Group wants nuke plants shut if not Y2K compliant + Business Group Challenges Nuclear Ads

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Friday December 11 10:14 AM ET 

Group wants nuke plants shut if not Y2K compliant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An environmental group has submitted 
a petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission asking that 
nuclear power plants be shut down if they cannot prove themselves 
free of Year 2000 computer bugs.  

Nuclear Information and Resource Service officials said if the 
nation's 104 commercial nuclear power plants are not properly 
tested and declared free of the Y2K threat, there could be ``severe 
safety and environmental problems'' caused by date-sensitive 
electronic systems failing when 2000 starts.  

``The Y2K computer problem is greater than most people imagined 
even a year ago, and it is becoming clear that not every nuclear 
utility will be Y2K compliant in time for the millennium,'' said 
Michael Mariotte, NIRS executive director.  

The so-called Y2K problem has developed as a result of computer 
systems recognizing years by their last two digits, reading 1999 for 
example as ``99.'' When the new millennium begins, computers will 
misread the year 2000 for 1900, and if not corrected, could cause 
system-wide malfunctions.  

The first petition by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service 
would require the NRC to close by Dec. 1, 1999, any reactor
that cannot prove, through full testing, that it is Y2K compliant.

A second NIRS petition would mandate that nuclear utilities install 
additional backup power units to ensure steady supply of electricity 
to reactors. A third and last petition requires each utility to engage 
in a full-scale emergency response exercise during 1999 for testing 
plant personnel.  

``The nuclear industry and the NRC are working diligently to resolve 
the Y2K problem, and we believe them. Unfortunately, the 
magnitude of the problem is so large that not every nuclear utility is 
likely to complete their work in time,'' Mariotte said.  

NIRS said the possibility of electrical grid instability and local and 
regional blackouts cannot be ruled out as a result of possible
computer malfunctions. The group noted that few utilities have 
actually tested emergency plans to cope with potential difficulties.

In a statement, the Nuclear Energy Institute said the industry had 
thus far found Y2K issues a challenge, but manageable. The
industry group noted that systems needed to safely shut down 
nuclear plants respond to plant conditions and operator commands,
not to date-driven data bases, prone to Y2K or millennium bugs.

``The NRC stated in 1997 that safety-related shutdown systems 
are not subject to the Year 2000 concern,'' according to the NEI
statement.

The environmentalist group asked the NRC to consider their 
petitions on an expedited basis, and allow outside verification of
nuclear plant Y2K testing and compliance. 

============

Business Group Challenges Nuclear Ads - (STATEWIDE) -- The 
national Better Business Bureau is asking a trade group to stop 
calling nuclear power ``environmentally clean''. The move is the 
result of a complaint brought by the Vermont-based Clean Energy 
Group and several other organizations. The bureau wants the 
Nuclear Energy Institute to stop touting the cleanliness of nuclear 
power when it fails to mention radioactive waste and air pollution in 
its ads. The institute objects to the bureau's decision, which isn't 
legally binding. But it's agreed to consider the issue in  
future ads. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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