Federal Reports

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) oversight of the reactor operator licensing examination process is effective, efficient, and reliable. However, the agency could benefit from providing additional guidance and clarity in the current version of NUREG-1021, “Operator Licensing Examination Standards for Power Reactors” (Rev. 12). Specifically, NUREG-1021 contains process gaps and lacks clarity in policy interpretation. This occurred because when the agency updated NUREG-1021, it did not identify certain process gaps. This lack of clarity in the guidance could lead to potential delays and errors in processing reactor operator licensing applications and in rendering requalification decisions. This report makes one recommendation to identify process gaps and update NUREG-1021 to ensure that guidance in future revisions remains current and addresses emerging issues.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) contracted with Sikich to conduct the Audit of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s Implementation of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 for Fiscal Year 2024. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of the information security policies, procedures, and practices of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB). The findings and conclusions presented in this report are the responsibility of Sikich. The OIG’s responsibility is to provide oversight of the contractor’s work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Based on its assessment of the period October 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, Sikich found that the DNFSB has not established an effective agency-wide information security program or effective information security practices. There are weaknesses that impact the agency’s ability to adequately protect the DNFSB’s systems and information.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Vet Center Inspection Program provides a focused evaluation of aspects of the quality of care delivered at vet centers. The OIG inspected four randomly selected vet centers throughout Pacific district 5 zone 2: Corona and Temecula, California; and Kauai and Western Oahu, Hawaii.The OIG inspection focused on four review areas: suicide prevention; consultation, supervision, and training; outreach; and environment of care. In the suicide prevention review, the OIG team evaluated vet center staff participation in the VA medical facility mental health executive council meetings resulting in no recommendations across all four vet centers inspected. The consultation, supervision, and training review identified concerns with external clinical consultation, vet center director monthly chart reviews, and completion of select trainings resulting in four recommendations across all four vet centers inspected. The outreach review evaluated outreach plan completion, inclusion of strategic components, and tailoring of outreach activities to cultural background information identified in the plan which resulted in two recommendations across all four vet centers inspected. The environment of care review evaluated vet centers’ physical environment and general safety resulting in eight recommendations across all four vet centers inspected. The OIG issued a total of 14 recommendations for improvement.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) contracted with Sikich to conduct an audit of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Implementation of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 for Fiscal Year 2024. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of the information security policies, procedures, and practices of the NRC. The findings and conclusions presented in this report are the responsibility of Sikich. The OIG’s responsibility is to provide oversight of the contractor’s work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Based on its assessment of the period October 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, Sikich found that although the NRC has established an effective agency-wide information security program and effective information security practices, there are weaknesses that may have some impact on the agency’s ability to optimally protect the NRC’s systems and information.

In March 2018, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported on deficiencies within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) personnel suitability program, concluding that neither VA nor VHA effectively governed the background investigation process to ensure requirements were met at medical facilities nationwide. In September 2023, the OIG reported on similar deficiencies during a follow-up audit of VHA’s personnel suitability program. These prior audits identified issues that could affect the entire VA enterprise, prompting the OIG to conduct this audit of the background investigation process for Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and National Cemetery Administration (NCA) staff and determine whether investigation actions were completed on time and recorded reliably.VBA and NCA did not effectively govern their personnel suitability programs to ensure that background investigations were completed within required time frames or recorded reliably. The team found problems at every stage of the process: completion by candidates of questionnaires that the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency must have to begin background investigations, on-time initiation of background investigations, resumption of discontinued investigations, adjudications on schedule, and investigation documentation in employee personnel folders. Delayed adjudications were especially problematic. The OIG team estimated that 71 percent of VBA employees and 58 percent of NCA employees were not adjudicated by VA within the required 90 days of the date of the final investigative report.These issues occurred because VBA and NCA prioritized prescreening over adjudicating investigation results for newly hired staff. Further, whereas each administration tracked metrics for the prescreening process, neither tracked metrics for background investigation adjudications. As a result, both administrations assume unnecessary risk by allowing staff who are not fully vetted to handle sensitive personal information and interact with veterans.The OIG made two recommendations to the under secretary for benefits and two recommendations to the under secretary for memorial affairs.