Russian Nuclear Plants OK for Y2K

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

Friday November 19 9:06 PM ET 

Russian Nuclear Plants OK for Y2K  

WASHINGTON (AP) - Major systems at Russian nuclear plants should not 
be affected by Y2K computer bugs, but local residents could lose heat 
and electricity if some computers fail, the Energy Department 
reported Friday.  

Energy officials said tests of the plants' crucial safety and 
communications systems revealed no problems.  

``The nuclear parts are so old, they're largely not run by computer. 
There's practically nothing to fail,'' Energy Department spokeswoman 
Chris Kielich said. ``Hopefully, that's one more thing people don't 
have to worry about.''  

Soviet-designed nuclear plants in other countries also did well in 
tests designed to see how the systems would respond when the calendar 
turns to Jan. 1, 2000, the department reported.  

At the same time, the Energy Department said, other computer systems 
could fail, such as those monitoring plant conditions. In that case, 
local residents could find themselves without heat or electricity 
until the problems are corrected. Kielich said U.S. energy experts 
will be on call to answer any questions the Russians may have.  

The Energy Department earlier found Russian plants free of Y2K 
problems that could cause catastrophic failures, according to a 
report by the U.S. Senate's Year 2000 committee.  

Last week, the White House said Russia, Ukraine, China and Indonesia 
were making slow progress on Y2K repairs and were ``more likely to 
experience significant failures.'' Russia has 29 nuclear plants at 
nine sites. In some areas of the country those plants generate close 
to one-fourth the regions' electricity.  

``We are increasing our attention to helping countries like Russia 
which rely heavily on nuclear power to resolve their Y2K problems,'' 
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Friday.  

Richardson was in Moscow in September working with the Russians on 
their Y2K readiness efforts. And at the invitation of the Russian 
government, he sent U.S. observers to Moscow this week to observe a 
Y2K distribution electric system drill.  

In a significant move, the State Department urged Americans last 
month to defer travel to Russia during the rollover and warned of 
possible ``disruption of basic human services such as heat, water, 
telephones and other vital services.''  

The State Department also announced two weeks ago it will pull out 
some embassy employees from Russia and three other ex-Soviet states 
because of possible Y2K failures.  

That decision came after U.S. officials agreed that Russia, Belarus, 
Ukraine and Moldova will be among countries worst affected by 
potential changeover problems.  

The White House expressed concern in the spring about the safety of 
65 Russian-designed nuclear plants worldwide, including one not far 
from Alaska in eastern Russia.  

That was despite assurances by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir 
Bulgak, who said the Y2K problem will not threaten his country's 
nuclear missiles or its nuclear power stations. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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