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Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson and Russia's Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov today demonstrated a live video conference capability between the two countries. The new interactive link between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the MinAtom Situation and Crisis Center (SCC) will be central to communications between the U.S. and Russia during the Year 2000 (Y2K) rollover. The Situation and Crisis Center uses the Energy Department's unclassified Emergency Communications Network System to allow immediate communication in times of emergency. The Energy Department is lending support to the Russian government as it works to assure that its power grids and nuclear power plants are Y2K ready.

"On New Year's Eve, Russian experts will be in the Department of Energy's Emergency Operations Center and U.S. experts will be in the MinAtom Center to monitor and provide advice and counsel on any Y2K-related problems in Russia's electricity grid and nuclear power plants," said Secretary Richardson. "It is in our national security interest to have a stable Russian energy supply at this critical time."

For the rollover, the Energy Department will maintain open lines of communication with Russia between its Emergency Operations Center and the SCC -- allowing experts to share information and up-to-the-minute reports in the event of a Y2K-related emergency. Americans will be stationed in the SCC, and Russians in the EOC. American experts will also be stationed in Ukraine to monitor the situation there.

DOE has an ongoing nuclear power plant safety cooperation program aimed at helping the Russian government prevent another Chornobyl-like accident at Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors. The program is improving the safety of 65 operating Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors at 21 nuclear power plants in 9 countries. DOE has been working with the International Atomic Energy Agency to help resolve Y2K issues associated with these reactors.

The Department of Energy has observed two Russian nuclear power plant Y2K exercises in November and they were reported to be ready. Another exercise on December 8 at the Leningrad nuclear power plant also will be observed. The primary safety systems at these nuclear reactors are expected to function normally. These systems, which are designed to shut reactor plants down automatically in an emergency, do not contain the type of digital computer systems that are susceptible to the "millennium bug."

Other systems such as computers that monitor plant conditions, however, could potentially fail, and lead to a reactor shutdown leaving local populations without electricity. DOE's Y2K assistance efforts have been aimed at helping reactor operators correct deficiencies in these systems by providing Y2K compliant computers and software.

DOE began work on the video and telecommunications link in March 1999 when Secretary Richardson and Minister Adamov signed the Report of the Nuclear Committee Meeting of the U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation. They agreed to establish an emergency center working relationship, provide DOE assistance for technology and engineering at the Situation Crisis Center and its planned future expansion within Russia, and provide MinAtom with DOE emergency management training and exercise assistance. Secretary Richardson and Minister Adamov dedicated MinAtom's SCC in Moscow on October 2.

Additional information about the Department of Energy's Y2K initiatives can be found on the Internet at http://cio.doe.gov/y2k/energy_sector/default2.htm.

- DOE -

R-99-315