Thanks to Sanger's Review for this item:

US Nuclear Stations to Cut Pwr Output During Y2K Rollover (Antje Schiffler, Dow Jones Newswires -- requires paid registration)

"A number of the 103 U.S. nuclear power generating stations are expected to reduce power output during the year 2000 rollover, according to spokesmen at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's four regional offices. It's easier to keep the unit online and react to unforeseen events when power output is reduced, said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Northeastern NRC region... He couldn't specify which plants will cut power, however, because licensees aren't required to report planned power reductions to the agency. Sheehan said power supply should be ample, though, because this isn't a time of peak demand. Power reductions vary from plant to plant, but are expected to be between 10% to 20%, said Roger Hannah, public affairs officer at NRC's Southeastern office."

And, just in case:

NRC Staffed to Monitor Nuclear Plants During Y2K Rollover (Dow Jones Newswires -- requires paid registration)

"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to keep its four regional offices and the Joint Public Information Center in Washington, D.C. staffed to monitor the status of commercial power plants and assist the news media with information on the millennium rollover, the agency said in a press release... The NRC also plans to station inspectors at every plant site and gaseous diffusion plant site to augment staff in their headquarters and regional incident response centers."

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999

Answers

A factual report, Judith, part of the contingency plans. The plant I am at is reducing power.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999

Thanks for confirming it, Factfinder. I've appreciated your posts. Best of luck during the rollover and throughout the new year!

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999

That's pretty funny given the comment on Palo Verde below. FF, got any idea why they would say that? I mean the part about not being able to go below 95% at PV?

For ed and rsrch:

http:/ /news.excite.com/news/r/991229/18/millennium-power Western U.S. power plants to cut output on Dec 31

Updated 6:37 PM ET December 29, 1999

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Major power plants across the western United States will operate at reduced rates on New Year's Eve in a move that will allow electric companies to increase power output in case of any Y2K problems, The reason for the limit, which takes effect around 9 p.m. PST (midnight EST) on Friday, is to allow more power plants to operate, thereby reducing the impact should a unit trip off line during the transition.

"We're limiting the amount of generation out of some of the larger base load plants," said Bill Comish, Y2K coordinator for the Western Systems Coordinating Council (WSCC), a regional electric reliability council for 14 U.S. states, two Canadian provinces and a small part of Mexico.

Comish said that all power plants able to generate more than 300 megawatts have been asked to cut their output to a maximum of 80 percent of capacity.

"Generation has to match the load," Comish said, noting the region's demand for power around midnight is expected to total around 82,000 to 83,000 megawatts, lighter than normal for a Friday evening.

"Some customers plan to shutdown as a precaution and some would normally shut down for the holiday anyway," he added.

Two exceptions have been granted, both to nuclear power plants. The Palo Verde plant, at Winterburg, Ariz. will reduce output to around 95 percent and the San Onofre plant at San Clemente, Calif. will remain at 100 percent.

"Palo Verde didn't feel they could back below 95 percent safely and San Onofre asked to stay at 100 percent," he said.

The region's other nuclear power plants, Diablo Canyon, near Avila Beach, Calif. and WNP-2 near Richland, Wash. will reduce their output to no more than 80 percent.

Capacity on the region's key transmission lines also will be reduced from 9 p.m. PST on Friday.

The AC Pacific Intertie, which carries electricity between the Pacific Northwest and California, will be cut to 1,400 MW, southbound, and 500 MW, northbound, down from normal maximums of 4,350 MW and 3,675 MW respectively.

The DC Pacific Intertie, which carries power between the Northwest and southern California, will be cut to 1,086 MW, southbound, and 1,259 MW, northbound. Normal Maximums are 2,721 MW and 2,858 MW respectively.

Reduced transmission limits allows the system to be more forgiving should outages occur and also provides capacity that can be used to help buoy up areas that experience supply difficulties.

Early on Saturday morning, the WSCC expects to be able to lift its restriction and allow normal operations to resume.

"By two o'clock Pacific time in the morning we will have a pretty good idea of where we are going. At that time we expect to make a decision to go back to normal operations," Comish said.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999

Hmm, I used to get my power from the Palo Verde plant. . . .

It makes sense that many nukes would be powering down some. January electric demand in the U.S. is only about 55% of peak July demand, and that's under normal circumstances. With so many companies and agencies going partly or wholly offline at rollover to guard against possible power surges, expect electric demand to be way down this weekend.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999

the larger plants will be scaling down to "pick up the load" in the event of a smaller plant trip. At the time I'm writing this I know of no reduction in MW output for the plant that I work in, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow night

-- Anonymous, December 30, 1999