The United States continues to negotiate with Russia to help staff a vital Y2K command center, and time is running out, the vice-chairman of a Senate Y2K committee said Wednesday.
More than 100 different systems in the Russian nuclear arsenal could be vulnerable to the millennium bug, said vice-chairman Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut).
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"Fear of the Y2K malfunctions in these systems is a matter of great concern," Dodd told the National Press Club.
"Since the end of the Cold War, nations of the world have been concerned about the safety of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union."
Dodd said that a center being established in Colorado Springs, Colorado, aims to provide a "clear look at the skies," on New Year's Day, with one focus on Russian communications and military infrastructure.
The center will be designed to detect potential Y2K trouble in Russian nuclear weapons systems.
"Nations can overreact in a blind situation," Dodd said. "The center in Colorado Springs will provide secure lines of communication to eliminate that possibility."
He said the joint center will establish a clear line of communication with Moscow to validate potential nuclear events within Russia as real or computer-generated.
He said that Russian representatives plan to attend and participate in the Colorado Springs facilty, but that the State Department is still negotiating the terms of participation with Russian officials.
"There is no longer time to negotiate -- the remaining four months should be used to create and establish [the facility]."
Dodd recommended that the US military also consider inviting representatives of China, India, and Pakistan to the center.
"This is clearly in our self-interest to assist the Russian military," Dodd said. "There are serious problems that exist with the government today [that threaten] the long-term interests of the 21st Century United States."
"We can play a positive role without humiliating the people in Russia."
