Case Studies

The Challenge

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an independent Federal organization, provides oversight of Department of Energy (DOE) program and project safety practices.  In the early 1990’s, in one of its earliest reports, it criticized the Department on the technical capability of federal employees overseeing nuclear programs and projects.  As a result, the Department designed and developed a Technical Qualification Program for employees directly involved in oversight of work at defense nuclear facilities.  Technical Qualification Standards were developed for 28 specific function areas ranging from environmental cleanup to transportation of nuclear materials to nuclear criticality and fire safety to safeguards and security.  Although a functional standard was developed for safeguards and security, the Technical Qualification Program primarily focused on safety related issues; little attention was given to safeguards and security and specifically as a profession.  In the aftermath of September 11, attention was refocused on safeguards and security and a professional development and training program was needed for those involved in the safeguards and security functional area.

The Solution

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Defense Nuclear Security championed the development of a DOE professional development and training program for safeguards and security professionals.  The program addressed the challenge as follows:

• Is required for all new and current federal employees in the safeguards and security functional area; certification must be achieved within 18 months of enrollment in the program
• Relies on the DOE and NNSA safeguards and security directives, requirements, and external regulations
• Is competency-based and requires general technical knowledge of safeguards and security across all topical areas such as program management, protective force, physical security, information protection, personnel security, and nuclear materials control and accountability and more in-depth knowledge of specific topical areas based on the specifics of the duties required by the employee’s position.

CTAC’s Role

CTAC subject matter experts were employed to:

• Design the Defense Nuclear Security Technical Qualifications Program for its employees, including the development of policy and procedure
• Design and coordinate the DOE safeguards and security General Base Technical Qualification Standard and the DOE Functional Area Qualification Standard
• Develop the safeguards and security qualification card
• Assist in enrolling safeguards and security professionals in the program
• Provide advice and guidance on training and professional development issues.