The Joe Biden administration last week requested a budget of $41 million for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in fiscal 2023, an increase of $5 million over $36 million from the 2022 omnibus passed in early March.
That 2023 request is about a 14% year-over-year increase for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). It would help bulk up the independent federal nuclear watchdog to about 120 full-time employees. The board makes safety and health recommendations about nuclear defense installations to the secretary of energy, who must publicly agree or disagree with the recommendations.
“First, the Board’s oversight requirements are increasing as DOE’s modernization efforts proceed,” according to the 2023 budget justification document released March 28. Secondly the board is carrying out an “aggressive staffing plan” over the next 18 months to hire skilled engineers and scientists in an effort to make up for a 20% staffing drop in the recent past, according to the document.
“Focused efforts to increase staffing from this nadir are progressing but the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more challenging,” according to the request, which goes on to say DNFSB outlays could exceed appropriations by about 12% in fiscal 2022, which ends Sept. 30.
While the DNFSB staff ceiling for fiscal years 2021 through 2023 remains fixed at 130, the actual headcount was about 100 for fiscal 2021 and is forecast to grow to 115 this fiscal year and eventually 120 in fiscal 2023.
Helping to drive the DNFSB request, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has seen significant budget increases in recent years to support the modernization of the strategic deterrent. This includes plutonium pit production at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the request said.
More funding is also needed for improved cyber security and information technology, according to the request.
