Report Initially Blocked From Public Release
Kenneth Fletcher
NS&D Monitor
8/29/2014
While the National Nuclear Security Administration’s management of the response program to radiological emergencies is “generally” in a state of readiness, there are issues with aging equipment and potential reliability issues, the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General found in an inspection report released this week. The NNSA’s Office of Emergency Operations manages the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center, a multi-agency effort to respond to emergencies. “Specifically, our evaluation of FRMAC’s equipment, revealed that some equipment was aging and was near, or had reached, the end of its life cycle as defined by NNSA policy,” the report says. “We did not identify any issues in the critical areas of personnel, training and lessons learned.”
The IG sampled 50 equipment items and witnessed live test demonstrations of equipment. While the equipment received regular testing and maintenance, the IG said it was aging. “For example, during a live test of five Multipath Communication Devices, one of the devices failed and had to be replaced. We also found that these devices were nearing the end of the established life cycle, had a number of power supply failures and repair parts were difficult to obtain,” the report states. Additionally, an emergency power generator was found to be near the end of its lifecycle, and failed during a power outage in 2012.
Long Replacement Time ‘Particularly Concerning’
Only about $1-3 million per year is being spent on equipment purchases due to competing budget priorities, an NNSA official told the IG. “With this level of funding and NNSA’s current rate of recapitalization, we determined that it would take approximately seven years to replace all of FRMAC’s high priority equipment such as the Multipath Communications Devices and radiological measuring equipment, and almost 19 years to replace the lower priority equipment, such as portable radios and computer equipment,” the report states.
The long replacement time is “particularly concerning,” according to the IG. “Such an extended replacement period seems unreasonable considering the importance of FRMAC’s mission,” the report states. It adds: “In order to maintain this key emergency response asset, we believe further action is necessary to ensure the timely recapitalization of FRMAC equipment. Therefore, we suggest that the Associate Administrator, Office of Emergency Operations, ensure the timely replacement of aging FRMAC equipment critical to its operational readiness.” No formal recommendations were made in the report.
Full Report Not Released at First
The IG at first did not make the full report publicly available, releasing instead a brief summary. It had been marked official use only. Weapons Complex Morning Briefing published an article on the report’s summary earlier this week, noting that it was not made public. Upon further review, the IG released the full report later this week.
