Test, drill, whatever.

Russia starts Y2K tests at nuclear power plants

Updated 11:35 AM ET October 11, 1999

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has started a series of drills aimed at checking its nuclear personnel preparedness for possible Y2K emergencies and the first test was a success, an industry spokesman said on Monday.

Andrei Polous, a spokesman for the state-run Rosenergoatom concern which manages eight of Russia's nine nuclear power plants, said the weekend test simulated computer program disruptions at the Kursk station in Central Russia.

"The exercise was a success," Polous told Reuters, adding that only minor problems, mostly linked to establishing urgent communications between different bodies, had been registered.

The only nuclear power plant outside Rosenergoatom -- near St Petersburg -- comes under the direct authority of the Atomic Energy Ministry and has a separate Y2K compliance program.

The Y2K problem is a coding glitch that could cause ill-prepared computers to mistake the new year 2000 for 1900, possibly shutting down the operations they control.

Officials at the station, at the nuclear network management center and the UES electricity monopoly had to deal with a series of imaginary emergencies ranging from the switch-off of a high-voltage power transfer line to a sudden reactor shut-down.

The drills also simulated a failure of information systems processing data from nuclear reactors, a loss of communication with the central management center and some other disruptions.

"The possibility of any of the above-mentioned breakdowns happening is very small but all of them happening at the same time is virtually impossible," Polous said.

More tests will be held later at other power stations and a joint exercise with U.S. nuclear experts is also planned.

Russia and the United States launched a joint nuclear crisis center earlier this month, a televised link-up between national centers monitoring the situation at domestic nuclear sites.

The link-up provides for real-time conferencing between nuclear experts in the two countries, and Moscow and Washington have said it allowed them to offer joint assistance to Japan in the recent Tokaimura uranium plant accident.

Polous stressed that the Y2K problem could not affect security systems at Russia's nuclear power plants as all of them were running on date-independent computer programs .

"But the question of ensuring normal functioning of nuclear power stations in what concerns the supply of electricity to the country remains open," he said, indicating that the only risk was possible disruption of some electricity supplies.

Polous said Rosenergoatom had a comprehensive programme of similar tests that would have to be carried out before the end of October.

"In November-December we should be totally prepared for the Y2K problem. Power stations themselves must have all possible problems cleared by the end of December," he said.

-- a (a@a.a), October 11, 1999