For now at least, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) has suspended publication of many of the congressional watchdog’s routine reports on safety and operations at Department of Energy nuclear sites.
“The DNFSB is not currently posting technical documents, such as resident inspector weekly, site monthly and other technical reports, while the board works with DOE on the document sensitivity review process,” the board said recently on its website.
The brief announcement was posted alongside a link to DNFSB’s July report to Congress. In the document, which Exchange Monitor recently reported on, DNFSB said DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Office of Environmental Management are denying access to DOE records, meetings and staff concerning safety of DOE nuclear defense facilities. In the document, DNFSB went on to say that not only is DOE blocking safety board access to information it has long been privy to, but also violating terms of the board’s enabling legislation and a 2022 memorandum of understanding between DOE and the board.
In an April 29 letter to DOE, DNFSB presented the department with a list of overdue “deliverables,” information on safety-related matters.
A DNFSB spokesperson said this week DOE has not responded to the board’s July 10 report. DOE did not immediately respond to a request for comment this week.
DNFSB was “created by Congress in 1988 to provide advice and recommendations to the secretary of energy regarding public health and safety at the defense nuclear facilities” run by DOE, according to a history of DNFSB. While it lacks regulatory authority to cite DOE for violations, it makes public recommendations to DOE, which DOE must then publicly respond to.
Set up as a five-member panel of experts nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, DNFSB is down to only one board member, Patricia Lee.
President Donald Trump has not announced plans to nominate anyone to DNFSB so far in his second term. The White House, however, did request $45 million to fund the small agency in fiscal 2027. That is more than the $42 million Congress appropriated in fiscal 2026.