ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

DOEfourfold purpose: to protect U.S. nuclear weapons, topromote nuclear safety internationally, to advance thecause of non-proliferation, and to continue providing safeand effective nuclear power for the operation of U.S. Navyvessels.In the area of energy, DOE priorities include increasingdomestic production, revolutionizing Americans’ approachto conservation and efficiency, and promoting thedevelopment of renewable and alternative sources—including hydrogen. The environmental program overlapssomewhat with the national defense goal of cleanupof environmental and safety hazards left over from theCold War. DOE is also committed to the safe and permanentdisposal of radioactive waste. There is also overlapbetween the energy priority and a fourth program area,that of science, in which DOE’s greatest interest is revolutionizingthe search for, production, and delivery of energy.Some aspects of DOE’s responsibilities for nationaland global security are the work of NNSA, created byCongress in 1999 as a response to apparent securityviolations that occurred during the presidency of WilliamJ. Clinton. Though NNSA is an agency of DOE, its administrator,an undersecretary within the department, has directresponsibility over most of its functions.Responsibilities of DOE and NNSA overlap in someareas. For example, both DOE and NNSA are concernedwith nonproliferation programs involving Russian andother former Soviet republics. The purposes of theseprograms include the securing of nuclear weapons, eliminationof excess materials, prevention of the outflowof nuclear expertise to other countries, and downsizingof the overall nuclear weapons complex in the formerSoviet Union.A particular area of emphasis in the DOE nonproliferationand verification program is the conversion ofhighly enriched uranium (HEU) to peacetime uses. In 1994,DOE agreed to purchase 500 metric tons of Russian HEUover the next 20 years, at a cost of $12 billion. The materialswould then be converted to low enriched uranium andapplied to commercial uses.Emergency OperationsThe Emergency Operations (EO) office of DOE is a jointmission of DOE and NNSA, created to administer anddirect the emergency response capabilities of both. Focusedon nuclear and radiological emergencies, EO is the principalDOE point of contact for emergency managementactivities.EO develops policy for the emergency managementof sites, facilities, and operations; manages the responseto nuclear and radiological emergencies worldwide onbehalf of the U.S. government; coordinates inter- andintradepartmental emergency management activities;evaluates and works to improve emergency responsecapabilities; and seeks to integrate programs, systems,Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Securityassets, capabilities, training, and responses to improveemergency capabilities.Offices of Emergency Management and Response. EO consistsof two offices, the Office of Emergency Management(OEM) and the Office of Emergency Response (OER). OEMis charged with developing and implementing DOE’s emergencymanagement system for DOE and NNSA facilities,sites, and activities. It is responsible for operations andtraining, direction of emergency response exercises, developmentof emergency management policies, and supportof DOE and NNSA site emergency planning andresponse.OER supports both crisis response and emergencymanagement through various departmental radiologicalemergency response assets or capabilities. It is responsiblefor the overall program management and organizationalstructure of EO in both emergency and non-emergencysituations. OER also supports federal counterterrorismand consequence management efforts that have a nuclearor radiological dimension. In addition, EO as a wholerepresents DOE as needed in multiagency responses tonuclear or radiological threats affecting public safetyand health.Office of Security. Following the September 11, 2001,terrorist attacks, numerous components of the federalsecurity and intelligence apparatus came under scrutiny,and among these was the DOE Office of Security. In 2002,Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) released figures showingthat the number of DOE security forces had droppedfrom 7,091 in 1992 to just 4,262 in 2001, a reduction of 40percent. Political and intelligence analysts argued thatthese reductions were typical of the post-Cold War, Clinton-erareduction in security and intelligence resources,and after September 2001, DOE Office of Security directorJoseph C. Mahaley worked to rebuild those resources.In his role as chief functionary responsible for thedevelopment of policy regarding the protection of nationalsecurity assets under DOE control, Mahaley gave astatement to the U.S. House of Representatives Committeeon the Budget on December 5, 2001. In his statement,Mahaley explained that, in accordance with the DOE SecurityCondition (SECON) system, the office had declared alevel 2 emergency (SECON 2) on the day of the terroristattacks, but had since dropped to—and stayed at—SECON 3, the highest alert level that could be maintainedindefinitely.Missions and priorities. The highest DOE security priority,Mahaley explained, is the protection of special nuclearmaterial, or SNM, including everything from raw nuclearmaterials to complete nuclear weapons. DOE’s nuclearsafeguards and security program are directed toward preparingfor a worst-case scenario involving the theft ofthese materials.355