Senate OKs Study of Nuclear Agency

WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Udall’s push for a congressional study of the National Nuclear Security Administration gained steam Tuesday when the Senate included his proposal in a bill authorizing defense programs.

The New Mexico Democrat’s amendment would create an advisory panel to suggest ways to reform NNSA, the federal agency that oversees New Mexico’s nuclear laboratories.

Udall’s amendment was incorporated in the Senate defense authorization bill, which unanimously passed the Senate on Tuesday. The House version of the defense legislation, approved in May, does not include Udall’s amendment, but it could be added in House-Senate negotiations on a final bill.

The House version does include a separate amendment sponsored by Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., that calls for an independent study of how best to broaden the labs’ national security missions.

“Multiple reports have called attention to the need to expand the labs’ mission in order to strengthen their capabilities,” Luján said.

Udall said that the NNSA is plagued by cost overruns, security breaches and management issues and that the problems damage the science and nuclear stockpile stewardship missions of the national labs.

“The ineffectiveness of the NNSA is a serious national security issue, and our amendment will take a good look at what is needed to reform it,” Udall said Tuesday in a statement provided to the Journal.

The panel would “assess the feasibility and advisability of, and make recommendations with respect to, revising the governance structure of the National Nuclear Security Administration,” according to Udall’s office.

The 12-member panel’s membership would be bipartisan, with members appointed from the House and Senate Armed Services committees. The members would be appointed for one year and would be responsible for submitting a report within 120 days of enactment of the amendment.

The report would make specific recommendations, including how to improve scientific work, safety and employee retention. The study would also explore ways to diversify the national labs’ missions.

Among the directives in the amendment is a requirement that the panel consider whether oversight of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex should “remain with the (presidential) administration or be transferred to another agency.” Some NNSA critics have suggested the nuclear weapons labs should fall under the purview of the Department of Defense.
— This article appeared on page C2 of the Albuquerque Journal