Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
5/29/2015
Senate authorizers are looking to require the Department of Energy to complete emergency preparedness assessments as part of award fee evaluations for the Department’s set of M&O contractors. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which was recently reported out of committee, would require DOE to include in award fee determinations performed in even-numbered years “an assessment of the adequacy of the emergency preparedness of that facility, including an assessment of the seniority level of employees and contractors of the Department of Energy that participate in emergency preparedness exercises at that facility,” according to report language accompanying the bill.
The legislation comes after the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board last year issued a formal recommendation calling for strengthened emergency preparedness and response capabilities across the DOE complex in the wake of the 2014 incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The events at WIPP in February 2014 highlighted shortcomings in DOE’s emergency preparedness and response program, the DNFSB noted in its recommendation. Last month, DOE issued an implementation plan for bolstering emergency preparedness, which called for some high-priority items to be in place in 2015, although other tasks could stretch into late 2017 before they are done.
In its recommendation, the DNFSB called on DOE to take a series of steps by 2016 to strengthen its emergency response capabilities, including creating a “robust” emergency response infrastructure at all of its defense nuclear facilities. It also called on DOE to ensure that sites have training and drill programs staffed with fully competent emergency response personnel, are conducting exercises that challenge existing capabilities, and are constantly identifying deficiencies, and preparing and evaluating corrective actions. The Board also said DOE’s emergency management directive should be updated to address a number of severe events.
DOE to Enforce Management Accountability
DOE’s implementation plan aims to address the three main causes of the emergency preparedness and response issues. The first involves DOE recognizing that “implementation of requirements has not been consistent.” The second involves inadequate revision to the requirements to address lessons learned. DOE plans to update its order to “include details on addressing information gathered following severe events, such as the lessons learned from the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant,” the plan states. For the third, DOE acknowledged a “lack of consistent oversight and enforcement of its existing preparedness.” DOE said that all three involved “limited management involvement in the DOE emergency management program. DOE will rectify this situation by enforcing line management chain of command and accountability for the implementation of and oversight of the Emergency Management Enterprise.”
