July 01, 2014

GAO Critical of NNSA Lack of ‘Vision’ for Security After Y-12 Incident

By ExchangeMonitor

Efforts by the National Nuclear Security Administration to revamp its security program in the wake of the July 2012 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex have lacked a “clear vision” or roadmap, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released yesterday. The report details a host of changes at the agency after the security breach, but notes that the NNSA ignored the recommendations of a Security Task Force formed after the incident to develop and implement a security roadmap. The lack of a coordinated effort, the GAO said, “may have exacerbated a difficult period for NNSA’s security program since the Y-12 breach, which some of the NNSA officials have described as ‘chaotic’ or ‘dysfunctional.’ ” The GAO added: “Without developing a clear vision and path forward for its security program, NNSA risks putting in place another short-lived or ineffective response to its security problems.” The GAO report was requested by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Many of the changes were introduced—and then reversed—by previous acting administrators of the agency, including a decision to initiate a security inspection program out of the Office of Defense Nuclear Security in the wake of the security breach. That program was later discontinued during a revamp of the agency’s security organization designed to streamline the agency’s lines of authority, as was a decision to split the authority for security between the office of Defense Nuclear Security and a headquarters-based security organization. In response to the GAO report, new NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said the agency was planning to develop by the end of the year a “security roadmap” that will “clearly delineate the NNSA security vision and the path forward for the security program.”

In a joint statement, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) said they would continue to closely watch DOE and NNSA security reforms “to make sure any security improvements can be sustained.”

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