Re:Y2K problems at a Nuke Plant?

["JUDD SILLS"<sillsjm@songs.sce.com>]

http://www.afr.com.au/content/990303/update/update43.html Source-Australian 
Financial Review

Computers fail Y2K test at US nucleur plant


Computer systems ground to a halt at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant during a
test simulating the start of the year 2000, a US Senator said today. 

The incident occurred on February 8, when staff at the Peach Bottom power plant 
in York, Pennsylvania, rolled the clocks ahead on control room panels to 
simulate New Year's Eve, Senator Robert Bennett said. 

When midnight struck, the plant's main monitoring system froze for seven hours, 
said the Republican lawmaker from Utah. 

"The test failure was not life threatening or safety threatening," added 
Bennett, who chairs a committee in charge of studying problems linked to the 
year 2000 computer bug. 

"(But) that demonstrates that there are vulnerabilities" in electric power 
systems, he warned. 

Experts say scores of computer systems will be unable to differentiate between 
the year 2000 and 1900 and could malfunction when the new year comes around. 

The plant's staff is "still in the process of trying to determine what caused 
this," said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for Pennsylvania's nuclear regulatory 
commission. 

"Until the issue is resolved, they will not be doing any more Y2K testing 
involving the impacted systems," he added. 

The York nuclear plant, which began operating in 1974, has two atomic reactors 
which produce 1100 megawatts of electricity. 

Federal agencies plan to adopt stiffer security measures at major nuclear power 
plants nationwide ahead of the millenium, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
said recently. 


AFP 

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