U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Hobbled by Dial-Up

Remember dial-up? The squealing, pinging sounds that indicated a connection was imminent?

Imagine having to do your job using such obsolete technology today, when wireless is standard and photocopies can be made with a handheld computer. If you worked in one of the United States’ 66 nuclear power plants, that is precisely what you’d be working with.

According to a recent article on Wired.com, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked the operators of the U.S.’s 66 nuclear power plants to voluntarily upgrade the Emergency Response Data System, or ERDS, which plants use to report conditions to the government. Currently, the plants use dial-up; the NRC is hoping they switch to VPN.

But this story isn’t just about kitschy reactors and their quaint modems. The ERDS transmits critical data, like reactor conditions and radioactivity release rates. With dial-up, data transmission could be delayed by a busy signal (remember them?).

It seems unthinkable that an industry with such apocalyptic power would not be using the most efficient technology. But that’s just naïve. Think about the business world, which has its own apocalyptic power. Think about the antiquated processes and software used every day – and the resulting stymied productivity, clunky work processes, costly mistakes, and atrocious security.