Y2K Could Hit Nuclear Plants

A global call for a Y2K World Atomic Safety Holiday

No one knows what will happen on January 1, 2000 because of the Y2K computer bug," Yumi Kiku-chi observes, but "the prevention of nuclear hazards must be our top priority worldwide. We are calling for a temporary moratorium on all nuclear activities including reactors, fuel processing and atomic weapons. We named this the World Atomic Safety Holiday" (WASH).

The main goals of the WASH campaign:

• Reactor and nuclear processing facilities holiday from December 1, 1999 until after New Year's Day. Each facility must show it meets Y2K compliance criteria with testing and verification before restart.
• Installation of added reliable back-up power systems, (turbines, fuel cells, or renewable sources) and certification that diesel generators are in good working order with a minimum three-month supply of fuel.
• De-alerting of all nuclear weapons no later than December 1, 1999. Mary Olsen of the Nuclear Resources Information Service (NIRS) warns that unless all of the world's 433 nuclear plants operate flawlessly during the millennial leap, reactor accidents could "make the Y2K 'time bomb' a nuclear disaster."

Every one of these plants must be ready for January 1, 2000 and testing must be subject to third-party validation. Olsen warns that simply "turning the reactor off will not remove the hazard completely."

Y2K failures could affect a nuclear reactor in multiple ways. First, a digital component failure might trigger a reactor failure directly. (This is a big problem for Japan - the only country that no longer has manual back-up control for its reactor systems.)

More indirectly, bad data might cause a reactor operator to take inappropriate actions, which could cause an accident.

The third type could happen if the electricity fails. Reactors depend on off-site electric power to run cooling systems and control rooms, with emergency diesel generators for automatic backup. Unfortunately, according to Olsen, even in the US these generators are "not even 90 percent reliable."

In the US, most local emergency officials are planning for three weeks without power. But diesel generators often overheat and usually are not operated for weeks at a time. Many generators also have digital components that may be subject to Y2K failure.

"It takes only two hours without the cooling system functioning for reactor fuel to melt," Olsen says. Power failures also could cause "a meltdown of nuclear fuel storage pools .... These pools must be cooled for at least five years."

Loss of off-site electrical power poses the most prominent risk to nuclear powerplant safety. Reliable back-up power is needed immediately at each nuclear site. Fuel cells and gas turbines are more reliable than diesel generators.

There are well over 1,000 private utilities, non-utility generators, public utilities, and rural electric cooperatives in the US and Canada operating more than 15,000 generating units. Many will reach the millennium with Y2K issues unresolved.

The US electric power grid is fragile. In 1996, two disruptions in one five-week period caused 190 generating stations (including several nuclear reactors) to shut down. On August 10, 1996, a sagging tree limb in Oregon caused a short that caused a blackout in California, Arizona and New Mexico. Millions of people were left without power. In some regions, the blackout lasted several weeks.

NIRS notes that increasingly severe winter storms have caused power outages in the eastern US in recent years. Such wintertime power failures "could lead to extended blackouts and resultant nuclear catastrophes." The NIRS has petitioned the NRC to require all nuclear power stations to stockpile a 20-day supply of fuel for diesel generators. Batteries charged by solar cells, windmills, hydroelectric or geothermal energy would give the greatest assurance of long-term stability.

In September, the NRC ruled that it would not comply with the NIRS request and declared that US nuclear plants would only need to have seven days worth of emergency fuel available on-site.

The Pentagon has been exploring ways to prevent Y2K failures from causing the accidental launch of nuclear missiles. A more likely scenario is that missiles could explode at their launch sites. Last March, a Government Accounting Office report revealed that when the North American Aerospace Defense Command ran a test for Y2K readiness, "testing problems occurred." Fortunately, NORAD was able to "recover and continue the mission."

"Computer errors are, by their very nature, idiosyncratic," notes the British American Security Information Council. Because of this, "The real cure is to take the weapons off alert." Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and other members of Congress have called for a global "nuclear stand-down" before December 31, 1999.

"De-alerting of nuclear warheads would ensure that Y2K would not start an accidental nuclear war," Kikuchi says. "US and Russian nuclear weapons are on hair-trigger alert even though the Cold War is over. De-alerting means to disable the weapons delivery systems in such a way that human action is required for a launch to succeed. Currently, all other nuclear weapons states are in de-alert status."

In June 1998, the New Agenda Coalition (Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden) challenged the nuclear weapons states to de-alert all nuclear forces. A campaign has been launched to negotiate the rapid conclusion of a convention to abolish nuclear weapons - as mandated by Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and by the International Court of Justice. - GS

What You Can Do: Contact the White House and your representatives to insist that all non-compliant nuclear powerplants be shut down prior to December 31. Insist that nuclear weapons be deactivated before December 31. For more information, contact: Yumi Kikuchi, Y2K WASH [Harmonics Life Center, 1047 Naka, Kamogawa, Chiba, Japan 296-0111, fax: 81-470-97-1215, yumik@awa.or.jp] or the Nuclear Information & Resource Service [1424 16th St. NW Suite 404, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 328-0003, http://www.nirs.org].

Nuclear Weapons and Y2K

Although the Cold War is over, the US and Russia still maintain 5,000 nuclear warheads on missiles that can be launched within minutes.

As John Hallan of Friends of the Earth Sydney [17 Lord St., Newton, NSW, Australia] reports, "there is a small but unacceptable risk of accidental nuclear war as a result of Y2K-induced computer glitches in the vast and old computer systems that control nuclear weapons."

While the US and Russia both have "de-targeted" their nuclear missiles, these rockets can be quickly re-targeted as long as they remain on alert. Both countries rely on a dangerous "launch-on-warning" system that requires firing missiles on the suspicion of a foreign attack. In the past, computer and technician errors have, on several occasions, brought the world within minutes of a nuclear holocaust.

In 1991, President George Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev de-alerted hundreds of nuclear missiles in a mutual good-faith gesture. With Y2K looming, it is time to finish the work.

The Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and the UN General Assembly both have called on the nuclear powers to take their weapons off "high-alert" status.

Great Britain already has changed its "notice to fire" from mere minutes to several days. De-alerting nuclear missiles won't cost the US a dime: It can be achieved with a single Executive Order.

A global letter-writing campaign, which has been under way since September 1, has asked Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin to announce a nuclear "stand-down." This issue has been called "the most important environmental campaign in history."

Please take a moment to contact President Bill Clinton [fax: (202) 456-24261] and President Boris Yeltsin, [fax +7 (095) 205-4330]. In August 1999, Russia offered to cut its stockpile of strategic nuclear wea-pons from 5,000 to 1,500 and provide for early de-alerting. US arms negotiators have, so far, ignored the Russian offer. Please ask the President and your representatives to accept - and match - Russia's historic offer to reduce the threat of nuclear war.