The audit for the nuclear power plant at Richland, Washington was released yesterday.

Link http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/Audit?Y@K50397.html

(sorry, this equipment will not hot link)

Some notes: Initial assessment began January 1998 Initial inventory was over 90,000 items which was eventually reduced to about 3000 items with the potential for being y2k sensitive. Then these 3000 items were categorized for prioritization.

Completed the Initial Assessment in July 1998 with the following results. Total 3084 assets...810 Mission Critical (753 were imbedded systems) 411 Medium and 1863 low.

AS OF 3/25/1999, THE LICENSEE HAS NOT YET COMPLETED THE DETAILED ASSESSMENT PHASE. This is scheduled for May 30, 1999.

"The licensee states that as of February, 1999, 89% of Mission Critical detailed assessments and 82% of the total detailed assessments have been completed. The remaining asset assessments, including the necessary remediation, are scheduled to be completed by June, 1999."

Would one of our learned members please explain to me exactly what the heck they are saying? To me, you have eight steps in fixing the y2k glitch in your systems. Inventory, then assessment, then categorizations, then detailed assessment, then remediation, then testing, then more testing, then more testing. It seems to me that they will be finished with their assessment and remediation at the same time....is this possible??? They plan to spend the last six months testing.

I would be interested in the responses from those of you that have worked in this industry. I have spent the last 15 years in the health care field....I KNOW how screwed up that area is.

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 26, 1999

Answers

Sorry. typo on the link.

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/Y2K/Audit/Y2K50397.html

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 26, 1999.

I can only answer as a consumer, and it is with some dismay after reading the audit report. It surprises me that I still have the capacity for surprise. No way will they be done in time - and I am referring to the 12/31/1999 deadline. (I think the NRC will change their mind about July 1, maybe move it back a couple of months for those plants that "may" finish.)

Did you also note that, in the WNP-2 project plan schedule, "Confirmatory Testing" will be completed the day BEFORE "Remediation of All Assets"?

My electric company buys power from WPPS (pronounced as you might think). I will ask again about the degree of our reliance on this rather shaky source.

BTW, this might be a good question for Rick Cowles' forum at:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Electric% 20Utilities%20and%20Y2K

(sorry, I'm bad at linking, but the address should be good)

-- Margaret (janssm@aol.com), March 26, 1999.

Don't know about this one.

The first steps sounded about right, then .... ? Could be that what they are calling "assessment" isn't what the genereal IT industry is calling assessment. That is - they might be grouping assessment and remediation together because they are more concerned with controllers than programs, and so "assessment = it's bad = buy new one -> install new one -> immediately start testing phase.

Write your governor a letter - copy to the area newspapers - asking about this and saying quite clearly "it doesn't make sense".

Then force them (the power plant) to explain in words even a newpaper writer can explain.

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), March 26, 1999.