Report 1 on Tracking and Assessing
Governance and Management Reform in
the Nuclear Security Enterprise
Panel to Track and Assess Governance and Management Reform in the Nuclear Security Enterprise
Laboratory Assessments Board
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
A Report of
and
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
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This activity was supported by Contract No. #DOE DE-NA0003381 with the Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/24749
Copyright 2017 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the National Academy of Public Administration. 2017. Report 1 on Tracking and Assessing Governance and Management Reform in the Nuclear Security Enterprise. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/24749.
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PANEL TO TRACK AND ASSESS GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT REFORM IN THE NUCLEAR SECURITY ENTERPRISE
JILL P. DAHLBURG, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., Co-Chair
ROBERT SHEA, Grant Thornton, LLP, Alexandria, Virginia, Co-Chair
ELIZABETH R. CANTWELL, Arizona State University, Tempe
KEITH COLEMAN, Boeing Phantom Works, St. Louis, Missouri
DONA L. CRAWFORD, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (retired), California
MARTIN C. FAGA, MITRE Corporation (retired), Falls Church, Virginia
PAUL A. FLEURY, NAS1/NAE,2 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
DAVID GRAHAM, Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia
WILLIAM MADIA, Stanford University, Menlo Park, California
KATHLEEN A. PEROFF, Peroff and Associates, LLC, Washington, D.C.
BARBARA ROMZEK, American University, Washington, D.C.
TAMMY P. TAYLOR, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington
MERRI WOOD-SCHULTZ, Los Alamos National Laboratory (retired), New Mexico
Staff
SARAH JAGGAR, National Academy of Public Administration, Staff Lead
SCOTT WEIDMAN, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Staff Lead
ADAM DARR, National Academy of Public Administration
EMILY FAY, National Academy of Public Administration
RODNEY HOWARD, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
LAWRENCE B. NOVEY, National Academy of Public Administration
MICHELLE SCHWALBE, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
MYRA HOWZE SHIPLETT, National Academy of Public Administration
___________________
1 National Academy of Sciences.
2 National Academy of Engineering.
LABORATORY ASSESSMENTS BOARD
ROSS B. COROTIS, NAE, University of Colorado, Boulder, Chair
C. WILLIAM GEAR, NAE, Princeton University, New Jersey
WESLEY L. HARRIS, NAE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
JENNIE S. HWANG, NAE, H-Technologies Group, Cleveland, Ohio
W. CARL LINEBERGER, NAS, University of Colorado, Boulder
C. KUMAR N. PATEL, NAS/NAE, Pranalytica, Santa Monica, California
ELSA REICHMANIS, NAE, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
LYLE H. SCHWARTZ, NAE, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (retired), Arlington, Virginia
Staff
JAMES P. McGEE, Board Director
ARUL MOZHI, Senior Program Officer
LIZA HAMILTON, Associate Program Officer
EVA LABRE, Administrative Coordinator
Preface
The Panel to Track and Assess Governance and Management Reform in the Nuclear Security Enterprise was jointly established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (“the National Academies”) and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to carry out a 4½-year assessment of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s responses to longstanding problems affecting the nuclear security enterprise. Those problems were documented in the 2014 congressional advisory panel report A New Foundation for the Nuclear Enterprise and in the 2015 report Securing America’s Future: Realizing the Potential of the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories, and in several earlier studies.
Most of the problems identified in past reports have been in the realm of management and governance, including misalignments and mistrust between the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and their management and operations contractors. Because these problems have, to a large part, resisted past attempts at resolution, Congress called for the establishment of this panel and charged it with semiannual assessments over a prolonged period—an approach that will provide the sustained attention needed. And because the nuclear security enterprise comprises both a highly technical mission and a complex government management challenge—and many of the problems to be addressed may have roots in that duality—Congress stipulated that the study was to be joint between NAPA and the National Academies. As a reflection of the need to bridge cultures and areas of expertise, approximately half the panel members were nominated by the National Academies and half by NAPA. Their expertise spans relevant perspectives from science, governance, engineering, and management. (See Appendix A for biographical sketches of panel members.) The study is being conducted in accordance with the National Academies’ policies—for example, all panel members were officially appointed by the President of the National Academy of Sciences and subject to the National Academies’ policies on bias and conflict, the study follows the National Academies’ policies on transparency, and this report has gone through the National Academies’ peer review process. The panel was established under the National Academies’ Laboratory Assessments Board, which has relevant expertise to provide oversight to the study.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY2016 NDAA), which mandated this study, also called for DOE to release an implementation plan by March 31, 2016, for addressing the concerns alluded to above. The study plan and deliverables stipulated in the FY2016 NDAA, which are also reflected in the study’s statement of task, have been adjusted to align with the actual release date of that plan. The focus for subsequent semi-annual reports will be developed in coordination with Congress and NNSA.
We are grateful to NNSA and DOE for their generous assistance and openness in helping the panel conduct its study. We also thank the NAPA and the National Academies’ staff for all their contributions to this study. The panel would like to thank the individuals listed in Appendix B for providing input to this study.
Jill P. Dahlburg and Robert Shea, Co-Chairs
Panel to Track and Assess Governance and Management Reform in the Nuclear Security Enterprise
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Norman R. Augustine, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired),
Jonathan D. Breul, Georgetown University,
Robert C. Dynes, University of California, San Diego,
T.J. Glauthier, TJG Energy Associates, LLC,
Robert F. Hale, Booz Allen Hamilton,
Julia M. Phillips, Sandia National Laboratories (retired), and
Mitchel B. Wallerstein, Baruch College of the City University of New York.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the views presented in the report, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by John F. Ahearne, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (retired) and Stephen M. Robinson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, who were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the panel and the institutions.
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Contents
The Department of Energy Implementation Plan
2 ACTIONS UNDER WAY TO CLARIFY ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AUTHORITIES, AND ACCOUNTABILITY
What Is NNSA Doing in Response?
3 ACTIONS UNDER WAY TO MITIGATE BURDENSOME PRACTICES
What Is NNSA Doing in Response?
4 ACHIEVING AND SUSTAINING CHANGE
What Is NNSA Doing to Achieve and Sustain Change?
A Biographical Sketches of Panel Members
C Extract from the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016
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