Re: Y2K problems at a Nuke Plant?

["Drew Thatcher" <Thatcher.Drew@home.com>]

I think it is also important to note that the only reason the on-line
primary monitoring system was tested was operator error.

Drew Thatcher, CHP
thatcher.drew@home.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Lavera, Ron <Ron.Lavera@nypa.gov>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 9:13 AM
Subject: RE: Y2K problems at a Nuke Plant?


>While this is not an optimal way to test for Y2K compliance, that is
testing
>the backup and primary systems instead of just the backup, it is important
>to note that these systems are data monitoring systems and not active
>control systems.
>
>... mine and mine alone ...
>
>Ron LaVera
>lavera.r@nypa.gov
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Julie_F_Shafer@fpl.com [mailto:Julie_F_Shafer@fpl.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 12:06 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list
>Subject: Re: Y2K problems at a Nuke Plant?
>
>
>
>I found the following article:
>
>at:
>http://www.euy2k.com/newsroom.htm
>
>Pa. Nuclear Plant Loses Monitoring System Computers During Y2k Testing
>
>Rockville, Md. (February 26) - PECO Energy's Peach Bottom Unit 2 nuclear
>facility near York, Pa. recently experienced a 7 hour lockup of the plant's
>primary and backup plant monitoring system computers during Y2k testing.
The
>NRC
>weekly summary of 2/12/1999 reports that operators lost the plant's Safety
>Parameter Display System (SPDS), Emergency Response Data System (ERDS), and
>3D
>Monicore thermal limit monitoring system during the event.
>
>Engineers had taken the backup PMS computer off-line and had advanced the
>PMS
>clock to a year 2000 Date. This led to a lockup of the backup PMS, and the
>system transferred to the primary, on-line PMS computer. The engineers did
>not
>recognize that the system had transferred and, believing that the original
>command was not accepted, again advanced the system clock, causing the
>primary
>PMS to lock up also. Several initial attempts to restore the PMS computers
>were
>unsuccessful, and operators determined that this constituted a major loss
of
>emergency assessment capability. The PMS computers are not Y2K compliant,
>but
>the engineers believed that this would not impact the testing. Operators
did
>not
>expect the testing would affect the on-line PMS computer. PECO Energy plans
>to
>perform a full root cause analysis of this event.
>
>Julie Shafer
>
>
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