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Transmission System Vegetation Management Program, Holcomb-Naselle 115kV, Pacific County, Washington

The Department of Energy (Department) uses beryllium metal to fabricate weapons components and to facilitate a number of weaponsrelated experiments. Based on its analysis of the President's 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) estimated that it would need approximately 90 tons of beryllium metal to meet mission requirements over the next 30 years. About 50 tons of the material is currently available for purchase from the Defense Department's National Defense Stockpile. Because the only domestic producer of beryllium metal from ore ceased production in 2000, NNSA had been uncertain how it would overcome the perceived shortfall.

Management of Beryllium Metal Supply

At each of the four locations we visited – the Oak Ridge Reservation (Oak Ridge), the Savannah River Site (Savannah River), and the Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories (Sandia and Los Alamos) – we selected random samples of contractor and other non-federal workers to determine whether badges had been recovered when the workers terminated their association with the Department. Although there were some discrepancies at three of the four locations, only at Oak Ridge was the number of discrepancies significant.

Personnel Security Clearances and Badge Access Controls at Selected Field Locations

Watershed Management Program

The INEEL CAB recommends that the end state vision be structured as a summary and explicitly reference past agreements and decisions

Review of the Department's Administration of Financial Instruments

Recruitment and Retention of Personnel in the Department of Energy

The INEEL CAB recommends that DOE and the regulators carefully review the preferred approach from a technical and regulatory perspective