A program for people who work with access to seaports faces fresh delays due to a crucial system collapse and with no backup in place. The program was developed after the events of September 11, 2001 and cost $70 million.

A power surge hit the government building in the state of Maryland which contains the technology that activates special ID cards for the workers. The computer system needed for the 120,000 workers was knocked out and will cause the October 31 project deadline to not be met.

The application was intended to guarantee that terrorists are prevented access to sensitive areas of US seaports.

The program has previously faced several problem and subsequent delays. A majority of the machines responsible for printing the cards malfunctioned earlier this year. The deadline was extended by 6 months. Criticism was also drawn because of the program’s potentially intrusive background checks and the $132.50 cost per card which the workers pay. The deadline now is pushed to December 1.

The breakdown apparently only affects about 10% of the workers. Also, the backup is now being added and should be available in the next few weeks.