FWIW....Several weeks ago, I posed several questions to the local power provider. The following is an e-mail response from the Power Generation Dept. of the nuclear power facility that provides electricity in our area (Illinois Power).

Mr Mercier,

You requested information from our Illinova Website regarding Y2K preparedness at our nuclear and fossil power plants. Hopefully this will answer those questions. If you have further questions, feel from to respond to this message, or call me at 217-424-8331.

Question 1. I have heard that if a nuclear power station stands idle, it still needs a source of electricity to provide for the adequate cooling of the fuel rods. Is this true?

Answer: Yes this is true.

Question 2. In the unlikely event that the Clinton power station loses it's own electrical supply in order to operate, is there a back up system of generators in place to provide emergency power to the station? In the event of prolonged outages, then how many days of fuel are available for your backup generators?

Answer: Yes, there are a system of back-up generators in place to provide emergency power to the station. Our Updated Safety Analysis Report (USAR) Section 1.2.2.4.13 Safety-Related Electrical Power Systems, states:

Standby a-c power is supplied by three diesel generators per unit. Each engineered safety features(ESF) division is supplied by a separate diesel generator. There are no provisions for transferring ESF division buses between standby a-c power supplies or supplying more than one ESF division from one diesel generator. The one-to-one relationship between diesel generator and ESF division ensures that a failure of one diesel generator can affect only one ESF division.

(Note 1: The station only needs one ESF division to operate and shutdown safely.)

Our USAR also describes the amount of fuel oil that is maintained in the diesel fuel oil storage. USAR Section 1.2.2.8.12 Diesel Generator Fuel-Oil Storage and Transfer System, states:

The purpose of this system is to supply and store the fuel oil required to operate the diesel-generator units during post-LOCA maximum load demands. The principal design criteria for this system includes a 7-day fuel oil supply for each diesel, seismic Category I design, and missile protection.

(Note 2: Additional diesel fuel supplies are readily available, if needed)

(Note 3: These answers are taken from the Clinton Power Station USAR and are a matter of public record.)

Question 3. As for your coal fired units, how many days of coal do you have in reserve?

Answer: We have 20 days of coal in reserve at the coal fired units.

********************

I'm not sure if the back up fuel requirements are those that are established by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, or if Illinois Power has padded those amounts in anticipation of possible power supply problems. Are these amounts standard? Anyone take a guess?

-- TM (mercier7@pdnt.com), December 10, 1999

Answers

TM, I don't know if these responses are standard because my nuclear plants Surry I & II refused to respond to my questions which I submitted to their website. These plants are maintained by Virginia Power. I then submitted my questions to my city's y2k site, and asked that person if as a city employee he would intervene on my behalf to obtain this information. After a few days he responded by explaining to me that it is against policy for him to speak on behalf of Virginia Power.

I take this to be a bad sign.

This is the response my bank Wachovia gave me as well when asked if I should cancel my direct deposit from Nation's Bank, and instead bring the paper payroll draft to my Wachovia teller.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 10, 1999.

Hokie,

The person that responded to my inquiries mentioned that the answers were a matter of public record. I'm not sure if the state of Illinois requires info to be disclosed or if the power company volunteered this. I would check to see if your service provider is required by law to disclose that information.

-- TM (mercier7@pdnt.com), December 10, 1999.

Variant replies from different suppliers probably suggest they're not all getting the same (or any?) advice from their attorneys.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), December 10, 1999.

Nuclear power plant licensing and the basic safety designs are a matter of public record. Your utility, state and local governments cannot deny you access to those records. You may have to give them notice of inspection, as the total volume of paperwork can be fairly significant. You probably will need to show cause for individual inspection records, audit results, etc., as the assembly of these documents will take considerable time and man-hours.

A complete, unabridged, source for nuclear power plant licensing information can be found at www.nrc.gov/NRC/reactors.html. This is the NRC home page and it will provide you with all the info you can possibly need for determining safety issues. Every day something "bad" happens in the nuclear world and it is broadcast for all to see. It is not privileged information, super-secret, agenda hidden, encrypted techno-talk! And no, I am not a government employee (really!). I used to work at a nuclear plant and am still in the electric utility business. My personal complaint is that utilities were too slow shaking off the stigma of nuclear energy as a "top-secret" industry, entrenched in cold-war politics and security.

Oh, the "LOCA" referred to above is a "loss of coolant accident" as defined in 10 CFR 100, among others. This information can also be linked to, from the above mentioned site.

The seven day fuel load for nuclear site ESF Emergency Diesel Generators (re: Clinton ESF EDG's) is based on running at full design load. The plant, even after a severe accident, would back down many of the systems required for safe shutdown, as they eventually need only be available in standby mode.

-- John Kelleher (john.c.kelleher@worldnet.att.net), December 11, 1999.