New Zealand-Japan-Russia: Major Cities Cross Into New Millennium With No Reported Y2K Bug Problems

Record ID: 4179

  • Title: New Zealand-Japan-Russia: Major Cities Cross Into New Millennium With No Reported Y2K Bug Problems
  • Date: 1st January 2000
  • Summary: Major cities and nuclear reactors have crossed into the new millennium with no reported Y2K bug problems. All 12 of New Zealand's key utility sectors reported normal operations as of 1300 GMT on January 1, 2000, two hours after the country became the first industrialised nation greet the new millennium. The world was watching New Zealand carefully as an early warning centre for potential problems if computers mistake 2000 for 1900 and crash or misbehave as a result. The Ministry of Emergency Management, a monitoring unit set up in Wellington's parliament buildings, will watch developments over the first few days of the New Year. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the central bank, said earlier that all 24-hour banking systems were working normally. Particular worries have focused on Russia's huge arsenal of nuclear warheads and ageing power plants, although experts have played down the threat of an atomic disaster. Rosenergoatom, the company that runs eight of Russia's nine civilian nuclear power plants said the first one to meet the New Year, at Bilibinsk in Chukotka opposite Alaska, had met the test and was operating normally. Officials from Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry and their American colleagues held a television-link vigil as the Bilibinskaya atomic power plant in the Far East territory of Chukotka crossed into year 2000. Russia stretches across 11 time zones, and as midnight arrived in Chukotka it was still only 3:00 pm on December 31 1999 afternoon in Moscow (1200GMT) where the nuclear officials monitored the crucial time change. Russian atomic energy official Venedikt Berchik said that he hoped the other nuclear plants in Russia would calmly pass through the date change. American observer Vince McClelland reported that everything seemed to be going well. Meanwhile, in Japan, at three minutes before midnight, East Japan Railways stopped all trains for five minutes to check for problems in signalling equipment. With none found, trains started up again two minutes into the new millennium.
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  • Location: MILLENNIUM BUG COMPUTERS Y2K
  • Reuters ID: LDL0012CO2DHV
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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  • Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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