The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has invited Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration leadership to speak at a public hearing Sept. 13 on the status of emergency management across defense nuclear facilities.
The hearing, to be held at the DNFSB’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, will allow DOE officials to make prepared remarks on the department’s improvements to complex-wide emergency management, as well as answer questions from board members.
Letters of invitation were sent July 27 to Rick Perry, secretary of energy; Frank Klotz, NNSA administrator; Eric Smith, the NNSA’s acting associate administrator for emergency operations; James McConnell, the NNSA’s associate administrator for safety, infrastructure, and operations; James Hutton, DOE Environmental Management’s deputy assistant secretary for safety, security, and quality assurance; James Owendoff, acting assistant secretary for environmental management; and Glenn Podonsky, director of the Office of Enterprise Assessments.
The hearing will focus on the DOE and NNSA’s progress in addressing prior DNFSB recommendations to improve the complex-wide training and drill program for emergency response personnel; conduct exercises that ensure proper response for severe events; and update directives on the reliability of emergency response facilities and equipment, training criteria, and vulnerabilities to the program, as identified during independent assessments.
