Contractors Fight Over Delays to NSA Data Center

Contractors working on a new National Security Agency data center in Utah are fighting over the causes and responsibility for electrical failures that have caused construction delays costing up to $50 million, project officials say.

The NSA's Utah Data Center, which has become a symbol of the agency's potent surveillance power, has been hobbled by the electrical failures, which have resulted in a series of fiery explosions. The lead contractor on the project says it has uncovered the cause of the explosions -- a defect in electrical switches provided by a subcontractor -- and is installing a fix. Outside investigators from the Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the $1.4 billion construction of the center, say the contractors' explanation, and proposed fix, remain unproven. Government officials managing the project are split over which side is right.