The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has made use of “Nonpublic Collaborative Discussions” on various issues since being given the option to use such private meetings in the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, according to a recent report.
“The NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] for fiscal year 2021 included a change to the Atomic Energy Act allowing Board members to hold “nonpublic collaborative discussions” without following the requirements of the Government in the Sunshine Act, so long as certain requirements are met,” the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in its April 14 report to Congress.
Since passage of the change, DNFSB has held seven such closed-door discussions: six in 2021 and one so far in 2022.
The meetings “facilitated candid discussion … on matters ranging from negotiating a memorandum of understanding with DOE to the oversight and safety of particular DOE facilities,” DNFSB said in the report to Congress.
Summaries of the discussion topics are available on the DNFSB public website, so the board is “still ensuring public transparency,” DNFSB said in the 70-page report. The board’s public meetings and hearings webpage lists the non-public collaboration sessions along with public meetings.
The most recent such session was a teleconference last month involving the board, staff members and DNFSB General Counsel Kevin Lyskowski on “development of the Agency’s program for receipt and evaluation of safety allegations concerning DOE defense nuclear facilities,” according to an online summary.
In December 2021, the board and about a dozen staff members held a similar non-public teleconference on potential legislative proposals for the next NDAA. Going back to December 2020, there have also been two “closed” meetings, as labeled by DNFSB, where voice votes are taken.
There are two significant differences between the nonpublic collaborative discussions and a closed meeting, DNFSB’s associate director for board operations, Tara Tadlock said in a Tuesday email. The nonpublic discussion is exempt from the Sunshine Act’s advance announcement requirements, and the board cannot hold a formal vote, she added.
Tadlock further said a January meeting with Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk was a briefing rather than a nonpublic collaborative discussion and the board did not deliberate on official DNFSB business.
The recent DNFSB report is the 32nd report to Congress since the board was created to provide independent analysis, advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy about defense nuclear installations. The secretary is not bound to follow the recommendations but must publicly respond to them in writing.
Among other things, the report notes efforts to keep DNFSB adequately staffed. In 2021 the board had the equivalent of 103 full-time staffers, with 13 new hires and eight separations. This was a net increase of nine personnel from fiscal year 2020, when it had ninety-four personnel onboard, according to the report. Under fiscal 2021 appropriations, Congress wants the board to have a minimum of 110 full-time equivalents.
