ML20207B089
| ML20207B089 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Pilgrim |
| Issue date: | 04/20/1999 |
| From: | Kerry J SENATE |
| To: | Rathbun D NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20207B074 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9905280116 | |
| Download: ML20207B089 (5) | |
Text
I JOHN KERNY cwMmEts MQ6SOCHU$fTYS BANKING 9OUSING, AND UPBAN AFFAIRS 11nited Etatts Etnatt
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One Bowdoin Square Tenth Floor J
Boston, MA 02114 (617) 565-8519 April 20, 1999 Mr. Dennis Rathbun Director, Office of Congressional Affairs i
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission f
Washington, D.C.
20555
Dear Mr. Rathbu'n:
I am forwarding to you an e-mail message from my constituent, Julia Riell, regarding Y2K compliance of the nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Please also find enclosed a copy of the article " Nuke Plants May Not be Y2K Ready" published March 8 on Wired News which discusses this issue and for which Ms. Riell provided the URL.
I would be grateful for any information you can offer which responds to this inquiry and look forward to hearing from you.
If I can be of assistance in this matter or any other, please do i
not hesitate to contact Betsy McEvoy of my Boston office at (617) l 565-8519.
- cerely, e
John F. Ker United States Senator JFK/bm 4
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l RECEIVED MAR 291999 Author: aida0meganet. net at Internet yi
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- Date:
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l TO: john kerry at Kerry-DCTO: senator 0 kennedy. senate.govatintqpeg sfromWiredNews------------------------------------MessageCont6nts{gbpgeggj]pcghologyNews l
Dear Honorable Senators Kennedy and Kerry,
l I am concerned about the Y2K compliance of the Plymouth. Ma. nuclear plant. If the plant does not meet the NRDC requirement of indicating its Y2K compliance by July first, 1999, then it should be shut down at the end of the year to avoid any Y2K related program failures.
Thank you for your continuing concern about your constituents and the environment. I have enclosed a URL regarding Nuclear plants and their Y2K readiness, for your review.
l http://www. wired.com/ news / news / technology / story /18335.html
- Regards, l
Julia Riell l
9 Mayflower Ridge Drive Wareham, MA 02571
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.wked.cudmws//RT www M bljffskcv ll335. l,Lil Nuke Plants May Not Be Y2K Ready Reuters 5:30 p.m. 8. Mar.99.PST The US nuclear-power industry is ill-prepared for Y2K, 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 US industries in preparing its computerized operations for the turn of the century.
US kepresentative Edward Markey said the Nuclear lie'gulatory 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 I
many older computers record dates using only the last two digits of the year. Ifleft uncorrected, such systems could treat j
the year 2000 as 1900, generating errors or system crashes next 1 January.
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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
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A least two diesel-powered generators to i
, 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 that 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.
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"They have to draw a line of nuclear safety and shut down any plant that crosses the line," Gunter said.
l For ongoing Year 2000 coverage, visit Wired News'special section.
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
]
A 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."
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Western analysts have been more 1
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 i
l nuclear-power plants could be paralyz'ed l
when the clock ticks into the next century.
The world's worst nuclear accident occurred in 1986 when Ukraine's' Chernobyl plant exploded, spewing a cloud of radioactive dust over Russia and parts of West'ern Europe.
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