I have been looking forward to the Y2K movie slated for Sunday night. Reviews from two industry information offices follow. I was the second forwardee on this snippet, and merely edited out the succession of ">>" marks.
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From: Sproul, Wendy
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 10:24 AM
To: DCPP *NPG Nuclear Power Generation Business Unit
Subject: Upcoming Y2K Disaster Movie
Sensitivity: Private
DCPP EMPLOYEES:
This Sunday evening, November 21, NBC will broadcast a made-for-TV Y2K
disaster movie. This fictional piece is described below by the chief
information officer of Edison Electric Institute (EEI), who had an
opportunity to preview it. One of the major themes involves a nuclear
power plant that experiences problems during the rollover that threaten
to create a radioactive release to the public.
Since your friends and relatives in this community may have questions
about the nuclear component, it's important that you have information to
respond. Here are some points you can make:
1. This is a movie, a fictional account that is not fact-based, much
like the "Atomic Train" disaster movie which ran a few months ago.
2. After an extensive and thorough process, Diablo Canyon is fully Y2K
ready and has certified this to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as
have all other U.S. nuclear power plants.
3. Even before we certified as Y2K ready, it was known that there were
no Y2K-related issues that could prevent the safe shutdown of Diablo
Canyon if that were necessary.
4. The primary systems required to safely shut down Diablo Canyon are
activated by mechanical or electrical relays and are not computer-driven
and therefore not subject to the Y2K issue.
5. The only mission-critical systems related to the operation of the
reactors that we have had to remediate or make compliant are
informational and monitoring systems. And this work has been completed.
Please share this information with employees who may not have regular
access to e-mail and with your friends, neighbors, and relatives who
have questions about this movie and Diablo Canyon's Y2K readiness.
DAVE OATLEY
=========================================================
Movie Preview by EEI
We were invited by Cox Communications to preview the NBC Y2K movie.
John Castagna of EEI's media relations, Congressman Horn and some of his
staff, Howard Gruenspecht from DOE, as well as representatives from Delta
Airlines, Airline Transport Association, and a handful of others were in
attendance along with yours truly.
The movie was about one and a half hours without commercials. It hit
airplanes, airports, air traffic control systems, electric power,
nuclear power, ATMs, malfunctioning hospital equipment, prison locks
malfunctioning, riots, parties, a person getting shot because he won't
evacuate, and other Y2K hot spot/emotion issues. It did NOT touch on
gas, oil, telecommunications, water, or sewage. The movie falls into
the category of willing suspension of disbelief as there are many
inaccuracies, and it does not reflect how things work. Of course, it's
TV!
The movie does start with a brief disclaimer saying that the movie is
fiction. The whole premise is the government's Y2K expert finds
problems two days before in the air transportation system. As 2000 rolls over in
the Marshall Islands, an F18 crashes, which forces the FAA to ground all
aircraft (almost).
As they track the rollover around the world (no mention of GMT), there
are
power outages in China and Australia. They show scenes of the
celebration
in Paris with the lights going out. Pretty much the same in New York
City, with a good portion of the Eastern Seaboard going down because of
what they believe is a problem with a plant in Pennsylvania (they called
it Quaker Power).
Then the real problem: No report from a Swedish nuclear power plant.
It turns out that they weathered the midnight rollover just fine, but two
hours later all staff at the plant were dead. They kind of drop the
situation with the Swedish plant and move to the real issue - U.S.
nuclear
plants of the same design.
There is one plant of the same design in the Pacific Northwest that all
eyes are focused on. As it turns out, the plant appears to successfully
make the transition, but when the White House Y2K expert has them reset
the control system, all hell breaks loose as the reactor temperature is
climbing (it was happening before but they didn't know it) and they
can't
get water into the reactor chamber to bring the temperature down.
Nothing
works. All the controls fail and they can't get the reactor to cool.
They have two hours left. A 10-mile evacuation is ordered, the National
Guard is called out, and projections are that the reactor meltdown will
leak radioactive material into the jet stream and carry it across the
U.S.
The Y2K expert swings into action and calls his dad who is a retired
NASA
engineer (makes him a nuclear expert) who just happens to live in the
area and they solve the problem of getting water into the plant to cool it.
Meanwhile, none of the plant staff could do much of anything to solve
the problem and we see a lot of scenes of plant staff running around in what
appears to be panic.
The movie has a happy ending as the reactor is cooled and everyone is
safe. The movie brings in a lot of emotional and family issues (birth,
marriage proposal, hospital equipment that malfunctions, and
misdiagnoses a women in labor).
It made me think about where I was going to be and what I was going to
be
doing on New Year's Eve. From an entertainment standpoint, it was
pretty good. Mostly science fiction, but to many who don't understand how
things work, it could be an issue.
My take is that most people will realize that it is TV and not a
prediction. Those who have concerns and have continued to voice them
will use this to reinforce their point. It may motivate some people to stock
up on supplies sooner or prompt some to stock up who wouldn't have done
so without seeing the movie.
While the movie is unrealistic and not based on fact, it probably does
bring to light some issues that could have occurred if we had not done
our job.
Jon C. Arnold
Chief Information Officer
Edison Electric Institute>>
I am not familiar with Wendy Sproul, but this came from a central coast California source to me.
Bill |
