DoD checks Y2K status at overseas bases

While the Pentagon says it's ready for Y2K, focus now turns to overseas military bases, where 500,000 American troops and military dependents could face problems with local power grids, water systems or phone lines, reports Eric Schmitt of The New York Times.

The Pentagon says about 40 percent of 130 key bases worldwide meet American standards for readiness.

"We anticipate there will be some disruption, but we don't think it'll affect our war-fighting ability," said Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre. "We are concerned about what happens to dependents living on the economy overseas."

The Pentagon will decide where to send backup equipment by October, and already has begun sending teams of experts to Europe, the Middle East and Far East. Meanwhile back in the states, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that 28 nuclear power reactors still need to fix systems to avoid Y2K failures, although none of the work left involves safety systems, Reuters reports.

The commission said 75 of the nation's 103 operating nuclear power reactors were Y2K compliant and that things should run smoothly for the remaining facilities, which should be ready by the end of September or October. But computers at two reactors will not be ready until the final weeks before the new year. Comanche Peak Unit 1 in Somervell County, Texas, will not be ready until Nov. 20 and Farley Unit 2 near Dothan, Ala., will not be compliant until Dec. 12.