Power Outage in Boulder Disrupts National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Atomic Clock
Last week, Colorado experienced widespread power outages due to hurricane-force winds sweeping across the state. In Boulder, one of these outages had a unique impact on timekeeping.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Internet Time Service Facility in Boulder lost power, causing disruptions to the agency’s atomic clock, which utilizes cesium atoms for precise time measurement. This atomic clock is crucial for various industries such as GPS satellite networks, data centers, and telecommunications.
NIST researcher Jeffrey Sherman notified users via email about the outage, stating that the atomic ensemble time scale at the Boulder campus had failed due to the power outage, resulting in inaccurate time reference for the Internet Time Services.
During the outage, some of NIST’s time distribution systems experienced lapses before the backup generator took over, causing a slight delay to the atomic clock. Unfortunately, a crucial generator at the facility also failed after the outage, further complicating the situation.
As of Sunday morning, power was still out at the Boulder Department of Commerce, affecting NIST and other agencies housed within. The time drift will be rectified once power is restored to the facility.
This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.
