More NERC propaganda online now at your nearest grocer.... http://www.nerc.com/~y2k/y2k.html

Y2k Ready and Y2k Ready With Limited Exceptions List - Revised as of December 3

Link

Exceptions List Summary of Non-Nuclear Exceptions Reports - Revised as of December 3 [Acrobat 4.0]

Link

-- Anonymous, December 04, 1999

Answers

don't know about the rest of you... but this sure 'warms the cockles of me heart.'

text from nerc report

nuclear plants to operate normally

nuclear plants are 'expected' to operate at either normal output or in some regions at output slightly lower than their maximum, such as 80- 95% output range. reducing the output of nuclear units allows for greater flexibility to the system operator to operate other types of units. nuclear plant operators and system operators will finalize operating strategies for the nuclear facilities based on assuring the utmost of safety for the plant and meeting the electrical needs of the power system.

end of text

now about 2 months ago gpu had to come out... the electricity was down in my area; i live in the mountains and all the lines are underground.

now, this was the *THIRD* time in as many months -- for the same problem... and here i am going to beg the indulgence of the more technically/mechanically inclined. i understand the problem but i might not use the exact phraseology indigenous to the industry.

initially, when the lines were laid, there should have been a 'bed' of stone dust laid before the lines were laid. this in effect creates a buffer and prevents, through the movement/shifting of the earth over time, stones from penetrating and damaging the lines. this was not done when the lines were laid and as a result we have many outages and subsequent visits from gpu on an as need basis.

well, as i was returning from work, there in front of me as i turned to pull in my driveway, i saw three dump trucks, two pick up trucks and another rather 'alien' looking device.

as i got out of my car, this good looking lineman came rushing over to talk to me... i didn't look so bad myself that day and used it to my advantage to 'drain the man's brain.'

sorry guys, i never said that i was a 'roaring' feminist.

here is what i found out.

when he initiated the conversation by apologizing for the inconvenience; i responded with..."if you guys can't keep us up now... what is going to happen when y2k hits?[this is a jocular fashion... keep in mind that i wasn't out to make points on who was right -- this was about fact finding.]

he responded with the 'canned' everything is fine in la-la land and the power kings will triumph over adversity... well, not exactly those words but the message was the same.

we bantered back and forth a bit and then i countered with... i read and post to rick cowles electrical forum and he truly understands the plight of the guys on the front line, you know, with deregulation and all... and now y2k to contend with.

i then step back as the floodgates pour open with a wealth of data on the impact of the 'bean counters' who now run the industry, the reduction of the safety standards, the dangers [remember this is a nuclear facility i am talking about] due to the cutbacks in staff... the lack of qualified and trained personnel[eg. it takes, i don't remeber exactly how long, either 7 or 9 years to train a lineman as they must go through this apprenticeship program and the oldtimers with their high salaries and generous vacation and benefit plans were retired long ago. he is the only one left and they have not hired anyone for the apprenticeship program for the last 7 years -- they plan to rent a lineman should the need arise[this takes outsourcing to new plateaus in my mind,] and this poor soul who is running ragged over several counties is getting fed up with the whole affair. he rang up one of these agencies to find out how many lineman were in this pipeline[i believe he intends to go that route if the pressure keeps up] -- answer NONE!!! no available lineman for rent/lease nationwide. how's that for a fallback plan?

he then told me about sap being installed at the plant to run the administrative end[you remember sap from hershey, whirlpool, etc. fiascoes.]we also talked about the inability of the 'bean counters' to grasp the concept of sending a crew out for approximately 2 days to lay the new line versus sending them out once a month time and time again to fix the same old problems with all the men and equipment each time -- this is commonly referred to in polite society as 'pennywise and poundfoolish.' keep in mind that mine is not the only area in the county with this problem and the crews are kept pretty busy running from place to place putting out fires.

bottom line -- confidence level of the lineman in the integrity of the system for the rollover? remember we started out with everything is fine... he has at least 6 months of food stored, a generator , a pump for his well, a relative that owns a farm for his fallback position.

i have been moaning and groaning, whinging and whining on this forum for over a year about the dangers of the nukes, the impact of deregulation on the nuclear industry, and the 'spin' coming from the nrc, nerc, et al... to no avail.

i feel that, as paul milne so aptly puts it... we are indeed toast.

btw, this lineman *REALLY* cares about his job... i mean, *REALLY* cares. he is probably one of the few people that you meet that takes his responsibilities seriously but i fear that he has been beaten down by the system.

he also, and i found this odd for a union man, commiserated with the plight of the engineers and how deregulation had affected them in particular.

as he so aptly put it, "running the nukes was never supposed to be about the bottom line -- safety was supposed to be the first concern."

-- Anonymous, December 04, 1999

Marianne, You used your feminine charms to convert this poor lineman from a poly to a doomer? Shame on you! Of COURSE he had six months preps by the time he finished drooling ummm...I mean, talking to you...;)

Regards,

-- Anonymous, December 04, 1999

you know factfinder... you should work in a pretzel factory... you can twist bloody anything!!!

at *NO* time in the course of our conversation did i try to *convert* him to any line of thinking... i just stood there and listened as he went 180 degrees.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 1999

Marianne,

What FactFinder doesn't like is the *fact* that a lot of electric utility people are doing some real preps themselves. If FactFinder were doing us a real service, he could be telling us about countless cases of people within his industry that are concerned enough to be making serious contingency plans. If he wasn't so busy downplaying it all, that is. Having their own portable generator and extra food, etc, is something that has been done for quite a few months now by many within the untility industry. I read credible posts about this matter over a year ago. So, while the "official" response is what you initially got from the guy, as soon as he settled down to the fact that you were talking intelligently about his own industry, and he felt he could trust you, then you got the story behind the story. It's happening everywhere.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 1999

Marianne, I was making a joke in relation to your comment ... "i didn't look so bad myself that day and used it to my advantage to 'drain the man's brain.' I was not seriously implying that you manipulated the guy.

Gordon, "If FactFinder were doing us a real service, he could be telling us about countless cases of people within his industry that are concerned enough to be making serious contingency plans."

Gordon, I have talked to dozens of engineers and project leaders working on y2k in nuclear power plants. Not one I have ever spoken with has expressed concerns or talked about making preps for significant problems. These guys are as confindent as I am that no nuclear plants will shutdown due to a y2k bug. Engineers at my current plant rarely talk about y2k except when joking, its pretty much a non-issue now, there are more important things to work on. We will all be glad to see the new year arrive and let this y2k crisis nonsense dry up.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999

FactFinder,

I am fully aware that you have been talking to dozens of people within your own area of electric power, and that they are not overly concerned about Y2k. But that is not the point. There is also another whole segment of utility people out there that *are* concerned, and that are making serious preps and contingency plans. You see it even in the news releases from utilities themselves, wherein they suggest that buying some sort of backup power might not be a bad idea. But you don't offer that side in your commentary. Therefore you are not really a fact finder, but rather an opinion provider from the "no big problems, anywhere" group. By the way, *did* you love the Oprah show?

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999

We will all be glad to see the new year arrive and let this y2k crisis nonsense dry up.

Regards,

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), December 05, 1999.

Factfinder...I hope you are right and this crises dries up and not BLOWS UP!! I too will be so glad to see Dec 31/Jan 1 come and get it over with. One can only worry so much and so long. Its like the troops knowing they were going to be making a beach landing on Okinawa. You can only get so prepared and then its, "lets get on with it". Taz

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999

who da thunk it?

factfinder was only kidding... he does have a sense of humor after all.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999