To be sure that such misunderstandings did not occur, a shared command center in Colorado was established, and the hotlines between the White House and the Kremlin, which had not been y2k compliant, were made compliant. Probably the greatest concerns centered around nuclear power plants and electric power generation. In the spring of 1999, it was learned that the nuclear reactor monitoring systems in Russia and Ukraine were not y2k compliant. If not repaired, this would necessitate shutting down nuclear reactors. However, when a nuclear reactor is shut down, the reactor core continues to be hot for many months.
Electricity is required to circulate cooling water.
If the cooling water is not circulated, the water boils off, and the reactor melts down, similar to what happened at Chernobyl. The fossil fuel generating plants did not have the capacity both to provide power to the population and to cool the nuclear reactors. The policy in Russia was that power would be provided first to the nuclear plants and then to the population. This was certainly the correct policy in terms of preventing long-term environmental damage, but it meant that the population would be short of electricity during the winter. At the very least, this would lead to great discomfort.