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RE: Y2K Bug Could Cause Problems At U.S. Nuclear Power Plants
You wrote: WHY are we bombarded with the anti's rhetoric, when we all know
that the majority of facilities
HAVE modified their software to preclude the probloems epoused by those who
have their own agenda, and have grasped the Y2K as their mechanism?
Answer: Bashing nuclear power, or anything to do with radiation, is
certainly part of the liberal agenda. The news media is liberal. When it
comes to putting forth their agenda, liberals do not concern themselves with
facts (i.e., factually challenged in politically correct jargon).
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sandy Perle [SMTP:sandyfl%earthlink.net@inet.rfets.gov]
> Sent: Monday, March 08, 1999 4:48 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: Y2K Bug Could Cause Problems At U.S. Nuclear Power Plants
>
> WHY isn't the industry being more vocal in supporting all of the
> efforst that the nuclear industry has made to ensure that there is
> minimal impact from the Y2K issue? WHY are we bombarded with
> the anti's rhetoric, when we all know that the majority of facilities
> HAVE modified their software to preclude the probloems epoused
> by those who have their own agenda, and have grasped the Y2K as
> their mechanism? While the need to ensure backup is provided, all
> the public hears is that there have been minimal efforts on our part
> top ensure that there are no consequences, come January 1.
>
> Monday March 8 4:48 PM ET
>
> Y2K Bug Could Cause Problems At U.S. Nuclear Power Plants
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear power industry is ill-
> prepared for the year 2000 computer bug, which could disrupt the
> delivery of electricity needed to cool reactors and avoid meltdowns,
> experts warned Monday.
>
> The warning came amid concern that the nuclear sector may not
> be as far along as other U.S. industries in preparing its
> computerized operations for the turn of the century.
>
> U.S. Rep. Edward Markey said the Nuclear Regulatory
> Commission needed to be more aggressive in dealing with the
> computer problem's potential effect on the nation's electricity grid
> and its nuclear power-plant infrastructure.
>
> ``The NRC needs to ensure that reliable backup power sources will
> be available for all of the reactors that are operating when the
> millennium arrives,'' the Massachusetts Democrat told a
> Congressional symposium on Y2K nuclear threats.
>
> The millennium problem arises because many older computers
> record dates using only the last two digits of the year. If left
> uncorrected, such systems could treat the year 2000 as the year
> 1900, generating errors or system crashes next Jan. 1.
>
> Normally, reactors are connected to the larger electrical grid, which
> brings in the necessary power for cooling. The NRC requires every
> reactor to have on site at least two diesel-powered generators to
> provide emergency power in case of failure.
>
> But some experts at the symposium questioned the reliability of
> the backup generators in the face of Y2K-induced power shortages.
>
> ``It is imperative that this issue is addressed at this very critical
> time frame,'' Paul Gunter, director of the Nuclear Information and
> Resource Service's Reactor Watchdog Project, told reporters at a
> news conference.
>
> He added the NRC should be more stringent in setting Y2K
> standards, especially in light of a November audit of the Seabrook,
> New Hampshire, reactor, which found 12 safety-related systems
> affected by the Y2K bug.
>
> ``They have to draw a line of nuclear safety and shut down any
> plant that crosses the line,'' Gunter said.
>
> However, Steven Unglesbee, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy
> Institute, said nuclear power plants have been working with the
> NRC on a standard industry approach to potential Y2K problems
> for the past three years.
>
> Plants have multiple safety systems, in addition to the diesel
> generators, and reactor controls respond to conditions within the
> reactor itself that have nothing to do with the computer, Unglesbee
> said.
>
> ``We're confident that the power plants will enter the next century
> generating electricity at the same safe levels they do today,'' he
> said. ``When the clock strikes midnight, they will be as safe as
> they are now.''
>
> Western analysts have been more concerned about Russia's
> nuclear plants, which have lagged behind the United States in Y2K
> preparations.
>
> Last week, an independent Ukraine power expert said that all five of
> the Ukraine's aging nuclear power plants could be paralyzed when
> the clock ticks into the next century.
>
> The world's worst nuclear accident occurred in 1986 when
> Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, spewing a cloud
> of radioactive dust over Russia and parts of Western Europe.
>
> 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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