http://www.heraldonline.com/localnews/story/0,1321,125534,00.html

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Catawba reactor shutdown not blamed on Y2K

By Staff and wire reports The Herald

(Published January 3, 2000)

WASHINGTON - The Catawba Nuclear Station reactor was one of three nuclear power plants to unexpectedly shut down as the new year approached Friday night, but federal officials said the problems were not Y2K-related and the shutdowns were conducted safely.

""All safety systems at all three reactors are fully operative,'' Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said.

Two of the reactors were shut down Thursday evening - one in Georgia and another in Pennsylvania - and the third, the Catawba reactor on Lake Wylie, was reduced to 40 percent power at 1:11 a.m. Friday, officials said.

Cotton Howell, Director of York County Emergency Management, said by 8 p.m. Friday, Unit 1 of the Catawba plant was operating at about 60 percent - as planned - and Unit 2 was offline.

Howell said there was little worry of power outages resulting from the lost electric output.

"It (a power outage) would be the biggest problem we could have tonight," Howell said. "But there is not a peak electric demand (tonight) and there is no expectations of any problems."

Meanwhile, Richardson said he was ""reasonably confident'' that America's electricity grids will roll into the new year without any major Y2K glitches. The first indicator was expected to come hours before midnight when interconnecting grids that are pegged to Greenwich Mean Time - five hours ahead of U.S. time zones - are tested.

Power plant computers are linked to local time, but about a third of the electricity equipment involves the interconnecting grids.

""While we're not ready to declare victory, we are reasonably confident,'' said Richardson, whose department was closely monitoring the electric grids, nuclear power plants and other energy sectors.

The three commercial nuclear power plants that shut down were:

-The Catawba reactor, operated by Duke Power Co. The reason could not immediately been learned, but it was not Y2K-related, officials said.

-The Vogtle reactor, operated by Southern Co., in Georgia. The reason given was an unspecified distribution problem.

-The Limerick reactor, operated by Philadelphia Electric Co., in Pennsylvania, after a transformer problem.

Each of the shutdowns were normal and the plants remained stable, officials said. The utilities switched to other sources of power and there was no interruption of electricity, officials said.

Electric utility executives have expressed optimism that their preparation will lead to smooth transition with no power disruptions.

Richardson, speaking to reporters during a live video linkup with Russia's nuclear minister in Moscow, said he was gratified to hear that Russia's nuclear reactors as well as those in Ukraine handled the Y2K transition smoothly over their 11 time zones.

""This is great news. ... We had some concern about Ukraine,'' said Richardson.

Richardson also reported no indication of any international disruption in oil supplies as the oil-rich Middle East rolled through the transition. If there were any such disruptions, he said was prepared to release oil from the U.S. strategic reserve, and three oil producers - Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela - were committed to increase production.

Herald reporter Ray Burton contributed to this article.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), January 03, 2000

Answers

From Mr. Koskinen's 2:00pm 01/03/2000Status report http://www.y2k.gov/docs/br031200.html

UKRAINE NUCLEAR POWER - AFP/Moscow Interfax reported reduction of capacity at Rovno nuclear power plant by half due to Y2K bug. DOE CONFIRMS THIS WAS NOT Y2K - PROBLEM IS OF NO CONCERN.

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), January 03, 2000.

Yes, it's just a mere coinkydink that Catawba was one of the nukes that had "minor" glitches over the rollover...right?

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

glitches happen all the time. Why must they all be due to Y2K? I don't understand.

-- Realist (don't@want.spam), January 03, 2000.

Realist,

I didn't say this was a "y2k glitch". Y2k related? Maybe...

Maybe we're running systems manually that are usually done through automation. So, it would be "human error".

I think this will become a mantra in some kind of limited scale.

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

[Snip:]

-The Vogtle reactor, operated by Southern Co., in Georgia. The reason given was an unspecified distribution problem.

[End snip]

Could this have been the power problem in Georgia that was rumored about on this forum a few days ago? I wonder about the dates, but cannot recall exactly when that was posted by the State Trooper's wife's friend.

-- Postman (ringstwice@lw.ays), January 03, 2000.