Office of the Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress (NUREG-1415, Volume 30, No. 2)

Contents

• Publication Information
• A Message from the Inspector General

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• NUREG-1415, Volume 30, No. 2 (PDF - 15.40 MB)

Publication Information

Date Published: April, 2017
Reporting Period: October 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017

Office of the Inspector General
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555

Availability Notice

A Message from the Inspector General

I am pleased to present this Semiannual Report to Congress on the activities and accomplishments of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) from October 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017.

Our work reflects the legislative mandate of the Inspector General Act, which is to identify and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse through the conduct of audits and investigations relating to NRC programs and operations. The audits and investigations highlighted in this report demonstrate our commitment to ensuring integrity and efficiency in NRC’s programs and operations. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, provided that notwithstanding any other provision of law, the NRC Inspector General is authorized in 2014 and subsequent years to exercise the same authorities with respect to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), as determined by the NRC Inspector General, as the Inspector General exercises under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) with respect to NRC.

In addition to issuing several legislatively mandated audits and reports pertaining to NRC’s and DNFSB’s financial statements, information technology security, and management and performance challenges during this reporting period, my office issued reports intended to strengthen NRC’s foreign assignee program and its oversight of security at decommissioning reactors, source material exports to foreign countries, and low-level radioactive waste disposal and waste blending.

During this semiannual reporting period, we issued nine program audit reports. As a result of this work, OIG made a number of recommendations to improve the effective and efficient operation of NRC’s safety, security, and corporate management programs. OIG also opened 19 investigations, and completed 15 cases. This Semiannual Report also reflects new Inspector General (IG) Empowerment Act reporting requirements, including summaries of all IG reports with outstanding, unimplemented recommendations.

NRC OIG is committed to the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of NRC programs and operations, and our audits, investigations, and other activities highlighted in this report demonstrate our ongoing commitment. My staff strives to maintain the highest possible standards of professionalism and quality in its audits, evaluations, and investigations. I would like to acknowledge our auditors, investigators, and support staff for their diligence and commitment to the mission of this office.

Finally, the success of the NRC OIG would not be possible without the collaborative efforts between OIG staff and NRC and DNFSB staff to address OIG findings and implement recommended corrective actions in a timely manner. I congratulate and thank them for their dedication, and I look forward to continued cooperation as we work together to ensure the integrity and efficiency of agency operations.

Hubert T. Bell
Inspector General