U.S. Nuke Plants Almost Ready for Y2K
More than half—68—of the nation's 103 operating reactors report they have completed all remediation necessary to make them Y2K ready.
The electric utilities that operate nuclear power plants in 31 states reported their Y2K readiness status to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) on July 1. NERC is the coordinating group for regional and national electric reliability issues.
The remaining 35 reactors have a total of 58 computer items left to remediate. The operators of the 35 reactors say that none have outstanding items that affect plant safety. Twenty-one facilities are still in the process of remediating plant operating or support systems, and the other 14 facilities are remediating site support systems that do not affect plant operations. Because all of these items have firm completion schedules, the industry insiders say they are confident that plants will continue generating electricity as reliably on Jan. 1, 2000, as they do today.
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) a frequent critic of the NRC, said the agency should be ready to shut down any plant that isn't fully prepared for Y2K problems.
According to the reports submitted to the NRC and NERC, examples of systems that are still under remediation include plant operating systems that directly control electricity production, such as the digital feedwater system; plant support systems that perform monitoring or backup functions, such as the condensate polisher system; and site support systems that are not tied directly to power plant operations, such as work management systems. Many of these outstanding items are scheduled for remediation during reactor refuelings, which routinely are scheduled in the fall so that the plants' ability to provide electricity at the most economical rates during hot summer months is not impeded.
"The nuclear energy industry has taken early and thorough action on its Y2K readiness program, and is on track to achieve full Y2K readiness well before the Year 2000 rollover," said Ralph Beedle, senior VP and chief nuclear officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute. "Most importantly, safety functions will not be affected by Y2K issues. We will continue in the weeks and months ahead to review and refine contingency plans and to participate in industry-wide drills. Our goal is to achieve operations-as-usual across the industry at midnight, Dec. 31."
During the past two years, the industry has tested approximately 200,000 items potentially susceptible to Y2K issues. Approximately 5% of these, or 10,000 items, needed remediation. As electric utilities wrap up internal remediation activity, they are devoting resources to working with vendors that provide services to the facilities to ensure a problem-free rollover.