The workshop to which the Deputy refers was organised by the Nuclear Energy Agency to bring together nuclear regulators and operators, Government officials, consultants and software specialists to review technical preparedness for addressing the potential impact of the millennium bug. Given that the workshop was primarily directed at countries with nuclear installations, Ireland did not attend the workshop.
I understand a report on the workshop has not yet been finalised by the NEA but that it will be available in due course on the NEA website – www.nea.fr. According to the NEA, consensus was reached among the participants at the workshop that Y2K issues have been addressed in a consistent and comprehensive manner for several years now and that installations are expected to be Y2K compliant by the middle of 1999. The workshop, however, concluded also that nuclear operators and regulators must continue to be vigilant to ensure confidence in Y2K readiness and that further development of contingency plans, nationally and internationally, is necessary to deal with the issues associated with the Y2K problem.
It is of vital importance that computer based systems, essential to safety in nuclear plants in EU member states and elsewhere, do not encounter problems associated with the Y2K issue which could cause an undue risk to the public. Officials from my Department and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII, have raised the Y2K issue in the UK nuclear industry with their UK counterparts. The RPII is satisfied that the UK nuclear installations inspectorate has set up a rigorous programme aimed at ensuring Y2K compliance by all operators of nuclear installations in the UK.
The Y2K issue has been raised by Ireland at the EU atomic questions working group, an EU Council working group. As a result, the EU Commission has undertaken to prepare a paper for discussion in the group setting out the various initiatives the Commission has undertaken in regard to this problem.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has established an action plan to assess the scope of the Y2K problem and to act as a clearing house and central point of contact for IAEA member states to exchange information regarding actions with respect to Y2K compliance.
I will continue to monitor nuclear sector Y2K compliance developments to ensure the potential impact of the Y2K problem is fully addressed by the nuclear industry and regulators.
