AUG 17 USIS TRANSCRIPT: United States Information Service
Worldnet with Energy Official on Y2K and the Energy Sector
DOE's Jim Caverly on program with St. Petersburg, Moscow
"With about four and a half months to go till the Y2K rollover, we should be focusing less on the remediation of the problems in the systems and more on the contingency planning, on how to mitigate problems that can occur," the U.S. Energy Department's Jim Caverly said on a USIA WorldNet program on "Y2K and the Energy Sector."
Caverly is deputy director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, as well as deputy director for international energy and Y2K planning and preparedness at the Department of Energy (DOE). From Worldnet's studio in Washington, he answered questions posed by journalists in St. Petersburg and Moscow August 17.
The biggest problems that could result on January 1, 2000 and beyond, according to Caverly, are related to "interdependencies" -- in other words, "the systems that depend upon other systems to function. Electricity systems can't function without telecommunications; telecommunications can't function without electricity."
Caverly pointed out that because the American system "is so reliable and so efficient, small Y2K interruptions will probably have a far greater impact than in systems that are not as reliable, that are used to routinely having interruptions in their service -- electricity and natural gas.
So there is a risk that a small problem in the United States could be a much bigger problem for the U.S. than a large problem in some other country." [...]
usia.gov
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QUESTION: The U.S. is solving, as far as we understand, very successfully the question of the year 2000. But we cannot hope that it will be completely resolved. What kind of negative consequences could we encounter, since we know that we will not be able to completely resolve the problem?
MR. CAVERLY: I think the biggest problems that can come from Y2K are what we call the interdependencies; in other words, the systems that depend upon other systems to function. Electricity systems can't function without telecommunications; telecommunications can't function without electricity.
Those two are kind of the bottom for the foundation for financial systems, for other energy systems, for business, for public health and safety. So it's the interdependencies between these systems that we think have the potential to cause the biggest problem in Y2K [...]
QUESTION: Alexander Rivinkov (ph) from Interfax. It is known that the negotiations between Microsoft and MINATOM on the Y2K problem and also the suppliers of the hardware -- there is talk about some large purchases in order to upgrade the computer systems. Can the budgets of the U.S. take on some of the financing of these upgrades that are necessary?
MR. CAVERLY: I suspect that any financing would be subject to a negotiation between our two governments. We have reached in to do contingency planning, which we think is the most important thing to do. You do identify an important issue, which is that these systems eventually will need to be upgraded, particularly if they do experience a problem in Y2K transition [...]
Cheryl
128 Days until 2000 |
