Russian Nuclear Power Plants Run Safely with Echelon's LonWorks Networks; LonWorks Technology Controls Protection Systems at Kola and Novovoronezh Plants

Business Wire, Feb 2, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2000

Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON), the worldwide leader in control networking, today announced that the safety systems of two Russian nuclear power plants that use Echelon's LonWorks(R) networks have recently received safety agency certification. Supplied by control systems specialist DICS Intertrade of Sophia, Bulgaria, the protection systems have been in use for one year at Units 1 and 2 of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant and since June 1999 at Unit 4 of the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant. Following extensive field qualification tests, the systems were recently certified by Groupe SEBIM of France to meet Class E1/K3 (French RCCE code) and ANSI/IEEE 323 and 344 safety standards for nuclear electric power generating plants.

&uot;We built our Gardia-2 Safety System on top of Echelon's LonWorks technology because of the high reliability and robust design of Echelon's system,&uot; said Dimitar Dragoev, Managing Director of DICS Intertrade. &uot;Nuclear power plant safety systems must be available at all times, under difficult operating and seismic conditions specific to the application. The inherent reliability provided by Echelon's LonWorks networks complements the special voting algorithms, redundant power supplies, and extensive diagnostic routines we built to ensure that the system remains on-line at all times.&uot;

&uot;From the simplest devices in homes and buildings to life-critical systems such as nuclear monitoring, power generation, rail and avionics control, networks of everyday devices powered by our LonWorks system touch virtually every aspect of our lives,&uot; said Michael Tennefoss, Echelon's vice president of product marketing and customer services. &uot;We are pleased to provide the network technology for the safety system of DICS Intertrade's Gardia-2 System. There is a ready market for the Gardia-2 System at other Soviet-era reactors, and we look forward to the day when all of these reactors have been upgraded to include robust, reliable, and secure LonWorks based safety systems.&uot;

DICS Intertrade's Gardia-2 Safety System is a triply redundant LonWorks network intended for use in high pressure nuclear and fossil fuel power stations that provides control and diagnostics of safety valves, pressurizers, and steam generators. The Kola Nuclear Power Plant, which is located on the shores of a lake north of the polar circle, contains four VVER-440 reactor units, with a total generating capacity of 1760 MW. The Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant, the first Russian VVER plant, is located at the picturesque bend of the Don River, 42 km away from Voronezh. The plant produces enough energy to cover up to 90% of the demand in the surrounding region.

About Echelon Corporation

Echelon Corporation is the developer of LonWorks networks, recognized internationally as a standard for open, interoperable control networks. With thousands of application developers and millions of devices installed worldwide, LonWorks is the leading cross-industry standard for networking everyday devices in building and home automation, industrial, transportation, and public utility applications. Echelon offers a full range of off-the-shelf hardware and software products to support the development, installation and management of intelligent, open and interoperable control networks.

Products that have been verified to conform to Echelon's LonMark(R) interoperability guidelines are eligible to carry the LonMark logo, an indicator that a product has been designed to interoperate over a LonWorks network.

Echelon is based in Palo Alto, California, with international offices in China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Further information can be found at http://www.echelon.com. Further information about the LonMark Interoperability Association can be found at http://www.lonmark.org.

About DICS Intertrade

DICS Intertrade Ltd. is a systems integrator specializing in the design and supply of process control, instrumentation, and data acquisition systems for business and industry, with a special focus on nuclear power plants and refineries. Established in 1991, the company develops and installs complete control systems for customers in Bulgaria, Russia, and France. DICS Intertrade meets ISO 9001 standards and its Quality Control System is certified by the British Standards Institution (BSI). DICS Intertrade is based in Sophia, Bulgaria. Further information can be found at http://www.dicsintertrade.com.

Note to Editors: Echelon, LonWorks, LonMark, the LonMark logo and the Echelon logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the U.S. and other countries. Other marks belong to their respective holders.