CONGRESSIONAL AIDES QUESTION NNSA CREDIBILITY

By ExchangeMonitor

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s credibility is nearing an all-time low in Congress, Capitol Hill aides said late last week at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Cost overruns on major construction projects, backsliding on major programs, and security breaches have led lawmakers to create a 12-member panel examining the future of the NNSA, and aides said last week they are hoping for a long-term solution for the agency. Drew Walter, a staffer for the House Armed Services Committee, said there is “near unanimous agreement” on Capitol Hill that the current system is “broken” but little agreement about how to fix it. “Credibility and trust is everything on nuclear issues but unfortunately DOE/NNSA has very, very little of both on Capitol Hill and within the Department of Defense, having spoken to many leaders over there.”

Taunja Berquam, a staffer for the minority side of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, suggested that honing in on solid requirements early in the design process for construction projects could go a long way. Establishing requirements early in the process has proven to be a thorn in NNSA’s side, and changes have been to blame for significant cost increases on many of its major projects. “I think probably one of the biggest things NNSA can do is they need to do a much better job of identifying the requirements for infrastructure early on,” she said. “That needs to slide far, far sooner in the process than it has been done historically.” Walter applauded efforts made by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and acting NNSA Administrator Bruce Held to repair the agency, but said a lasting fix is needed. “Some are suggesting we should just fold NNSA back into DOE and let Secretary Moniz fix it. I think this is short-sighted to say the least,” Walter said. “The reforms we need to fix DOE and NNSA will take longer than any single secretary has. We have seen this movie before. We need to set up a system that isn’t dependent on personalities or a white knight at the top to fix the problems.”

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