SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY,
EMERGING THREATS AND INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENT REFORM

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JUNE 24, 2003

Serial No. 108-62

Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house http://www.house.gov/reform

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COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM

TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman

KFOT
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2003 0

CONTENTS

Hearing held on June 24, 2003

Statement of:

Brian, Danielle, executive director, Project on Government Oversight;

and Ronald E. Timm, president, Reta Security....

Brooks, Linton F., Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administra-
tion, Department of Energy; and Joseph S. Mahaley, Director, Office
of Security, Department of Energy

Nazzaro, Robin M., Director, Natural Resources and Environment, U.S.

General Accounting Office, accompanied by James Noel, Assistant Di-

rector, and Jonathan M. Gill, Evaluator, Natural Resources and Envi-

ronment; and Glenn S. Podonsky, Director, Office of Oversight and

Performance Assurance, U.S. Department of Energy

Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:

Brian, Danielle, executive director, Project on Government Oversight:

Report entitled, "U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Security at Risk"

Prepared statement of..

Brooks, Linton F., Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administra-

tion, prepared statement of

Grassley, Hon. Charles, a Senator in Congress from the State of Iowa,

prepared statement of

Mahaley, Joseph S., Director, Office of Security, Department of Energy,

prepared statement of

Podonsky, Glenn S., Director, Office of Oversight and Performance Assur-

ance, U.S. Department of Energy, prepared statement of

34

Shays, Hon. Christopher, a Representative in Congress from the State

of Connecticut, prepared statement of

3

Timm, Ronald E., president, Reta Security, prepared statement of

163

Nazzaro, Robin M., Director, Natural Resources and Environment, U.S.
General Accounting Office, prepared statement of

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EMERGING THREATS: ASSESSING NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX FACILITY SECURITY

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2003

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, EMERGING

THREATS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM,

Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:07 a.m., in room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Shays, Turner, Lewis, Platts, Duncan, Ruppersberger, and Tierney.

Staff present: Lawrence Halloran, staff director and counsel; J. Vincent Chase, chief investiator; Kristine McElroy, professional staff member; Michael Yeager, minority deputy chief counsel; and Jean Gosa, minority assistant clerk.

Mr. SHAYS. A quorum being present, the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations hearing, entitled, "Emerging Threats: Assessing Nuclear Weapons Complex Facility Security," is called to order.

From its humble beginnings as the Manhattan Project in the distant New Mexico desert, the Nation's nuclear weapons program has always posed daunting security challenges. Today, the far-flung complex of warhead production plants, research laboratories, test facilities, and former weapons sites stands as an undeniably attractive target for spies and terrorists bent on using their own technologies against us.

Even before the attacks of September 11, 2001 forced a reevaluation of physical security standards and procedures, serious questions arose concerning lax management and a stubborn cultural antipathy to protective measures at sites housing plutonium and highly enriched uranium. In response, Congress established the National Nuclear Security Administration [NNSA], as a semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy [DOE], to focus resources and high-level management attention on security mandates.

However, creation of the NNSA failed to stem persistent reports of security lapses and inattentiveness to lingering vulnerabilities throughout the weapons complex. So the subcommittee asked the General Accounting Office [GAO], to evaluate DOE and NNSA management of material safeguards and facility security programs. Of particular interest was how DOE assures contractor adherence to security policies.

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