The nuclear power industry, trying to allay public fears of power failures and radiation leaks, has stepped up efforts to make sure plants won't fall victim to the Y2K bug.
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission will release a report Wednesday explaining how each of the nation's 103 nuclear power reactors are preparing for the millennium date change. Nuclear reactors account for about 20 percent of the power supply in the United States.
Most American nuclear plants were built in the 1960s and '70s, well before the onset of the digital age, noted Ralph Beedle, chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade group.
"All of our plant shutdown systems are analog," said Robert Haverkamp, manager of the Y2K project at Southern California Edison's San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Clemente.
Nevertheless, Edison has, over the past 18 months, meticulously tracked down and remedied all plant systems determined to be vulnerable to the date change, he said.
"We will be reporting full readiness to the NRC on June 30," Haverkamp said.
But operations-related systems at about 10 of the 103 reactors are not expected to get a clean bill of health until later this year, Beedle said.
Those plants have not been identified, but every facility will undergo maintenance work after power demand has peaked for the summer.
"Two weeks ago, energy was selling for $1,300 a megawatt hour," Beedle said. "If the plants were taken offline now, rates would go up and consumers would not be very happy."
Like most nuclear reactors, the two operating units at San Onofre are connected to the regional electricity grid, which brings in the necessary power for cooling the plant and preventing any threat of meltdown.
As part of everyday operations, critical systems at nuclear plants are designed with fail-safe conditions, which automatically shut down the plant if they are not met.
"Even if our worst fears come true and the grid goes down at midnight on December 31 and we have a station blackout," Beedle said, "the reactor shuts down safely and we can restart after the clock changes."
Copyright© 1999 Reuters Limited.
