Office of the Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress (NUREG-1415, Volume 35, No. 2)

On behalf of the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, it is my pleasure to present this Semiannual Report to Congress, covering the period from April 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021. I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to lead this extraordinary group of managers, auditors, investigators, and support staff, and I’m extremely proud of their exceptional work.During this reporting period, we issued twelve audit and evaluation reports, and recommended several ways to improve NRC and DNFSB safety, security, and corporate management programs. We also opened nine investigative cases and completed nine, three of which were referred to the Department of Justice, and seven of which were referred to NRC management for action.Our reports are intended to strengthen the NRC's and the DNFSB's oversight of their myriad endeavors and reflect the legislative mandate of the Inspector General Act, which is to identify and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. Summaries of the reports herein include reviews of the NRC's prohibited security ownership process; enterprise risk management process; nuclear materials and waste oversight process; use of request for additional information process; oversight of decommissioning trust funds; grant proposals and awards oversight; DNFSB compliance with Improper Payment Laws; and, the DNFSB safety culture and climate survey. Further, this report includes summaries of cases involving interference with inspection findings, inaccurate information in an inspection test report, theft of the NRC's laptop computers, retaliation for a differing professional opinion, mismanagement of a desk audit, and claim of a hostile work environment.