The Y2K Bug Is Upon Us

"Lo and behold, information provided stating that safety-related systems were immune to the Year 2000 problem were untrue. Indeed, there are safety-related problems in nuclear reactors," Ulrich says. "If they don't get fixed, that plant is going to get shut down sometime later [this year]."

Conversely, the bug has picked up some undeserved hype along the way, courtesy of media such as the Internet. Ulrich has noted a prevalent line of thinking, a domino-effect series of predictions that will supposedly stem from the Y2K bug. Among the predictions: The entire U.S. (perhaps worldwide) banking system will collapse; the U.S. government will declare martial law; money will no longer have any value; there will be large-scale, massive food shortages and an extended period of widespread power outages.