A power outage at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, resulted in a 4.8-microsecond deviation in the U.S. official time standard, NIST UTC. The incident occurred on Wednesday following a windstorm.
Incident Details
The power disruption led to the failure of a backup generator. While the facility's 16 atomic clocks, which contribute to the national time standard, continued operation on their battery backup systems, the connections between some of these clocks and NIST's measurement and distribution systems were interrupted.
U.S. Official Time Calculation
Since 2007, the official time of the U.S., known as NIST UTC, has been determined jointly by the Commerce Secretary and the U.S. Navy. NIST calculates this standard by taking a weighted average of the readings from its atomic clocks, which maintain precision through the natural resonant frequencies of atoms.
Response and Implications
Critical operations staff at the site activated a reserve diesel generator to restore backup power. The 4.8-microsecond drift, equivalent to approximately five millionths of a second, is generally considered negligible for public applications. However, NIST indicated that such a deviation could potentially affect high-precision applications in critical infrastructure, telecommunications, and GPS signals. High-end users with access to NIST's time-keeping networks were informed of the disruption.
Resolution
Power was restored to the NIST facility by Saturday evening. Crews are currently engaged in evaluating the full extent of the damage and are working to correct the 4.8-microsecond time deviation.