NRC Says Nuke Plant Safety Not Hurt By Overtime

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

Just a note, preceding the following news items. I have "not 
disappeared" and am alive and well. I've been around, but just having 
a short visit with my family from FL, for a month, and, attending a 
couple of meetings. I have seen many Radsafers while here in 
Philadelphia at the HPS meeting (Melissa's candid pictures will 
attest to that)!!! Thanks to all who have written wondering where 
I've been for the past month or so....  Now the news ----->

Monday June 28 1:47 AM ET 

NRC Says Nuke Plant Safety Not Hurt By Overtime

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said worker 
overtime is not jeopardizing safety at the nation's commercial 
nuclear power plants, according to a letter released by lawmakers 
Friday.  

The letter from the NRC was in response to three House Democrats who 
questioned why nuclear plant workers are not governed more 
aggressively by rules limiting work times like those in place for 
airline pilots and truck drivers.  

NRC Chairman Shirley Jackson wrote to Massachusetts Democrat Ed 
Markey that few safety-related ``events'' at nuclear power plants can 
be attributed to worker fatigue. However, such determinations were 
difficult to assess, Jackson noted.  

``Of those events that have been attributed to personnel fatigue, the 
NRC has found that they were typically of limited safety 
significance.'' Jackson said.  

``In all instances automated safety systems or other barriers were 
available to prevent any safety consequences.''  

Markey, Rep. John Dingell of Michigan and Rep. Ron Klink of 
Pennsylvania have charged that excessive overtime could lead to 
operator error, and quoted from whistle-blowers and news reports to 
base their arguments.  

They said cost pressures in the nuclear industry and lax NRC 
oversight have made fatigue an increasing concern.

Markey was unimpressed with the Jackson response, noting the NRC 
planned to end routine review of individual plant's use of overtime 
when a new oversight process was implemented.  

Using data from NRC inspection reports, Markey said the agency found 
in the last two years ``67 instanes of personnel working in excess of 
working-hour guidelines without approval, or more than the 72-hour a 
week limit.  

An additional 42 cases showed approval was obtained by the workers 
after the overtime had already been worked.

Five-year inspection reports show more cases of working breaking 
rules on overtime, according to the lawmakers.

``Most nuclear plant safety problems are caused by worker error. The 
NRC has strict, enforceable rules that have effectively curtailed 
drug abuse among nuclear plant workers,'' said Dingell and Markey in 
a joint statement.  

``It is past time for the NRC to seriously address worker fatigue, 
which has similar effects to drug use,'' they said. 
---------------

Monday June 28 1:52 AM ET 

Nuclear Power Industry Works To Allay Y2K Fears

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The nuclear power industry, aiming to allay 
public fears of power outages and radiation leaks, has stepped up 
efforts to make sure plants are not vulnerable to the year 2000 
computer bug.  

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will release next week a 
report on exactly how ready each of the nation's 103 nuclear power 
reactors are for the millennium date change. Nuclear reactors account 
for about 20 percent of all U.S. power generation.   

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.   

Most U.S. nuclear plants were built in the 1960s and 70s -- before 
the onset of the present digitalized age, noted Ralph Beedle, chief 
nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade 
group.  

``All of our plant shutdown systems are analog,'' said Robert 
Haverkamp, manager of the Y2K project at Southern California Edison 
Co.'s (AMEX:SCEq - news) San Onofre nuclear power plant in San 
Clemente, Calif.  

Nevertheless, Edison has, over the past 18 months, meticulously 
tracked down and remedied all plant systems determined to be 
vulnerable to the date change, he said.  

``We will be reporting full readiness to the NRC on June 30,'' 
Haverkamp said.

But operations-related systems at about 10 of the 103 reactors are 
not expected to get a clean bill of health until later this year, 
Beedle said.  

The trade group did not identify which plants are not yet up to 
snuff, but emphasized that all are set to undergo maintenance
work after power demand has peaked for the summer.

``Two weeks ago, energy was selling for $1,300 a megawatt hour. If 
the plants were taken off line now, rates would go up and consumers 
would not be very happy,'' Beedle said.  

Like most nuclear reactors, the two operating units at San Onofre are 
connected to the regional electricity grid, which brings in the 
necessary power for cooling the plant and preventing any threat of 
meltdown.  

As part of everyday operations, critical systems at nuclear plants 
are designed with ``fail safe'' conditions, which automatically shut 
the plant down if they are not met.  

``Even if our worst fears come true and the grid goes down at 
midnight on December 31 and we have a station blackout, the reactor 
shuts down safely and we can restart after the clock changes,'' 
Beedle said.  

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), which 
oversees delivery of electricity in the United States and Canada, 
said in March the industry had completed more than 75 percent of the 
required testing and remediation of its systems and nearly all were 
expected to be up to speed by June 30.  

Fewer than 3 percent of all components failed Y2K testing, with most 
errors occurring in systems, such as schedule logs, that would not 
cause the lights to go out, NERC said.  

As a back up, the NRC requires every nuclear reactor to have on site 
at least two diesel-powered generators to provide emergency power in 
case of a failure in the grid connection.  

If, for some random reason, those units were also to fail, nuclear 
operators have established backup contingencies. Edison, for example, 
has determined two transmission paths, one from San Diego and one 
from Hoover Dam in Arizona, that could quickly supply the plant with 
emergency power.   

Officials said special attention has been paid to making sure that 
bureaucratic conditions for plant operations will be met at the time 
of the date change.   

``Plants are shut down on a regular basis for administrative reasons, 
but we want to eliminate the possibility of having to take a unit off 
line for relatively unimportant reasons,'' Beedle said.   

Some critics, however, have questioned the standard of readiness the 
nuclear power plant operators are being held to as well as their 
compliance with the standards.  

``There are a number of workarounds that are being done in place of 
upgrades to a complete rollover from December 31 to January 1,'' said 
Paul Gunter, director of the Nuclear Information and Resource 
Service's Reactor Watchdog Project.  

He also complained that a lot of the compliance standards derived by 
both the industry and the NRC were determined for economic, rather 
than safety, reasons.  

``A number of the plants already have problems with their design 
documentation,'' Gunter said. ``Y2K is another straw on this camel's 
back.''  

The nuclear watchdog group has petitioned the NRC to conduct 
emergency preparedness drills, require additional backup power 
supplies at nuclear plants and shut down any plants that cannot prove 
themselves free of the Y2K bug. 

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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