HEARINGS THIS WEEK LIKELY TO FOCUS ON NNSA OVERSIGHT IN WAKE OF Y-12 BREACH

Two House subcommittees will hold hearings this week on the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex, but the hearings could take different tones. While the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has raised concerns about the reliance on contractor assurance systems across the weapons complex, the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee has been an outspoken proponent of reforming the NNSA, including increased use of performance-based oversight rather than transactional-based oversight, and has opposed increasing oversight across the weapons complex. In a report on the security breach, the Department of Energy Inspector General suggested that Y-12’s contractor assurance system played a part in the circumstances that allowed the security breach to occur. “The successful intrusion at Y-12 raised serious questions about the overall security approach at the facility,” the IG said in its report, which was released Aug. 31. “It also suggested that current initiatives to reduce Federal oversight of the nuclear weapons complex, especially as they relate to security functions, need to be carefully considered.” 

Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman and NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Neile Miller are scheduled to testify at the House Armed Services hearing at 2 p.m. Thursday, while Poneman, NNSA Administrator Tom D’Agostino, DOE Health, Safety and Security chief Glenn Podonsky, DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman and an official with the Government Accountability Office will appear before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee at 10 a.m. Wednesday. A classified briefing will take place following the House Armed Services hearing.