NEW NAS REPORT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT LAB OVERSIGHT

Science and engineering at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons laboratories remains “healthy and vibrant,” according to a report released yesterday by the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council, but the experimental work that underpins much of the expertise at the labs is becoming increasingly threatened by burdensome oversight. The report represents the second phase of a NAS study examining the health of the labs following a report released last year on laboratory management, and its conclusions are likely to fuel continuing debate in Congress about the appropriate amount of oversight at the labs and across the weapons complex. According to the report, the amount of experimental work at the labs, especially those involving radioactive or hazardous material, is declining due to high costs, increased operational restrictions and controls on experimental work rooted in a “loss of trust, excessive duplicative oversight, formality of operations, and a culture of audit and risk avoidance” across the weapons complex. The report’s authors fear that eventually, “too many experiments will be unaffordable,” which it said would be “very damaging to the quality” of science and engineering at the institutions.