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. 99-191 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Tuesday, September 7, 1999)

NRC ISSUES REPORT CONFIRMING NO Y2K PROBLEMS AFFECTING SAFETY

SYSTEMS OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS - UPDATES Y2K READINESS STATUS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a report confirming by onsite reviews

that at all 103 U.S. nuclear power plants there are no Y2K-related problems which affect the

performance of safety systems needed to safely shut down the plants.

The report, NUREG-1706, “Year 2000 Readiness in U.S. Nuclear Power Plants,”

integrates the results of NRC’s onsite reviews of all nuclear power plants and utilities’ July 1

response on Y2K readiness. While all plants report Y2K readiness for safety systems used for

shutdown, some plants are completing Y2K readiness activities for systems not required to

safely shut down the plants. The chart that follows depicts the path to timely Y2K readiness

based on current information.

A s

depicted by this chart, all plants are expected to be fully Y2K ready prior to the transition

period.

Typically, for those plants not fully Y2K ready, work will be completed in conjunction

with a scheduled plant outage in the fall or when a replacement component is delivered. The

NRC will continue to monitor and verify completion of all Y2K activities.
Most of the earlier NRC onsite reviews of licensee Y2K programs at the 103 plants

provided sufficient information for the staff to conclude that licensee Y2K readiness programs

were consistent with acceptable industry guidance. However, the NRC could not complete

reviews of licensee programs for 14 plants because reviews were conducted early in April or

May and these plants had not completed some of their Y2K preparations when NRC was on

site.

In follow-up reviews of these 14 plants, the NRC determined that, in only one case,

Cooper Nuclear Station, an integrated contingency plan (consistent with industry guidance)

had not been completed even though this plant reported July 1 it was Y2K ready. As a result

of this determination, the Cooper Station was categorized as “not Y2K ready” as of September

1 as reflected in the attached table on nuclear power plant Y2K readiness and NUREG-1706.

Subsequently, on September 2, the licensee notified NRC that it had completed its integrated

contingency plan, which the NRC will verify.

In addition, Cooper informed NRC it had discovered during an audit that three pieces of

equipment were evaluated improperly by its contractor. (Typical Y2K programs involve the

evaluation of over 2000 items). One piece of equipment was from an operational support

system and the other two were from administrative systems. None of this equipment involved

systems needed to safely shut down the plant. Cooper has notified NRC that it has corrected

these deficiencies, reviewed the contractor’s work, and determined there are no other

deficiencies. The NRC has conducted inquiries to assure that this problem is unique to

Cooper and does not affect any other plants. The NRC has no indication that this problem

extends to other plants.

In summary, the NRC concludes: (1) that at all 103 plants there are no Y2K concerns

that could affect the performance of safety systems, (2) all licensees are following staffapproved industry guidance for achieving Y2K readiness, and (3) the completion schedules for

the remaining few non-safety-related Y2K items will be completed before the transition from

1999 to 2000. At this time, the NRC believes that all licensees will be able to operate their

plants safely during the Y2K transition and does not anticipate the need for the NRC to direct

any significant plant-specific actions.

The full NUREG report is available on NRC’s Y2K website at:

www.nrc.gov/NRC/NEWS/year2000.html.

The following table provides the Y2K readiness status of U.S. operating nuclear power

plants. As stated above, there are no Y2K concerns that could affect the performance of

safety systems. For those plants not already fully Y2K ready, the projected completion date is

indicated in the right column.
Table: Nuclear Power Plant Y2K Readiness Status

as of September 1, 1999

Plant Name

Completion

Status/Date

Arkansas 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Beaver Valley 1 and 2 9/30/99

Braidwood 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Browns Ferry 2 and 3 10/31/99

Brunswick 1 Y2K Ready

Brunswick 2 Y2K Ready

Byron 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Callaway Y2K Ready

Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Catawba 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Clinton 9/22/99

Comanche Peak 1 11/30/99

Comanche Peak 2 10/30/99

Cooper 9/20/99

Crystal River 3 Y2K Ready

Davis-Besse Y2K Ready

Diablo Canyon 1 and 2 10/3199

D.C. Cook 1 and 2 10/30/99

Dresden 2 and 3 Y2K Ready

Duane Arnold Y2K Ready

Farley 1 Y2K Ready

Farley 2 12/16/99

Fermi 2 Y2K Ready

Fitzpatrick Y2K Ready

Fort Calhoun Y2K Ready

Ginna Y2K Ready

Grand Gulf Y2K Ready

Harris Y2K Ready
Table: Nuclear Power Plant Y2K Readiness Status

as of September 1, 1999 (continued)

Plant Name

Completion

Status/Date

Hatch 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Hope Creek 10/29/99

Indian Point 2 Y2K Ready

Indian Point 3 Y2K Ready

Kewaunee Y2K Ready

LaSalle 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Limerick 1 Y2K Ready

Limerick 2 9/30/99

McGuire 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Millstone 2 and 3 Y2K Ready

Monticello Y2K Ready

Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

North Anna 1 Y2K Ready

North Anna 2 10/29/99

Oconee 1, 2 and 3 Y2K Ready

Oyster Creek 9/30/99

Palisades Y2K Ready

Palo Verde 1, 2 and 3 Y2K Ready

Peach Bottom 2 9/30/99

Peach Bottom 3 10/31/99

Perry Y2K Ready

Pilgrim Y2K Ready

Point Beach 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Prairie Island 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Quad Cities 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

River Bend Y2K Ready

Robinson 2 Y2K Ready

Salem 1 11/6/99

Salem 2 10/29/99

San Onofre 2 and 3 Y2K Ready

Seabrook Y2K Ready

Sequoyah 1 and 2 10/31/99
Table: Nuclear Power Plant Y2K Readiness Status

as of September 1, 1999 (continued)

Plant Name

Completion

Status/Date

South Texas 1 and 2 10/31/99

St. Lucie 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Summer Y2K Ready

Surry 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Susquehanna 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Three Mile Island 1 10/21/99

Turkey Point 3 and 4 Y2K Ready

Vermont Yankee 9/30/99

Vogtle 1 and 2 Y2K Ready

Washington Nuclear 2 Y2K Ready

Waterford 3 Y2K Ready

Watts Bar 10/31/99

Wolf Creek Y2K Ready