Governance and Management of the Nuclear Security Enterprise (2020) / Chapter Skim
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4 Maximizing the Contributions of NNSA's M&O Partners
4 Maximizing the Contributions of NNSA's M&O Partners
Pages 44-54
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From page 44... ...
Many of these steps were recounted in Chapters 1 and 3, with three of the most salient being the messages of the current Administrator, issuance of site governance special directives SD 226.1B and 226.1C, and execution of a site governance peer review at each facility. Since strong working relationships are critical for the enterprise and are about more than organizational structure, this subject requires ongoing attention at a granular level.
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From page 45... ...
FFRDCs enable agencies to use private sector resources to accomplish tasks that are integral to the mission and operation of the sponsoring agency. An FFRDC, in order to discharge its responsibilities to the sponsoring agency, has access, beyond that which is common to the normal contractual relationship, to Government and supplier data, including sensitive and proprietary data, and to employees and installations, equipment and real property."
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From page 46... ...
This lengthy and highly publicized investigation came at the same time that the purpose of the nuclear security enterprise was being questioned because of the end of the Cold War. The effect on the enterprise was a widespread culture shift from prioritization of the national security mission to emphasizing regulatory compliance; there was a consequent decline in morale.
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From page 47... ...
To date, NNSA has not announced whether or how it will build upon this apparently successful process, although indications are that it will be continued. The panel envisions the site governance peer reviews as a useful foundation for continuous improvement and suggests the following ideas for expanding the scope of that process: 4 Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, 2019, Burdensome Regulatory Requirements, Report NA-0088, p.
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From page 48... ...
• NNSA should consider expanding the site governance peer reviews to contribute to reveal ing and removing burdensome practices and sharing improvements. • NNSA and laboratory management should improve their monitoring of administrative inefficiencies that hinder the technical staff at the NNSA laboratories, and develop a simple process whereby significant inefficiencies can be identified, analyzed, and prioritized for possible mitigation.
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From page 49... ...
They attract, develop, and retain the unique scientific expertise that cannot be found in government. Successful FFRDCs address complex technical challenges that often require high-risk experiments and large facilities, such as supercomputers or light sources, which are beyond the scale or role of purely academic or commercial entities.
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From page 50... ...
The picture painted by these interviews is that either NNSA lacks a single concept of the desired FFRDC relationship, or that the concept has not been consistently implemented. In those discussions, the panel received conflicting impressions -- with some interviewees depicting the laboratories as trusted advisors but others implying that they are not that distinct from other contractors in DOE or the Department of Defense (DoD)
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From page 51... ...
Absent a coherent push toward a single FFRDC relationship, the panel is concerned that today's laboratory contracts are built more on general contracting practices, and are not well aligned with that desired relationship, in particular with respect to supporting a closer relationship with the sponsor than in normal contractual relationships. Following the Augustine-Mies report, DOE undertook an extensive effort to develop two model contracts for its national laboratories -- one it labeled a "revolutionary contract" and the other it called an "evolutionary contract." The panel is aware that teams of people were involved in developing these models: from DOE they included people from program offices, site offices, procurement, and other functional offices, and from the national laboratories they included the chief operating officers, chief financial officers, program leaders, and other administrative staff.
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From page 52... ...
The working group should include staff within NNSA and its labo ratories as well as experts from other agencies with a large number of FFRDCs, such as DoD. SUSTAINMENT OF CORE S&E CAPABILITIES As pointed out in the panel's fourth interim report, "A strong foundation of wide-ranging science and engineering research is essential to fulfilling the nuclear security mission, because the technical challenges of stockpile stewardship, and of nuclear security more generally, require deep and authoritative understanding of many areas of science and engineering."7 This foundation provides not only the understanding of the phenomena, mechanisms, and materials underlying current and future nuclear materials and weapons systems but also the developing technologies for future threats and technical improvements required for a complete nuclear security enterprise.
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From page 53... ...
Some senior scientists estimated that they must expend up to 20 percent of their time on administrative tasks that could be handled by much less costly support staff, whose numbers have dwindled for the purpose of reducing overhead costs. Many scientists and engineers thought that the laboratories should expand availability of administrative staff to S&E staff to increase the latter's efficiency.
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From page 54... ...
Recommendation 4.4: In addition to the elements included in Recommendation 4.1, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and management at its laboratories should take steps to improve the environment for science and engineering (S&E)
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