DOE Press Release
October 20, 2000News Media Contact:
Matt Nerzig, 202/586-4940U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson today announced that the Department of Energy will commission the Center for Science and International Studies (CSIS) to study ways for strengthening the science and security functions of the Department of Energy. The CSIS study, to be headed by its President and former Deputy Secretary of Defense, John Hamre, will submit a final report by April 2002. Secretary Richardson Commissions Study to Strengthen
Science and Security"This study will assess the challenges facing the Department in operating premier scientific institutions in the 21st century," said Secretary Richardson. "It should provide the next Administration with an independent basis for taking the action needed to further strengthen science and security."
CSIS would submit by January 15, 2001 an initial assessment. The study will focus on helping the Department develop a coherent security policy that addresses the organization's diverse institutions and missions in a manner that fosters scientific research and exchange while enhancing national security.
The Energy Department manages a broad set of scientific and engineering laboratories that span the basic and applied sciences, including stockpile stewardship, fundamental scientific research, nuclear non-proliferation, energy research and environmental remediation. Programs conducted at the national security laboratories are managed by the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and programs at the science, environmental management and energy laboratories are managed by the Under Secretary for Energy, Science and Environment.
To help the Department integrate its mission responsibilities with effective security controls, without hampering its ability to advance broad scientific programs, the study will assess and make recommendations for:
The study on science and security would follow the report recently issued by former Senator Howard Baker and former Representative Lee Hamilton and the findings of the National Academy of Sciences Workshop on Scientific Communication and National Security. Both called for enhanced integration of science and security throughout the Nation's nuclear weapons complex.
- Fostering scientific excellence at the national laboratories in an era of rapidly advancing technologies and emerging national security threats;
- Ensuring the national laboratories continue to serve as premier science and engineering institutions and valued international scientific partners;
- Clarifying the boundaries between information to be protected for national security and other purposes and information to be shared openly with the scientific community and the public;
- Ensuring security policies are fully incorporated into the missions and program operations of the national laboratories;
- Increasing the participation of technical experts from the national laboratories into the development and implementation of the Department's security policies;
- Developing policies and programs to enhance recruitment and retention of scientists at the national laboratories, including an assessment of the impact of polygraphs and other security measures on the morale of the workforce; and
- Developing approaches to integrate science operations and security policies at the laboratories, including ways to strengthen scientific collaborations between the national security laboratories and the science, environmental management and energy laboratories.
CSIS is recognized world-wide for expertise in international security, nuclear non-proliferation, defense policy and public policy.
-DOE- R-00-271