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Federal Agency Faces Significant Staffing Challenges in Nuclear Waste Cleanup

The federal agency tasked with managing nuclear waste cleanup operations is grappling with critical staffing shortages and lacks a comprehensive plan to address these persistent workforce issues. This was revealed in a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released on Thursday.

At the conclusion of fiscal year 2023, the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management reported 263 vacant positions, resulting in a 17% vacancy rate. The agency also experienced a 10.6% attrition rate during the same period, with projections indicating a further rise as 44% of the staff will be eligible for retirement by the beginning of fiscal 2030.

Compounding the issue, nearly 80% of these vacancies involve roles identified as mission critical by the agency.

“Staffing shortages within the Office of Environmental Management have adversely impacted its ability to fulfill its mission. Specifically, agency documents highlight that these workforce gaps have led to uncompleted safety inspections, cost overruns, schedule delays, and incidents such as fires and radiation leaks,” stated the GAO report.

An illustrative case includes a plant in New Mexico, where inadequate management and staffing were partly responsible for a fire, radiation leakage, and a failed ventilation project. Another instance cited was a delayed project at a national laboratory in Tennessee, where the absence of staff with necessary technical skills resulted in cost increases exceeding $100 million.

Compounding the staff shortages are high turnover rates in leadership positions. Over the past two decades, the agency has seen five Senate-confirmed assistant secretaries and ten acting assistant secretaries or senior advisors. Issues with collaboration within DOE’s workforce management program and inconsistent application of hiring tools and incentives have further exacerbated the staffing crisis.

DOE’s acquisition and program management processes have been on GAO’s high-risk list since its inception in 1990, indicating a long-standing recognition of these challenges at the Office of Environmental Management.

GAO’s investigation reviewed 19 assessments from various bodies, including DOE and the Office of Personnel Management, spanning fiscal years 2019 to 2023. These assessments resulted in 77 workforce-related recommendations, of which only 35 have been fully or partially addressed by the agency.

Despite these challenges, the agency showed some progress in fiscal 2023 by hiring over 320 federal staff through the utilization of additional human resource service contractors, developing a strategic human capital plan, and creating annual staffing plans. However, GAO identified significant gaps in these plans, noting they fail to address future workforce needs or include performance targets and metrics.

The GAO report provided 10 recommendations aimed at improving workforce planning and developing a strategy for a multigenerational staffing pipeline. It also suggested clarifying telework eligibility, as the agency has effectively used telework to retain employees.

In response, the Department of Energy agreed with all the recommendations put forth by the GAO.

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