed to be done at the remaining 30 plants did not involve computer safety systems.

"We conclude that the year 2000 problem will not adversely affect the continued safe operation of U.S. nuclear power plants," Chairwoman Greta Dicus said.

She made her comments in written testimony to a special Senate committee studying the Y2K problem.

She said that by Sept. 30 the commission would check on the progress of the remaining 30 plants and determine if any facilities where computers were not ready should be shut down. She said, however, that she did not think that would be necessary.

"At this time, we believe that all licensees will be able to operate their plants safely during the transition from 1999 to 2000, and we do not anticipate the need from the NRC to direct any plant-specific action," Dicus said.

She said the agency expected that only six plants would have Y2K work remaining by Nov. 1.

Lawmakers on the committee warned that allowing such a late deadline might not leave enough time to correct any unexpected problems at the six plants.

"Nuclear power plants shouldn't play Russian roulette when it comes to Y2K, where they wait until the last minute and hope for the best," Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said.

But Dicus said two of the facilities, the D.C. Cook plants in Berrien County, Michigan, were in an extended plant shutdown and had only minor work remaining which should be completed by Dec. 15.

The other four plants would require outages to complete their computer work, she said. Those plants are the Brunswick Unit 1 near Wilmington, North Carolina; Comanche Peak Unit 1 in Sommervell County, Texas; Salem Unit 1 in Salem County, New Jersey; and Farley Unit 2 near Dothan, Alabama. The Alabama plant has a Dec. 16 deadline.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), August 04, 1999

Answers

22 NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS WILL PUSH Y2K READINESS ENVELOPE

FULL TESTIMONY AVAILABLE AT

WWW.SENATE.GOV/~Y2K/hearings/99080 4

WASHINGTON, DC -- The chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said today that six nuclear power plants in the United States will remain unprepared for possible Year 2000 computer problems after November 1, and according to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), at least three of those plants have Y2K readiness deadlines in mid-December. Also identified by NEI were 16 additional plants with deadlines in late October.

"Setting a late deadline for Y2K readiness in a nuclear power plant may not allow enough time to address unforseen problems in such an immensely complex and potentially dangerous facility," said U.S. Senator Robert F. Bennett, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Y2K Technology Problem. "Total Y2K readiness of the nation's nuclear power plants is vital to keeping the lights on in certain areas, and is absolutely necessary to guarantee public safety during the millennium date change."

"Nuclear power plants shouldn't play Russian roulette when it comes to Y2K - where they wait until the last minute and then hope for the best," said U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Vice-Chairman of the Senate Y2K Committee. "It is essential that there be adequate time left so systems can be tested in order to assure a safe and continuous power supply."

In testimony posted on the web site of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, NRC chair Greta Joy Dicus said that the two D.C. Cook plants in Berrien County, Michigan would not be Y2K ready until after November 1, and would remain shut down during the Y2K transition. The plants are currently in the midst of an extended shutdown, and have Y2K readiness deadlines of December 15.

Dicus also said that four other plants with November-or-later deadlines would require outages to complete Y2K activities. Those plants are the Brunswick Unit 1 near Wilmington, N.C.; Comanche Peak Unit 1 in Sommervell County, Texas; Salem Unit 1 in Salem County, N.J.; and Farley Unit 2 near Dothan, Alabama, which has a December 16 deadline.

"These outages have been scheduled, and each of the licensees have experience on sister units in completing the most significant Y2K remediation activities," she said.

Additionally, 15 plants have late October deadlines: Browns Ferry Units 1 and 2 near Decatur, Alabama; Comanche Peak Unit 2 in Sommervell County, Texas; Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 near San Luis Obispo, California; Hope Creek in Salem County, New Jersey; North Anna Unit 2 in Louisa County, Virginia; Peach Bottom Unit 3 in York County, Penn.; Salem Unit 2 in Salem County, N.J.; Sequoyah Units 1 and 2 near Chattanooga, Tenn.; South Texas Project Units 1 and 2 near Matagorda, Texas; Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, Penn.; Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vermont; and Watts Bar in Rhea County, Tennessee.

Currently 30 of 103 U.S. nuclear power plants remain unprepared for Y2K. The NRC expects most to be Y2K ready by September 30, when it will make a determination whether certain facilities will remain operational.

Dicus said, however, that she believes all plants Awill be able to operate...safely during the transition from 1999 to 2000, and we do not anticipate the need for the NRC to direct any plant-specific action.@

Today=s hearing also addressed the Y2K preparedness of gas utilities, upon which 60 million homes and businesses rely for heat. Statements by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and American Gas Association indicate that natural gas industries plan to be Y2K ready by September 30, but did not offer specifics on current levels of Y2K preparedness. Bennett and Dodd said they would be asking for additional information regarding current readiness and industry progress toward the September deadline.

"I am pleased that the natural gas industry has set a goal of 100 percent compliance this fall," said Bennett. "But more specifics are necessary in order for Congress and the American public to be assured that this goal can be met."

"The natural gas industry's testimony today shows a good faith effort is being made to become Y2K compliant," Dodd said. "I look forward to receiving more detailed information so we can be sure the public won't be left out in the cold."

The Y2K technology problem, also called the Y2K or Millennium bug, prevents computers from reading the year 2000 correctly and can potentially cause wide ranging system failures.

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-- Bob (bob@bob.bob), August 05, 1999.

If the problems remaining to be solved at these 30 plants are so easily fixed, why haven't they been fixed already? And why did Duquesne Light, owner of the NOT-ready Shippingport plant, tell the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for the feature story on y2k readiness that ran last Sunday NOT that the nuke PLANS to be ready by the end of September, but that it IS y2k compliant?

Guess its another one of those cases where it depends on what the meaning of "is" is.

-- Faith Weaver (suzsolutions@yahoo.com), August 05, 1999.