A former member of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is urging lawmakers to conduct an independent audit of the Board, saying that it has “ignored its obligation to conduct its business in such a way that the public can witness and judge its performance.” In a letter sent last week to senior lawmakers, obtained by WC Monitor, Brown criticized the Board for what he said is a lack of transparency in its efforts. “The most significant issue with the current construct of the Board is that the Board’s deliberative process is not transparent. This lack of transparency facilitates an untimely and selective process for issue consideration, dissemination and resolution,” wrote Brown, who served on the DNFSB from 2006 till he resigned earlier this year. “The Board needs formal documented internal procedures that embody the principles in the Board’s organic legislation and applicable law; no such procedures exist today to guide the conduct of the Board’s work. … But experience tells us that the Board will not sua sponte address its internal deficiencies. Gentle internal and external nudging has been ignored.”
Brown also questioned the growth in the Board’s budget and staff since it was created more than 20 years ago. “The number of DOE nuclear facilities today subject to Board jurisdiction is one-third of what it was, for example, in 1998. However, while the jurisdiction has shrunk its budget has grown; in the last four years alone the Board’s budget has grown ~40 [percent] and the staff has increased by about 20 [percent],” he wrote, adding, “I believe that there is a good argument that the Board was most effective when it had fewer staff and resources, and relied upon a symbiotic and collegial relationship with DOE and the contractors, instead of what appears to be the current goal of building a self-sufficient and insulated staff.”