The National Nuclear Security Administration is overhauling contractor assurance systems across the weapons complex in the wake of the Y-12 National Security Complex security breach last summer, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General report released Friday that is highly critical of the agency’s oversight practices. The IG report outlined a host of deficiencies that “rendered ineffective” the agency’s 5-year-old “eyes on, hands off” approach to oversight, especially at Y-12, where the IG said B&W Y-12’s contractor assurance system did not identify or correct early signs of “multiple system breakdowns” that contributed to the security breach. “Most troubling, local Federal security officials faulted NNSA’s governance system because they perceived they could not take the necessary actions to prompt the contractor to complete needed security repairs affecting system readiness at Y-12,” the IG said.
The IG also found deficiencies with the contractor assurance systems at Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, but said it found no problems with the CAS system at Nevada National Security Site. “NNSA has placed substantial reliance on its contractors’ ability and willingness to identify and correct weaknesses that threaten the safe, secure, effective and efficient operation of the Department’s national security facilities,” the IG said. “Our findings suggest that this reliance may be unwarranted.” In response to the report, the NNSA said that it agreed with the IG’s conclusions that it “must continue to reform, enhance and mature our contractor assurance and governance systems and the federal oversight of them.” The agency also said it was reevaluating and planning to enhance its oversight of the weapons complex. “Our goal is to achieve uniformly consistent, effective, risk-based oversight at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers, and we believe that refining, rather than abandoning, our approach is the best path forward,” the NNSA said.
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