nuclear-news

Who guards the nuclear weapons lab guardians?

…the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) analysis which concluded that DOE needs more independent federal oversight, not less.

Mar 24, 2010The Problem with Providing Nuclear Weapons Labs with Relief from Federal Oversight, The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog, Peter Stockton and Ingrid Drake, 25 March 2010, George Lobsenz’s article in yesterday’s issue of The Energy Daily correctly pointed out that the Department of Energy’s decision to provide the contractors who run the nuclear weapons labs with major relief from federal oversight was done “Without any prior public review or comment.”

DOE’s decision was made public after POGO released a March 16 memo from Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman. Lobsenz’s story also smartly references the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) analysis which concluded that DOE needs more independent federal oversight, not less.

POGO’s greatest concern about DOE’s decision is that it cuts the legs off the Department’s Office of Health, Safety, and Security (HSS). In the memo, DOE leadership spells out to HSS, which is supposed to be an independent office, that its mission is now to streamline requirements for the Labs and that its not up to them to be responsible for safety and security.
HSS, through the security oversight inspections it conducts, has been the one entity within DOE to identify serious security problems and get them resolved. …..

Frank Munger’s Atomic City Underground also covered the memo and pointed out that the reforms “will be implemented in a hurry.” This is another reason it is key that Congress get involved and demand that the oversight office at DOE be independent.

The Problem with Providing Nuclear Weapons Labs with Relief from Federal Oversight – The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

March 25, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | cancer, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons