United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

No. 99-123 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Monday, June 14, 1999)

NRC PLANS FOR Y2K CONTINGENCIES

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has developed a contingency plan for dealing with

computer problems that could conceivably develop at a licensed nuclear facility at the start off

the Year 2000. Part of the plan includes a proposed policy statement on the use of

enforcement discretion during the Y2K transition.

The “Year 2000" or Y2K problem refers to computers’ potential inability to recognize

dates beginning with January 1, 2000, and beyond. It arises from computer programs that use

two-digit numbers to represent a calendar year (such as “98" for 1998). For example, computer

systems could read “00" as 1900, rather than 2000, potentially causing computer systems to

malfunction.

The NRC has been working with its licensees to ensure that potential Y2K issues have

been identified and corrected and that the agency’s own computer systems continue to function

properly during the transition from 1999 into 2000. Based on NRC’s Y2K reviews and audits of

nuclear power plants and other licensed facilities, all licensees are expected to be Y2K ready

well before December 31, and the Y2K transition will not affect continued safe operation of their

facilities.

Although the need for NRC action during the Y2K transition is considered unlikely, the

NRC has developed a contingency plan for ensuring that public health and safety and the

environment will continue to be protected, even if unforeseen Y2K problems occur at a licensed

nuclear facility. The plan has three major facets:

ˇ Incident response -- How the agency will be prepared to respond if a

safety-significant event should occur as a result of a Y2K problem at a

nuclear power plant or other NRC-licensed facility.

ˇ Information Sharing -- Communicating any Y2K problems reported by U.S.

nuclear power plants or those abroad and passing on the information to

domestic plant operators.

ˇ Regulatory response -- Monitoring licensee activities during the Y2K transition.

Being prepared to respond to licensees’ requests that certain requirements for

licensed facilities not be enforced so long as the safety implications are small

and using such “enforcement discretion” would help maintain a reliable and

stable electrical grid.

The plan calls for staffing NRC’s headquarters Operations Center in Rockville,

Maryland, beginning at noon on December 31. Backup will be provided by NRC’s regional
office in Arlington, Texas. NRC staff will be stationed at each nuclear power plant site and

uranium enrichment facility site as well as in each NRC regional Incident Response Center in

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lisle, Illinois. In addition, portable

satellite telephones will provide backup communication, if needed, at each plant and facility site.

Comments received on the draft contingency plan published last December have been

incorporated to the extent applicable. The full text of the final plan along with disposition of

public comments is available from NRC’s Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. and at our Y2K Website at www.nrc.gov/NRC/NEWS/year2000.html.

The proposed interim enforcement policy on exercising enforcement discretion during

the Y2K transition is available for public comment at the same locations identified above.

Comments will be considered in the next revision to NRC’s enforcement policy.

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