Soviet-era reactors gear up for Y2K test

Updated 11:49 AM ET December 6, 1999

By Christina Ling

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (Reuters) - The gray hulk of the tomb encasing the radioactive rubble of the world's worst civil nuclear disaster looms over a bleak, snowy wasteland as a grim reminder of what can happen when atomic energy goes wrong.

Beyond the wall blocking off the stricken No. 4 reactor of Ukraine's infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant, white-suited technicians bustle through metal-lined halls of Reactor 3 amid the hum of throbbing turbines. No. 3, Chernobyl's last remaining reactor, was being brought on stream for what could be its last few months of service before closure sometime next year at the behest of the international community.

So the reactor, closure of which has been delayed from this year as previously planned, will be just in time to catch any "millennium bug" that might be waiting to strike computer systems around the globe at midnight on Dec. 31, 1999.

But officials vow there will be no second Chernobyl. While those manning the wall-length panels of flashing dials and switches in the reactor's sci-fi-style control room have a healthy awareness of the potential danger of their work, they are puzzled and exasperated at the stir around their plant.

"What do you mean, 'Aren't we afraid?' Everyone at the station is afraid of accidents but there won't be one," shift supervisor Viktor Kuchinsky told Reuters, breaking off to consult with his team as he kept an eye on the control panels.

"I'm more afraid of a car accident."

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WARY OF SOVIET-ERA PLANTS

The Chernobyl blast, which killed 31 people outright and sent a radioactive cloud drifting over Europe to affect the health of thousands more, has fed concern about the safety of the 57 Soviet-era nuclear plants in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia all have Soviet reactors. Russia has nine nuclear plants, with Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors at three, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Lithuania's Ignalina plant also has two RBMK reactors. An IAEA spokesman said their emergency safety devices were less reliable than those used at Western-style pressurized water plants and lacking in multiple backup safety systems.

The Group of Seven leading industrial nations four years ago struck a deal with Ukraine to have Chernobyl closed by 2000 in return for funding the decommissioning and completion of a replacement, but delays in funding have held up closure.

The European Union has used the desire of Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia to join the EU as a lever to require them to commit to closing their oldest stations. But officials at most of the Eastern-bloc stations say they have run extensive tests, dismiss the risk from possible Y2K bugs and declare themselves well prepared for any surprises.

"When these plants were designed the Soviet technology was not that advanced to build computerized plants," Sandor Nagy, the head of Hungary's Paks plant, told Reuters, saying his four VVER pressurized water reactors were all fully Y2K compliant.

"We only have one computer system that controls safety in one reactor and that was installed this year by Siemens."

PLANTS BASICALLY Y2K-PROOF, CONCERNS REMAIN

The IAEA believes most stations are prepared for the millennium, but spokesman David Kyd said the change of date posed challenges for all that Ukraine and Armenia, in particular, were struggling to meet. "The overall situation is not too worrisome regarding the plants themselves," he said, adding that Russian-designed plants were less reliant on computers than high-tech Western ones.

"It's true that the Russians build them cheap, cheerful and rugged, and they are very forgiving beasts. A minor computer glitch will not have an effect on the way the plant runs," he said. But "embedded" safety-related computer systems were potentially susceptible to the Y2K bug and, while most Soviet-era plants reported successful checks on such systems, IAEA experts feared Chernobyl had not paid enough attention.

The agency was also concerned about the possibility of instability or even blackouts on electricity grids throughout the region, which experts say could force reactor operators to cut capacity or even switch the reactor off.

"That is that fear of the experts ... that they would have to take precautionary measures at the nuclear plants so that there's no abnormality in operation," Kyd said. "To run a power plant at an abnormal level of activity is unusual for the operating staff ... and you've got to tune it a little more finely if you want to take it down to half power."

Kyd said IAEA experts had visited Lithuania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia but had made most of their Y2K-related visits in Eastern Europe to Ukraine, which relies on five nuclear plants for almost half its power needs. He said Ukraine and Armenia both lacked funds to upgrade radiation monitoring systems for emergencies.

SOVIET-DESIGNED PLANTS SAY THEY PREPARED

Armenian nuclear officials say the country's Medzamor plant is preparing for Y2K and they do not expect any problems.

"The present condition of the nuclear plant does not cause any anxiety," Medzamor official Slavik Danielyan told Reuters. "All computers which have not been tested are now being changed," said another official, Slavik Pogosyan. [note - testing not complete, installation of new systems not complete... "being changed"]

In the Czech Republic, CEZ a.s., owner of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant, said it had conducted extensive tests and Y2K preparation and all critical systems were fully ready.

Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant, which has six VVER water pressurized reactors, also said it was not in danger. Experts said most of the plant's computer systems were developed after 1994 and thus were millennium compliant.

In Chernobyl, specialists say their computers are of mainly auxiliary importance and mostly not date-sensitive. Kuchinsky pulled out a battered ring-binder with a copy of the plant's contingency plans for all imaginable disasters, including if the country's entire power grid failed.

"I wouldn't like to say categorically that nothing will happen, but we are prepared for practically any situation," he said.

Chernobyl director Vitaly Tovstonohov told Reuters extra staff would be on duty on New Year's Eve, with the computer team standing by in case of emergency. "I haven't quite decided yet what I will be doing," he said, "but most probably I will be somewhere here, too."

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See also:

Chernobyl reactor shutdown following malfunction

Ukraine To Restart Chernobyl Reactor

OT: SeriousTrouble with Chernobyl today.

Chernobyl

Chernobyl Restart affects all

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), December 06, 1999

Answers

And I was afraid they'd put off their testing until it was too late to remediate! Silly me...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), December 06, 1999.

Are these the biggest idiots on earth or what? These dumbass Russkies are like the guy who walks out of the hospital after having a lung removed and fires up a Marlboro........next to a gas pump *casually flicking ashes*.

Glad I got my KI, for what it's worth.

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 06, 1999.

I live near Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Ignalina (Lithuania) situation has had me worried for some time: it's just the other side of the Baltic Sea from my home. And Chernobyl isn't so far away either. I can only hope that the wind is in right direction if they blow.

Two weeks ago we (in Denmark) had a Civil Defence exercise (they happen regularly every few years): this time they simulated guess what? a meltdown of a nearby nuclear reactor. You will be glad to know that the exercise went well and 'most people' survived. (I'm told that the bunker which serves as a command centre is hidden somewhere near the village where I live!)

By the way, Denmark is relatively well prepared on Civil Defence. There is considerable consciousness here of the possibilities, having been invaded many times - by Germany in particular (and occupied during the Second World War).

-- Risteard Mac Thomais (uachtaran@ireland.com), December 07, 1999.

Oh Risteard! I am so sorry that you live near one of those things. I sure hope they function okay.... Take care and find out where that bunker is!

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), December 07, 1999.