ML20151K800

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Provides Status of Staff Efforts to Manage Year 2000 Computer Program.Staff Accelerating Agency Activities to Address Challenge & Confident That Problem Will Be Solved W/O Disruption to Agency Programs
ML20151K800
Person / Time
Issue date: 04/08/1997
From: Galante A
NRC
To: Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman
NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20151K779 List:
References
FOIA-97-219 NUDOCS 9708060163
Download: ML20151K800 (4)
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' April 8, 1997 3

i MEMORANDUM TO:

Chairman Jackson i

j FROM:

Anthony J. Galant J

Chief Information r

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SUBJECT:

YEAR 2000 COMPUTER ISSUE 1

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide you with the status of the staffs efforts i

to manage the Year 2000 computer problem.

l BACKGROUND The Year 2000 computer problem results from computer programs that use two-digit 1

fields to identify the year. If this problem is not corrected, many programs will fail to recognize the new century and misinterpret "00" and calculate the year 2000 as 1900.

j Consequently, there is a risk that our information systems will not function correctly and i

will fail the programs and projects they were designed to support.

This issue has received much attention from the Congress, the press, and other interested groups. On June 17,1996, and again on February 10,1997, NRC l

responded to cong.?ssional inquiries on this subject. The Chief Information Officer (ClO) Council, formed aa a result of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (formerly known as

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the information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996) has discussed the Year j

2000 issue at each of its monthly meetings since its formation in August 1996. Agency l

Clos acting within their agencies and through the CIO Council are providing leadership and direction to ensure that the Year 2000 problem will be corrected. Because of tt e extent of this problem throughout the Federal Govemment, the Office of Management i

and Budget (OMB) formed an interagency working group on the Year 2000 problem j

This working group, which includes a reprm,eiGGve from the NRC, was recently adopted as an official working group of the CIO Couned and will report progress j

monthly to the CIO Council and quarterly to OMB.

IMPACT The Year 2000 problem has several unique characteristics that shape our strategy for i

solving it. First, it has an unmovable deadline. Unlike other computer development or maintenance activities, the deadline for fixing the Year 2000 problem is not set j

administratively, but by the problem itself. Changes must therefore he fully implemented and tested by December 31,1999. This characteristic makes time tim single most critical resource.

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j Chairman Jackson,

J Second, unlike a normal system development or maintenance activity, many systems must be worked on concurrently. Comparisons and computations using dates j-

' permeate practically all computer systems within the Federal Govemment, State, and i

local govemments, and in the private sector. There is a real potential for substantial strain on another key resource-expertise.

Third, complexity is increased by concurrent changes to multiple systems and elements within a system (e.g., the operating system). Because computer systems inter-operate and share data, the modified systems must be tested together. Furthermore, all of these changes must be made and tested while the current systems continue to operate.

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM The Year 2000 problem potentially affects the NRC in three areas of information systems development or use. These areas are:

1.

Computer systems developed by the NRC staff or its contractors to support the agency's information systems requirements; 2.

Commercial off-the-shelf software for minicomputer, microcomputer, and other agency applications (e.g., key card access); and 3.

Hardware and software (including embedded microchips) used by those the NRC regulates.

AGENCY STRATEGY The strategy being adopted by NRC is based on industry best practices. Our strategy includes six phases:

1.

Raising staff and industry awareness of the problem;

2.,

Inventorying NRC's computer systems and the commercial off-the-shelf software that the agency has acquired; 3.

Assessing NRC's systems and software to decide which ones to change, replace, or descard; 4.

Priontizing and updating the systems that have a date problem (renovation);

5.

Testing and validating the changed systems; and 6.

Implementing the revised systems and modified or replacement commercial off-the-shelf software.

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i Chairman Jackson '

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SCHEDULE i

l OMB, in consultation with the ClO Council, has set govemment-wide milestones for completion of the majority of the work in each phase of agency Year 2000 activities.

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j This schedule for Federal agencies is shown on Attachment 1.

g l also indicates NRC's current progress and plans for completing each phase. ' The awareness and inventory phases have been completed. However, the j

software assessment phase is expected to take longer than expected because of l

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resource demands of our transition to the Comprehensive information Systems Support i

Consolidation (CISSCO) Program. This transition has been completed and the staff expects to gomplete the Year 2000 implementation phase as scheduled. Our best full l

cost estimate at this time is $9.3 million, including full time equivalent positions.

l The status of Year 2000 activites by those who provide commercial support to the l

NRC, or who are licensed by the NRC, has not been well established as efforts have i

primarily focused on agency systems. As indicated in Attachment 2, I am seeking j

guidance from the General Counsel on my role and that of the agency in dealing with Year 2000 issues within our licensees' facilities. In a recent letter (Attachment 3) to the NRC, Congress requested information concoming our efforts to track Year 2000 issues i

with those with whom we do business. We are currently preparing a response to that letter.

i CONCLUSION l

j The NRC is making progress in addressing the Year 2000 problem. We are well aware j

4 of the work that has to be done, and the limited amount of time left in which to ao it.

j However, I am accelerating agency activities to address this challenge, and I am j

confident that the problem will be solved without disruption to agency programs. We i

will continue to keep you iMvHned of developments in this area as we move forward.

Attachments:

1.

Year 2000 Program Completion Schedule 2.

Memorandum from A. J. Galante (CIO) to Karen D. Cyr (General Counsel) on

" Year 2000 Computer issue," dated March 18,1997 3.

Letter to Chairman Jackson from Representatives Hom, Maloney, Morella, and i

Gordon, dated March 26,1997 i

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