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Electric News Releases - 1999
March 31, 1999
Virginia Power Year 2000 Readiness Program At North Anna
Called "Well-Implemented" By Federal Regulator
RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Power's program to assure that nuclear
safety and operations computer systems at North Anna Power Station are not susceptible
to the Year 2000 computer problem is "well-structured, well organized,
and well implemented," a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) audit
found.
In its March 24 audit report, the NRC also stated that "the
high level of dedication and expertise of the Y2K project team and staff, and
the commitment of resources by senior management were apparent." The report
stated that the project is on schedule and will be completed by July 1999, except
for a few items that can only be worked on during a September refueling outage.
"The NRC report confirmed our belief that our program
is, in fact, comprehensive and thorough. Our nuclear stations and personnel
will be ready for the Y2K rollover," said Bill Mistr, vice president-Procurement
and the head of Virginia Power's Y2K initiative.
Virginia Power volunteered last year to have the NRC audit
its Y2K program at North Anna. A NRC audit team reviewed records at Richmond
and interviewed the Y2K project team in January. Virginia Power is implementing
the same Y2K preparedness program at its other nuclear power station, Surry.
In its report, the NRC audit team noted that strong senior
management support for the Y2K readiness effort was "clearly evident and
demonstrated." The report said the company's self-assessments were "meaningful
and informative," and had already pinpointed issues that the NRC audit
team broached for discussion.
Virginia Power Nuclear approached the Y2K issue following
guidelines developed by the Nuclear Energy Institute,
an industry group based in Washington, D.C.
As part of its continuing Y2K preparation efforts, Virginia
Power will participate April 9 with about 200 other utilities in a nationwide
drill coordinated by the North American Electric Reliability Council. Service
to customers will not be affected.
Virginia Power is the principal subsidiary of Dominion
Resources Inc. (NYSE:D), an international energy company with headquarters
in Richmond..
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