Haven't seen much discussion on the isssue of nuclear plant licensure in 2000. Has anyone found any information on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is contemplating forcing nuclear plants to shut down in late December '99 as a precautionary measure unless the operators can demonstrate full Y2K compliance?

Some oil companies (Standard Oil) are reportedly planning to keep tankers in port on the weekend of the century rollover. In addition, certain airlines are planning to ground their aircraft during that same weekend (notwithstanding the optimism of the administrator of the FAA). Can nuclear plant closures be far behind?

It seems only a matter of time until we hear that the NRC is going to recommend precautionary plant shutdowns. The mystery is when this announcement will take place. I suspect that this will be delayed as long as possible to avoid adverse public reaction. The environmentalists could have a heyday with this (justifiably so)!

-- Brian Smith (besmith@mail.arc.nasa.gov), September 14, 1998

Answers

Actually they have until July 1999 to be compliant or they will be shut down. I'll have to dig to find where I heard it, then I'll report back.

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 14, 1998.

don mcalveny{www.mcalveny.com} talked extensively in his last report about the power grid. there was a lot of info on nuclear power plants(of special interest to me because I live east of the mississippi} the way i read it, was that the NRC{nuclear regulatory commity} was giving all n.p. plants until july 1999 to have a report on their desk; and that if they were not compliant that they would be shut down in dec. 1999 - not that they would be shut down in july 1999. last week the NRC received an "F" on its report card...

-- madeline (runner@bcpl.net), September 14, 1998.

Still looking. Madeline may be right- report due in July, shutoff in Dec. Also, there is a report due out today on the status of the "Power Grid." It will be released to the public on the 17th. Looking for that info, too. I guess that's what happens when you read so much info from so many different places. :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 14, 1998.

OK, here's the one about the NERC report:

http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?/features/980907y2kready.htm

"The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) will present the first industry report on year-2000 readiness to the DOE on Sept. 14th with public release slated for Sept. 17th."

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 14, 1998.

If your interested in picking up 6 nuclear plants cheap, Com Ed is trying to sell theirs by mid-1999. Any takers? 12/1/99 lights out at the nukes (20-40% of capacity depending on where you live) Plus, it takes a huge jump start to get them going once they shut down. P.S. France is almost 100% nukes, anyone placing any bets on them?

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), September 14, 1998.

I think 99% of us understand how serious Y2K will be. However surely there will be a little common sense demonstrated by our leaders and lawmakers when it comes to this matter. Most nuclear plants are not dependent on date settings for the actual production of power. It is mainly for subsystems that dates come into play. When the choice comes between having power and ignoring the rules for a period of time or playing by all the regulatory rules and not having power, surely commmon sense will prevail. Precautionary plant shutdowns will only be allowed as long as enough power supply is being generated elswhere.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), September 15, 1998.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has gone on record as saying that their function is to assure safety, not assure power generation. It will be interesting to watch if a conflict develops - and who would get to make the decision to change (or suspend) the laws. Maybe that's where martial law would be invoked.

However, some of the issues involved are things like: if the subsystem that isn't working (because of Y2k problems) is the one that tracks total radiation exposure of the workers, would the workers be willing to continue working? <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>...

-- Dan Hunt (dhunt@hostscorp.com), September 15, 1998.

I found what I was looking for. Problem was, I was looking through all of my print information. This was a video clip. It was an interview with Bill Mistr- VP Information Technology at Virginia Power. The reference was a little vague- the nuclear plants have to be compliant by July 1999 or face being shut down. He didn't say when the shut down date would be. He did say that they expected 3 of Virginia Power's 4 nuclear plants to be ready by July, 1999. So, Madeline may be right. It makes more sense anyway! :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), September 16, 1998.