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.