Software Update Shuts Down Nuclear Power Plant

Garabito writes "Hatch Nuclear Power Plant near Baxley, Georgia was forced into a 48-hour emergency shutdown when a computer on the plant's business network was rebooted after an engineer installed a software update. The Washington Post reports, 'The computer in question was used to monitor chemical and diagnostic data from one of the facility's primary control systems, and the software update was designed to synchronize data on both systems. According to a report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, when the updated computer rebooted, it reset the data on the control system, causing safety systems to errantly interpret the lack of data as a drop in water reservoirs that cool the plant's radioactive nuclear fuel rods. As a result, automated safety systems at the plant triggered a shutdown.' Personally, I don't think letting devices on a critical control system accept data values from the business network is a good idea."

Install Complete...

[Anonymous Coward]

Must restart reactor to complete software installation.

[Yes] [No] [OMFG!]

Critical Update

[Enderandrew]

Adds a whole new meaning to "Critical Update".

Re:Lesson learned:

[J'ai Friedpork]

Actually, I think that the lesson learned here was "when dicking around with the boss's computer, make sure it's not plugged into anything important first."

Oblig Simpsons reference

[J'ai Friedpork]

"Vent radioactive gas? Venting gas prevents explosion. [Yes / No]"

the slashdot crowd is dying to know...

[mathfeel]

did it run Windows?

Re:Oblig Simpsons reference

[Phanatic1a]

I'm impressed that for once dad's butt prevented the release of toxic g-

Re:Fail-Safe

[Sitnalta]

Yeah, but you don't want the reactor shutting down because the computer system is shit. That is most definitely not reassuring to me.

EULA!

[bluephone]

It says right in the EULA that it's not to be used in a nuclear power plant!

"King-size Homer" season 7 episode 7, Nov 5, 1995

[layer3switch]

"... The move to SCADA systems boosts efficiency at utilities because it allows workers to operate equipment remotely."

Another proof that Homer Simpson was truly ahead of his time. [wikipedia.org]

Are you mad, woman? You never know when an old calendar might come in handy. Sure, it's not 1985 now, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? -Homer

Re:Obligatory

[Kamokazi]

Don't forget about the now mutated sharks living in the coolant water growing frickin' laser beams on their heads.

Re:The problem is the update - not business networ

[dissy]

First customers are always asking why they can't update their system while it is still running. We liken that to changing your tire while driving down the road.

Oh sure, NOW you think of a debian slogan ;}

Re:Install Complete...

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like the plug and play device 'Nuclear Reactor' is not fully SP3 compatible...

Re:Install Complete...

[SlashWombat]

CTRL-ALT_DEL -> Kaboom.

or perhaps just another variation on the BSOD (Blu Screen Of Death)

Re:Hmmm, threw an exception

[xlv]

I'd rather it shut itself down then suffer major failure.

Personally, I'd rather it doesn't suffer a major failure at all, whether it's after a shutdown or not. Oh you meant than and not then, never mind...

Re:How could NRC even allow this in the first plac

[Lurker2288]

"GROSS NEGLIGENCE - Failure to use even the slightest amount of care in a way that shows Recklessness or willful disregard for the safety of others." - 'Lectric Law Library.

Yeah, those bastards, the way they used THE SLIGHTEST AMOUNT OF CARE in designing a system that shuts down in response to unexpected data so as to avoid RECKLESSNESS with the SAFETY OF OTHERS.

MOD PARENT UP!

[Lux]

He's trying to find an opportunity to bash Microsoft!

Re:the slashdot crowd is dying to know...

[Anonymous Coward]

If it was running Windows the OS is at fault.
If it was running something else then the application was at fault.

Re::O

[3vi1]

What exactly do you find frightening about an automatic safety system doing exactly what it's supposed to in response to unusual input?

The part where a reboot was required. That makes me worried that they were using Windows.

The chemical company I work for has VAX/Unix systems that haven't been rebooted in over four years... and only then because of power outages.

Re:One begs the question

[badboy_tw2002]

Good enough evidence for me! Microsoft caused a nuclear meltdown! Quickly, to the Blogo-Sphere!

Re:Install Complete...

[Anonymous Coward]

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL
driver: cooling_system.sys

Operator: "Ohcrapohcrapohcrap! runningrunningRUNNING!"

Re:The problem is the update - not business networ

[cjb658]

The problem here is that the software update wiped out the nuclear control system data.

Maybe it didn't pass WGA?

Re:Misreading of the Article

[beakerMeep]

So you're saying it was an EPIC auto-fail?

Every 108 minutes....

[PPH]

... enter 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.

Or else all hell breaks loose.

Hey!

[Anonymous Coward]

Who marked the parent troll? It's true that "twitter" is never mentioned in the thread and that this is what makes all those other threads "sockpuppety".

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=573665&cid=23655635 [slashdot.org]

Re:Wow that is so funny

[archkittens]

Cause, you know, that's how we want nuclear fucking powerplants to work.

why go with that when "over three million men trust natural male enhancement"? coal fucking powerplants are dirty, it's true, but many consider the act itself dirty. i dont see a problem.

Re:Critical Update

[pyxl]

Supercritical update.

Re:Install Complete...

[fm6]

Nuclear plants don't go "kaboom". They just emit a pleasant glow.

Re:Oblig Simpsons reference

[Annymouse Cowherd]

We require more vespene gas, noob.

Re:Hmmm, threw an exception

[CanadianRealist]

Come on people think about it, "Anonymous Coward" is a pretty English sounding name. I bet English is his first language.

Suppose, for example, that his first language was French, then he'd likely have a name like "Caword Anonoumouse".

Re:Wow that is so funny

[fallungus]

You can't put too much water in a nuclear reactor.

Re:One begs the question

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I want to add a "Frequently Begged Questions" list to my site, just to piss off grammar Nazis.

Re:How could NRC even allow this in the first plac

[Xarin]

"GROSS NEGLIGENCE - Failure to use even the slightest amount of care in a way that shows Recklessness or willful disregard for the safety of others." - 'Lectric Law Library.

Yeah, those bastards, the way they used THE SLIGHTEST AMOUNT OF CARE in designing a system that shuts down in response to unexpected data so as to avoid RECKLESSNESS with the SAFETY OF OTHERS.

And to top it off they had the gall to report it instead of covering it up.

Re:Oblig Simpsons reference

[WK2]

My wife for hire!