In this week's InfoWorld...
A letter to the editor from the individual leading the effort for Y2K investigation and remediation in the Nuclear Power industry, stating with a HIGH degree of confidence that the 100 or so plants in the US are well along the way to be 100% completed and ready by mid-1999.
Yet another example of Y2K alarmists being full of crap.
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Y2K and nuclear energy
InfoWorld's Sept. 7 Page One story, "The Big Blackout?" ignored the nuclear energy industry's timely, effective response to the year-2000 computer quandary. Contrary to the story's claim, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and industry moved quickly to assess the possible risk of major year-2000 issues, and both have concluded that safety systems will, if required, safely shut down a plant.
Electric utility companies have been working through the Nuclear Energy Institute for more than a year to ensure that nuclear plants will continue to safely generate power at the turn of the century. A comprehensive year-2000 readiness manual is being used successfully at all plants, and operators are exchanging year-2000 information daily. This industrywide effort has led to a key finding: Only about 10 percent of all items analyzed require year-2000 remediation. Today, nearly half of U.S. plants have completed detailed testing, certification, or correction of components and systems affected by year-2000 issues. Most recently, the industry developed a contingency guidance manual to help plant operators prepare for potential offsite challenges to their plants.
Because we believe that open communication of information is essential to year-2000 readiness, we have made our guidance manuals available on NEI's Internet site at www.nei.org. The nuclear industry has acted quickly and effectively to put our 105 power plants on schedule to being year-2000 ready by mid-1999. Consumers can be confident that nuclear units will enter the new century with the same high levels of safety and reliability that make them our largest source of emission-free electricity.
Ralph E. Beedle
Senior vice president and chief nuclear officer,
Nuclear Generation Nuclear Energy Institute
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