SUMMERLIN, NEV. The Department of Energy expects to fill most of its vacancies at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., by May 2022, representatives of the Government Accountability Office, said here Thursday.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported last November the DOE Carlsbad Field Office that oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) had vacancies in more than a third of its federal positions, GAO director of natural resources and environment Nathan Anderson told the Radwaste Summit Thursday afternoon.
The conference is sponsored annually by ExchangeMonitor Publications.
At the time of the report, DOE was using temporary appointments and “dual hats” for some staff to get by. That situation is unsustainable over a long period of time, Anderson said during his appearance here. The DOE has filed additional information since last fall saying it expects to have most but not all of its vacancies at the Carlsbad filled by the spring.
The GAO report said in January 2020, 27 of the 76 full-time federal posts at DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office were either open or being filled by an agency staffer pulling double-duty.
During the presentation, Anderson, who appeared with GAO senior analyst Eli Lewine, said the high number of vacancies hinders the Carlsbad office’s ability to oversee construction of the Safety Significant Confined Ventilation System — a crucial airflow system required to return the mine to full operating capacity after the 2014 equipment fire and underground radiation release that limited waste-emplacement throughput and mining.
