Mike Nartker
NS&D Monitor
2/14/2014
The Department of Energy is dissolving its Office of Health, Safety and Security in a new reorganization officially announced this week that DOE says is intended to better enhance its safety and security functions. As Weapons Complex Morning Briefing first reported, the reorganization will entail the creation of a new set of senior-level security-related positions and a separate oversight-and-enforcement capability, with much of the responsibility for safety- and security-related policy development to be moved to the Office of the Under Secretary for Management and Performance. “This reorganization will set us on a stronger course to achieving our goals and mission more effectively, efficiently and safely,” Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman said in a message to employees.
In a move that was met with heavy criticism at the time, DOE established the Office of Health, Safety and Security in 2006 through the merger of the offices of Environment, Safety and Health; and Security and Safety Performance Assurance. Over the past several months, though, DOE has been conducting a review of its safety and security functions with an eye toward making organizational changes. In particular, security-related issues have garnered increased attention in the wake of a significant security breach that occurred at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in the summer of 2012. In addition, HSS employees have expressed concern with how the office had been carrying out its oversight and enforcement functions.
New Security Approach to Increase Accountability
As part of DOE’s new reorganization, which is expected to take four-to-six weeks to complete, Bruce Held has been tapped to serve as a new Associate Deputy Secretary that will be responsible for coordinating security. Held currently serves as the acting chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration. In addition, three new Chief Security Officer positions will be created that will report to DOE’s three Under Secretaries—Management and Performance; Science and Energy; and Nuclear Security. “These Chief Security Officers will be responsible for implementing security policy for their respective facilities—creating clear lines of responsibility and accountability across the DOE complex to support effective and agile decision- making and emergency response,” Moniz and Poneman said in their message. The new Associate Deputy Secretary and Chief Security Officers will form a new Departmental Security Committee that will be responsible “for developing unified security strategies and policies that protect our workforce and physical and information assets, and surrounding communities,” according to DOE.
In remarks this week at the Sixth Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, Held said the new approach is intended to increase accountability. “Who is responsible for what and who is accountable for what in security has been very opaque,” Held said, noting that he had been asked by then-Secretary of Energy Steven Chu after the Y-12 incident who would be fired if there was a major security issue. “I said, ‘Sir, you don’t even know. You just don’t even know. We do not know who is responsible and who is accountable for things.’ The reorg will address that,” Held said, adding, “The CDNS in NNSA will have full responsibility and full accountability. That is not only logical in the military chain of command sense but that’s what the law says it’s supposed to be if you look at the NNSA Act.” The new security approach will also ensure that DOE’s various sites, which range from national laboratories to nuclear weapons sites, have the appropriate levels of security, according to Held. “Programmatic implementation of security will be appropriately differentiated. If you have a one-size-fits-all model you’ll have too little security for NNSA and too much security for science and energy,” he said.
New Enforcement Office to be Created
The reorganization will also entail the creation of a new Office of Independent Enterprise Assessments, which will include the oversight and enforcement functions currently within HSS, as well as the National Training Center. The new office will report directly to the Office of the Secretary of Energy and is set to be headed by Glenn Podonsky, who currently serves as DOE’s Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer. The purpose of the new office, according to DOE, is to “provide expert evaluations of management performance in safety, security and other areas by seasoned experts who are independent of line management and will ensure that training reflects the most current Departmental policy on safety and security issues.”
EM Official to Aid Transition
HSS’ current offices for safety, security, environment and security policy will be moved to the Office of the Under Secretary for Management and Performance and will be managed by Matt Moury, who will serve as acting Associate Under Secretary. Moury currently holds the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety, Security and Quality Programs in DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. “All these offices will continue to provide their expertise, guidance, and support services across the Department and will be better integrated with the Department’s programmatic functions. The Office of the Under Secretary for Management and Performance will also be responsible for headquarters security operations,” according to DOE.
