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. 99-153 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Thursday, July 22, 1999)

NRC ISSUES INTERIM ENFORCEMENT POLICY ON Y2K

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved issuance of an interim enforcement

policy that allows the use of “enforcement discretion” under certain circumstances for nuclear

power plants during Y2K transition periods.

The interim policy describes the process for utilities seeking exercise of “enforcement

discretion” from the NRC during primarily the December 31 - January 1 transition. This process

would allow a plant to continue operation without being in compliance with its license conditions,

only if there is a minimal potential impact on safety while continued plant operation is

considered necessary to help maintain a reliable and stable electrical grid. The interim policy

builds on the agency’s existing policy on exercise of enforcement discretion to consider the

unique aspects associated with the Y2K transition.

Enforcement discretion will only be exercised if the NRC is satisfied that the action is

consistent with protecting public health and safety and is warranted in the circumstances

presented by the utility.

Prior communication with NRC and approval to exercise enforcement discretion to allow

continued plant operation in certain circumstances are required. Without this approval utilities

are expected to take actions in conformance with their license requirements and applicable

regulations. A communications loss between nuclear power plants and the NRC is unlikely

given the communications contingency plans developed. However, if established

communication channels are lost, utilities could use the satellite telephone that NRC resident

inspectors will have at each plant site to contact the agency and obtain approval for

enforcement discretion, if necessary.

All nuclear plants are expected to be Y2K ready prior to December 31. The interim

enforcement policy is part of NRC’s contingency planning for Y2K. A request for comments on

the interim policy was announced in a June 14 press release. As part of NRC’s Y2K

contingency planning, the agency will have staff available at its Operations Center December

31 to respond to Y2K issues and requests for enforcement discretion.

The interim policy applies to three Y2K transition or rollover periods: December 31, 1999

through January 3, 2000; February 28, 2000 through March 1, 2000; and December 30, 2000

through January 1, 2001.

The full text of the interim policy will be published shortly in the Federal Register and will

be available in the NRC’s Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC. It will

also be available on NRC’s Y2K web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRC/NEWS/year2000.html.
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. “Y2K ready” means that functions provided by computer systems will be carried

out successfully with the coming of the Year 2000.

###