Chernobyl Insists It's Y2K-Safe

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

Wednesday December 15 3:35 PM ET 

Chernobyl Insists It's Y2K-Safe  

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) - Rainer Goehring spends his days helping 
ensure the Chernobyl nuclear plant is safe, but he plans to be far 
away when the New Year rolls around. Just in case.  

Ukrainian officials say Chernobyl, scene of the world's worst nuclear 
accident, has been purged of the Year 2000 computer problem.  

Goehring, a civil engineer who manages a project on storing spent 
nuclear fuel, says he's heard the assurances and decided to leave.  

``I'm not convinced,'' said Goehring, a Belgian. ``I propose 
everybody decide for themselves.''  

International monitors say they do not expect all systems at Soviet-
era nuclear power plants in Ukraine, Armenia and Lithuania to be Y2K 
compliant by the New Year, creating the possibility of widespread 
blackouts - or perhaps worse.  

Goehring's office is a few hundred yards from the towering concrete-
and-steel structure known as the sarcophagus - a haunting reminder of 
what happened at Chernobyl in April 1986 when its No. 4 reactor went 
up in flames and exploded.  

The blast spewed radiation over much of Europe. The Ukrainian 
government has blamed at least 8,000 deaths on the accident - 
including those killed immediately, workers who died in the massive 
cleanup operation and people who died later of radiation exposure.  

No one is sure what Y2K glitches - the result of unfixed older 
computers and embedded circuits mistaking 2000 for 1900 and going 
haywire - might do in this former Soviet republic of 50 million 
people. Western analysts say cash-strapped Ukraine is among the 
world's least-prepared nations.  

At Chernobyl, a wall separates the crumbling sarcophagus that covers 
the ruins of the No. 4 reactor from the plant's only functioning one, 
No. 3.  

It is scheduled to be operating during the Dec. 31 rollover, with a 
normal shift of 178 workers on duty.  

Chernobyl officials insist the Y2K glitch will not cause a repeat 
catastrophe.  

``Of course, we guarantee that,'' said Anatoliy Iliichev, Chernobyl's 
Y2K expert, adding that all problems have been fixed.  

Foreign observers say chances are slim of Y2K-induced nuclear 
accidents at Chernobyl or others of the 57 Soviet-era reactors in 
Russia and elsewhere in the old Soviet bloc. But they say bug-
triggered failures are possible in some plant systems.  

``The primary headaches are Ukraine which has 16 (reactors), Armenia 
which has only one and to a slightly lesser degree two Chernobyl-type 
reactors in Lithuania,'' said David Kyd, spokesman for the 
International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. body that monitors the 
industry.  

Kyd said the IAEA expects some secondary Ukrainian reactor systems, 
including computers designed to detect radiation leaks, to not be Y2K 
compliant by year's end, though primary systems may be ready.  

Nor are all systems at the Lithuanian reactors expected to be ready, 
he said.  

In addition, Y2K problems may not only be confined to the New Year. 
Because 2000 is a leap year, Feb. 29, March 1 and Dec. 31 could also 
be problematic, Kyd said.  

In any case, the 14 working reactors at Ukraine's five nuclear plants 
experience problems almost every week, frequently shutting down.  

Chernobyl officials say reactor No. 3 underwent extensive Y2K tests 
before resuming operation on Nov. 26 following months of repairs. The 
plant has two computer systems, a more than 20-year-old Soviet-
designed Skala and a new Western backup system.  

Although the new computer is not date-sensitive, it has been tested 
for Y2K risk and the Soviet system was tested by simulating the Year 
2000 changeover, officials say.  

``The central control's main computer was found to be Y2K-sensitive. 
It controls all the reactor's parameters and that was our main 
headache,'' Iliichev said. ``But we have conducted tests and are 
certain now the main computer will pass the changeover.''  

Both computers supply operators with information on the reactor, but 
the reactor itself is run by analog systems that are not susceptible 
to the Y2K glitch, said Borys Baranov, a Chernobyl shift manager.  

Ukraine had pledged to shut down Chernobyl by 2000, but now says it 
needs foreign aid to complete two new reactors to compensate for 
Chernobyl's lost power and to find new jobs for most of the plant's 
9,561 workers. Ukraine's economy is in tatters and it depends on 
nuclear power.  

Overall, Ukrainian officials say they don't expect Y2K to cause major 
problems.  

But as in much of eastern Europe, there may be a problem with non-
nuclear power stations and the country's electricity distribution 
grid, officials say. If a power station crashes, it could cripple the 
grid by overloading some of the nuclear power plants and knocking 
them off line.  

``We have no questions regarding the generating systems,'' said 
Nuclear Regulation Administration chief Oleksandr Smyshliayev. ``But 
nobody can give a 100-percent guarantee of the entire energy system's 
reliability.'' 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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