Human Capital: Retirements and Anticipated New Reactor
Applications Will Challenge NRC's Workforce (17-JAN-07,
GAO-07-105).
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is responsible for
licensing and inspecting the nation's nuclear power plants to
ensure their safety and security. By 2010, about one third of
NRC's workforce with mission-critical skills will be eligible to
retire. At the same time, NRC's workforce needs to expand because
NRC expects to receive at least 20 applications for 29 new
nuclear power reactors beginning in October 2007. GAO assessed
NRC's ability to meet its workforce needs by examining the extent
to which NRC (1) has aligned its human capital planning framework
with its strategic mission and programmatic goals; (2) is
effectively recruiting, developing, and retaining critically
skilled personnel; and (3) is addressing future uncertainties
that could affect its overall workforce capacity. GAO examined
strategic workforce planning and implementation documents,
interviewed cognizant managers on NRC's human capital framework
and activities, and surveyed these managers about NRC's human
capital flexibilities and measures.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-07-105
ACCNO: A64944
TITLE: Human Capital: Retirements and Anticipated New Reactor
Applications Will Challenge NRC's Workforce
DATE: 01/17/2007
SUBJECT: Federal employees
Hiring policies
Human capital
Inspection
Nuclear powerplant safety
Older workers
Program evaluation
Retirement age
Skilled labor
Strategic planning
Nuclear powerplants
Agency missions
Human capital management
Human capital policies
Policy evaluation
Regulatory agencies
Program goals or objectives
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GAO-07-105
* [1]HUMAN CAPITAL
* [2]Retirements and Anticipated New Reactor Applications Will Ch
* [3]Highlights
* [4]Contents
* [5]Results in Brief
* [6]Background
* [7]NRC's Human Capital Planning Framework Is Aligned with
Its S
* [8]NRC's Strategic Human Capital Planning Framework Is
Coherent
* [9]Some Key Human Capital Planning and Implementation
Efforts A
* [10]NRC Has Generally Been Effective in Recruiting,
Developing,
* [11]NRC's Management Is Significantly Engaged in
Establishing, C
* [12]NRC Analyzes Its Mission Priorities and Workforce
Capacity t
* [13]NRC Primarily Uses Recruiting, Hiring, Training,
and Develop
* [14]NRC Significantly Increased Its Recruiting and
Hiring Effort
* [15]NRC Has Many Training and Development Programs
in Place and
* [16]NRC's Use of Tools, Authorities, and
Flexibilities to Retain
* [17]Some Enhancements of NRC's Infrastructure to
Support Adminis
* [18]Although NRC Uses Several Human Capital Measures,
Some Do No
* [19]NRC Is Taking Steps to Address Future Uncertainties That
Cou
* [20]NRC Has Taken Steps to Address Broader Challenges
It Faces i
* [21]NRC Has Taken Several Steps to Prepare for New
Reactor Licen
* [22]Conclusions
* [23]Recommendations for Executive Action
* [24]Agency Comments
* [25]Letter
* [26]Appendix I: NRC's Changing Workforce Demographics
* [27]Appendix II: Scope and Methodology
* [28]Appendix III: New Reactor Licensing
* [29]Design Certifications
* [30]Combined Licenses
* [31]Appendix IV: Time Line of NRC's Workforce Reorganizations
* [32]Appendix V: NRC's Use of Human Capital Flexibilities, Author
* [33]Appendix VI: Comments from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
* [34]Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
* [35]GAO Contact
* [36]Staff Acknowledgments
* [37]Related GAO Reports
* [38]Nuclear Regulatory Commission
* [39]Strategic Workforce Planning and Human Capital
Management
* [40]Order by Mail or Phone
Report to the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the
Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate
United States Government Accountability Office
GAO
January 2007
HUMAN CAPITAL
Retirements and Anticipated New Reactor Applications Will Challenge NRC's
Workforce
GAO-07-105
Contents
Letter 1
Results in Brief 5
Background 8
NRC's Human Capital Planning Framework Is Aligned with Its Strategic
Mission and Programmatic Goals, but Some Further Actions Are Required 11
NRC Has Generally Been Effective in Recruiting, Developing, and Retaining
Critically Skilled Employees, yet Many Activities Were Only Recently
Initiated 16
NRC Is Taking Steps to Address Future Uncertainties That Could Adversely
Affect Its Overall Workforce Capacity 36
Conclusions 43
Recommendations for Executive Action 44
Agency Comments 44
Appendix I NRC's Changing Workforce Demographics 46
Appendix II Scope and Methodology 49
Appendix III New Reactor Licensing 52
Design Certifications 53
Combined Licenses 54
Appendix IV Time Line of NRC's Workforce Reorganizations 56
Appendix V NRC's Use of Human Capital Flexibilities, Authorities, Tools,
and Programs 58
Appendix VI Comments from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 64
Appendix VII GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 66
Related GAO Reports 67
Tables
Table 1: GAO's Strategic Workforce Planning Principles and Descriptions 4
Table 2: Comparison of Selected NRC Workforce Demographics, Fiscal Years
2002 through 2006 46
Table 3: Percentage of the NRC Workforce that Is Eligible to Retire,
Fiscal Years 2002 through 2011 48
Table 4: Employees Who Left NRC, Fiscal Years 2002 through 2006 48
Table 5: Status of Reactor Design Certification, December 2006 53
Table 6: NRC Managers' Assessment of the Use of Human Capital
Flexibilities, Authorities, Tools, and Programs 58
Figures
Figure 1: NRC's Strategic Human Capital Planning and Implementation
Framework 12
Figure 2: Twenty Potential COL Applications, as of December 2006 55
Abbreviations
ABWR Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
CDMP Comprehensive Diversity Management Plan
COL combined license
DCRA design-centered review approach
DOE Department of Energy
EPR Evolutionary Pressurized Water Reactor
ESBWR Economic Simplified, Boiling Water Reactor
FTE full-time equivalent
IG Inspector General
NEI Nuclear Energy Institute
NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRR Nuclear Reactor Regulation
NSIR Nuclear Security and Incident Response
NTEU National Treasury Employees Union
OHR Office of Human Resources
OPM Office of Personnel Management
SES Senior Executive Service
SWP strategic workforce planning
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this
work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material
separately.
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
January 17, 2007 January 17, 2007
The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka
Chairman
The Honorable George V. Voinovich
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal
Workforce, and the District of Columbia
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
United States Senate
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licenses and regulates civilian
uses of nuclear materials to protect public health, safety, and the
environment and promote the common defense and security. In particular,
NRC is responsible for overseeing the electric power industry's 103
operating nuclear reactors that generate about 20 percent of the nation's
electricity by inspecting their operations and reviewing license
applications to, for example, extend reactors' operating lives. Since
October 2005, many electric power companies have announced their intent to
apply to NRC for licenses to build and operate at least 29 new nuclear
power reactors, with project costs estimated to range from $1.5 billion to
$4 billion. NRC expects to receive 8 applications by December 2007, 10
more applications by October 2008, and 2 additional applications by the
end of September 2009--the first applications for construction licenses
since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In addition, NRC is responsible for regulating
the Department of Energy's (DOE) nuclear waste repository at Yucca
Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as medical, educational, and
other uses of nuclear materials. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
licenses and regulates civilian uses of nuclear materials to protect
public health, safety, and the environment and promote the common defense
and security. In particular, NRC is responsible for overseeing the
electric power industry's 103 operating nuclear reactors that generate
about 20 percent of the nation's electricity by inspecting their
operations and reviewing license applications to, for example, extend
reactors' operating lives. Since October 2005, many electric power
companies have announced their intent to apply to NRC for licenses to
build and operate at least 29 new nuclear power reactors, with project
costs estimated to range from $1.5 billion to $4 billion. NRC expects to
receive 8 applications by December 2007, 10 more applications by October
2008, and 2 additional applications by the end of September 2009--the
first applications for construction licenses since the 1979 accident at
the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
In addition, NRC is responsible for regulating the Department of Energy's
(DOE) nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada,
as well as medical, educational, and other uses of nuclear materials.
Congress appropriated about $735 million for NRC's activities in fiscal
year 2006. By law, NRC is required to recover about 90 percent of its
budget authority each fiscal year, less certain specified amounts, through
the fees it charges licensees and applicants. For fiscal year 2007, the
Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, would limit NRC's
appropriation to the fiscal year 2006 level, and Congressional leaders
have announced their intent to extend the Continuing Resolution for the
full fiscal year, with few exceptions. In its comments on a draft of this
report, NRC states that the funding in the Continuing Resolution would
result in a $95 million reduction in funding compared with the amount that
the full House of Representatives and the Senate Committee on
Appropriations Congress appropriated about $735 million for NRC's
activities in fiscal year 2006. By law, NRC is required to recover about
90 percent of its budget authority each fiscal year, less certain
specified amounts, through the fees it charges licensees and applicants.
For fiscal year 2007, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007,
would limit NRC's appropriation to the fiscal year 2006 level, and
Congressional leaders have announced their intent to extend the Continuing
Resolution for the full fiscal year, with few exceptions. In its comments
on a draft of this report, NRC states that the funding in the Continuing
Resolution would result in a $95 million reduction in funding compared
with the amount that the full House of Representatives and the Senate
Committee on Appropriations had approved for fiscal year 2007. According
to NRC, the agency has begun to feel the impact of the Continuing
Resolution's restrictions on funding and full-time equivalent positions.
NRC believes that these restrictions, if extended for a protracted period,
will seriously imperil its ability to meet its human capital goals and
will significantly delay its preparedness to review applications for new
nuclear power reactors. NRC cites as an example that the agency would
significantly curtail, and possibly cease, its fiscal year 2007 new
hiring, except for those already given offers and those necessary for the
most critical of skills. NRC also believes that the effects will cascade
into future years.
To fulfill its regulatory mission and help sustain public confidence in
the safety of nuclear power, NRC needs a critically skilled workforce of
scientists, engineers, and other employees with specialized knowledge,
skills, and technical expertise. However, NRC expects that the
demographics of its workforce will significantly change in the next few
years, primarily because of two factors. NRC estimates that the percentage
of employees eligible to retire will grow from the current level of about
16 percent to about 33 percent of the workforce in fiscal year 2010. (See
app. I for demographics data on NRC's workforce.) Nuclear power plant
owners and NRC have expressed concerns about their ability to even
maintain their workforces at current levels to ensure the safety of
existing plant operations and the rigor of inspections as workers retire
and reactors age. Furthermore, at the same time, NRC projects that its
workforce size will need to grow from about 3,100 employees in early
fiscal year 2006 to nearly 4,000 employees by 2010 to meet the significant
anticipated upsurge in workload demands as NRC begins to review power
company applications for permits to construct and operate new nuclear
reactors. To replace retiring employees and expand its workforce, NRC must
hire from 300 to 400 employees per year through at least 2010.
In August 2004, NRC issued its Strategic Plan, Fiscal Year 2004-Fiscal
Year 2009, which identifies the agency's vision; mission; values; and five
goals--safety, security, openness, effectiveness, and excellence in agency
management--shaping its activities through 2009. The strategic plan states
that one of NRC's greatest management challenges will be to acquire,
develop, and sustain a highly skilled and diverse technical workforce.
Similarly, during the past 6 years, NRC's Inspector General (IG) has
identified human capital management as a key challenge. To address these
concerns, NRC developed the 2004-2009 Strategic Human Capital and
Workforce Restructuring Plan (2004 strategic human capital plan), which
presents strategies to ensure that the agency can recruit, develop, and
retain the critically skilled workforce it needs.^1 In recent years, NRC
was identified as the federal government's third-best organization to work
through an analysis of the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) 2004
Federal Human Capital Survey data,^2 and NRC improved its performance in
16 of 18 categories measured by its own 2005 Safety Culture and Climate
Survey (NRC's 2005 employee survey) categories.
Our December 2003 report on effective strategic workforce planning
identified two critical elements: (1) aligning an organization's human
capital program with its current and emerging mission and programmatic
goals and (2) developing long-term strategies for acquiring, developing,
and retaining staff to achieve program goals.^3 The first element involves
linking human capital management strategies with agency mission, goals,
and organizational objectives and integrating these strategies into its
strategic plans, performance and accountability plans, and budget
requests. The second element involves undertaking workforce planning
activities to implement acquisition, development, and retention programs.
Strategic workforce planning involves systematic assessments of current
and future human capital needs and the development of long-term strategies
to fill any gaps. Our previous work suggests that, regardless of an
agency's mission, needs, and approach, strategic workforce planning should
incorporate the five key principles shown in table 1.
^1Recruiting, developing, and retaining activities include (1)
identifying, recruiting, and hiring new personnel; (2) staffing,
developing, and training new and existing personnel; and (3) transferring
or managing the knowledge for, and retaining sufficient numbers of,
critically skilled personnel.
^2The Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute
for the Study of Public Policy Implementation conducted the 2004 study.
^3GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce
Planning, [41]GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003); and OPM, Human
Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework (Washington, D.C.: 2006).
Table 1: GAO's Strategic Workforce Planning Principles and Descriptions
Principle Description
Involve top management, Agencies' top program and human capital
employees, and other stakeholders leaders set the overall direction, pace,
in developing, communicating, and tone, and goals and involve employees
implementing the strategic and stakeholders in establishing a
workforce plan. communication strategy that creates
shared expectations for the outcomes of
the process.
Determine the critical skills and Agencies determine how many personnel
competencies that will be needed have the skills and competencies needed
to achieve future programmatic to meet program goals and how many are
results. likely to remain with the agency over
time, given retirement and other
attrition. Such analysis allows agencies
to identify the resources needed to
achieve current and future goals.
Develop strategies that are Agencies use strategies, including
tailored to address gaps and programs, policies, and practices, to
human capital conditions in address how the workforce is acquired,
critical skills and competencies developed and trained, compensated;
that need attention. deployed; motivated; and retained. Such
strategies help an agency move from the
current to the future workforce.
Build the capability needed to Agencies educate managers and employees
address administrative, about available human capital
educational, and other flexibilities so that the flexibilities
requirements important to support are implemented openly, fairly, and
workforce strategies. effectively.
Monitor and evaluate the agency's Agencies use periodic measurement and
progress toward its human capital evaluation to obtain data for
goals and the contribution that identifying shortfalls and revising
human capital results have made future workforce planning efforts.
toward achieving programmatic Gathering this information helps ensure
goals. that human capital strategies work as
intended.
Source: GAO.
Given the anticipated increase in NRC's future workload, we assessed NRC's
ability to sufficiently recruit, develop, and retain the staff it needs to
inspect the operations of existing nuclear power plants, review the
license applications for constructing new reactors, and perform other
regulatory functions. Specifically, we examined the extent to which NRC
(1) has aligned its human capital planning framework with its strategic
mission and programmatic goals; (2) is effectively recruiting, developing,
and retaining critically skilled personnel; and (3) is taking steps to
address future uncertainties that could affect its overall workforce
capacity.
To assess the alignment of NRC's human capital framework with its
strategic mission and programmatic goals, we analyzed a broad range of
NRC's policy, planning, and implementation documents; reviewed budget
documents and performance and accountability reports; and interviewed
cognizant managers in NRC's Office of Human Resources (OHR), program
offices--including Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), and four regional
offices. To assess NRC's efforts to recruit, develop, and retain
critically skilled personnel, we applied our five strategic workforce
planning principles. In doing so, we analyzed NRC's (1) demographics data;
(2) critical skills information; (3) implementation of its recruiting,
hiring, training and development, and retention strategies; (4)
implementation of new systems, programs, and processes that support human
capital management and planning; and (5) measures of its progress and
results. We also surveyed 45 NRC managers in OHR, NRR and other program
offices, and four regional offices about the use of existing human capital
flexibilities, authorities, tools, and programs; our response rate was 71
percent. To assess the extent to which NRC has addressed future
uncertainties that could adversely affect its overall workforce capacity,
we examined the engineering, science, and technology labor pool and NRC's
efforts to prepare for a surge in new reactor license applications.
Specifically, we interviewed NRC managers and Nuclear Energy Institute
(NEI) executives about the supply and demand for critically skilled
workers, examined NRC's efforts to develop a "pipeline" for recruiting
these personnel, and assessed its need for any new flexibilities and
authorities. (See app. II for additional information about our scope and
methodology.) We conducted our work from March through December 2006 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Results in Brief
NRC's human capital planning framework is generally aligned with its
strategic outcomes and goals. NRC's strategic plan and associated plans
coherently outline its human capital goals, strategies, performance
measures, and activities, and these elements are linked to NRC's strategic
outcomes: (1) continuous improvement in NRC's leadership and management
effectiveness in delivering the mission and (2) a diverse, skilled
workforce and an infrastructure that fully supports the agency's mission
and goals. Although its framework is generally sound, NRC has not fully
implemented three key plans that would facilitate the recruitment and
development of employees who its offices need to maintain agency expertise
and to respond to anticipated growth in applications for reactor licenses
in the next few years. For example, NRC's 2004 strategic human capital
plan called for annual agencywide human capital implementation plans
beginning in October 2005 that would link NRC strategies to its offices'
tactical planning for accomplishing yearly goals. However, NRC has drafted
but has not completed its first annual implementation plan, in part
because of competing human capital demands particularly the need to
achieve its sharply increased hiring targets. Without the plan, NRC
managers face increased complexity and difficulty in managing activities
to recruit and develop the critically skilled employees they will need.
Similarly, although NRC recently completed two agencywide strategic
documents for knowledge management and training and development, it
remains to be seen whether NRC managers' implementation of these
initiatives will stimulate, for example, the rate of knowledge transfer
necessary for new staff to gain the critical skills they need to perform
their regulatory responsibilities. In addition, although NRC created a
Human Capital Council in July 2006 to formulate and integrate strategies
for NRC's offices to address human capital challenges, it is too early to
determine whether the council can balance its responsibility both to
develop solutions and to provide strategic direction for effectively
addressing these key challenges. Accordingly, we are recommending that NRC
take actions to better integrate its strategic human capital planning into
its implementation activities. NRC agreed with our recommendation.
NRC has been effective in recruiting, developing, and retaining a
critically skilled workforce to date, and has taken several actions in
2006 to increase its overall workforce capacity, but because NRC has not
fully implemented some of its planned efforts to enhance its hiring and
training, it is unclear whether this performance will be sustained. NRC
has addressed our five key principles for strategic workforce planning and
has used its human capital tools, authorities, and flexibilities to
recruit, develop, and retain the critically skilled workers it needs;
however, the agency has not evaluated the effectiveness of some of these
flexibilities. For example, its leadership and management have been
extensively involved in establishing, communicating, and implementing
workforce planning strategies. NRC also has developed a process that
inventories existing critical skills and compares them with needs to
identify gaps. Furthermore, NRC uses many targets and measures to monitor
the status of its efforts, such as the composition of its hires and
separations. As a result, during fiscal year 2006, NRC exceeded its
initial goal of hiring 300 new staff by bringing 371 employees on board,
which was substantially higher than in previous years. Of these new
workers, 54 percent were midlevel hires--many with nuclear industry
experience--who typically require less training before performing their
jobs than entry-level hires from universities.
Although NRC has strengthened its efforts to identify and fill critical
skills gaps, it is too early to assess the effectiveness of some
strategies that were put into practice during fiscal year 2006. For
example, NRC closed about 55 critical skills gaps but identified 115
additional critical skills gaps, many of which will require 1 year or more
of classroom and on-the-job technical training to fill. NRC also does not
systematically evaluate its use of human capital authorities and
flexibilities--such as recruitment incentives or early replacement
hiring--for recruiting, developing, and retaining a critically skilled
workforce, although it tracks the frequency of use and associated costs
for some of these authorities and flexibilities. Without this information,
NRC may either under- or over-use certain authorities and flexibilities
and inefficiently use its annual human capital funding. In addition, NRC
managers told us that while some human capital measures and targets are
reliable and useful, others do not provide sufficiently meaningful
information to assess progress. NRC planned in 2004 to develop a human
capital accountability system plan that, in part, would describe the
measures, metrics, and associated targets needed to assess its achievement
of human capital outcomes; this plan has not yet been drafted. Without
this framework, it is difficult for offices to identify useful practices
and improve agencywide understanding of how human capital activities
directly support the achievement of agency goals and strategic outcomes.
Furthermore, although NRC has previously surveyed employees about their
satisfaction with its human capital program, the agency does not plan to
conduct a survey during fiscal year 2007 even though doing so could
provide a useful, updated perspective in assessing initiatives as NRC
continues to expand its workforce. Accordingly, we are recommending that
NRC take actions to evaluate (1) the effectiveness of its use of human
capital tools, authorities, and flexibilities and (2) the usefulness of
its human capital measures; intended outputs; and targets for recruiting,
developing, and retaining a critically skilled workforce. We are also
recommending that NRC survey its employees during fiscal year 2007 about
their satisfaction with its human capital program, including new
initiatives and offices' use of flexibilities to maintain a quality work
environment. NRC agreed with our recommendations.
NRC has acted to address two key uncertainties that affect its workforce
needs--that is, whether it can (1) maintain its workforce in the face of
future competition with the nuclear power industry for critically skilled
workers and (2) accurately gauge its workload, particularly for reviewing
license applications for new nuclear reactors, during the next 3 years so
it can meet its commitments for timely reviews while ensuring nuclear
power plant safety and security. Regarding its ability to continue to
attract and retain key personnel, NRC annually tracks the number and
salaries of U.S. scientists and engineers in a few key disciplines to
discern shifting trends. NRC also has initiated additional activities,
authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to support key university
programs to attract greater numbers of students into mission-critical
skills areas, and to offer scholarships to those studying in these fields.
Such activities have the potential to enhance the quality of NRC's
entry-level candidate pool with a pipeline of critically skilled
candidates. Nevertheless, NRC will face greater competition in attracting
and retaining experienced scientists and engineers, and, further
complicating matters, NRC generally employs only U.S. citizens in these
positions. Regarding the anticipated growth of license applications for
new reactors, NRC expects to complete its review of applications within 42
months, including holding required public hearings. Although NRC's process
is intended to allow for a more efficient review of combined license
applications and is generally supported by the nuclear power industry, it
is as yet untested. In addition, in anticipation of receiving an initial
wave of applications in October 2007, NRC has periodically met with power
company representatives to discuss and resolve matters related to how the
process is to move forward.
Background
The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 established NRC as an independent
agency, headed by a five-member Commission, to regulate the nation's
civilian use--commercial, industrial, academic, and medical--of nuclear
energy and materials, including nuclear power reactors and research and
test reactors.^4 NRC's mission is to ensure that civilian users of nuclear
materials adequately (1) protect public health and safety; (2) promote the
common defense and security, including securing special nuclear materials
against radiological sabotage and theft or diversion; and (3) protect the
environment. NRC's total operating budget, excluding the IG's office, grew
from about $618 million in fiscal year 2004 to about $735 million in
fiscal year 2006.^5 While NRC requested about $808 million for fiscal year
2007, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, limits its
appropriations to the fiscal year 2006 funding level. Similarly, NRC's
funding allocations for recruiting, training, and other human capital
activities have grown from a total of $35 million, or 6 percent of its
total operating budget, in fiscal year 2004 to about $61 million, or 8
percent of its planned allocations, in fiscal year 2007.^6
4Pub. L. No. 93-438.
^5NRC is required by law to recover through fees about 90 percent of its
budget authority each fiscal year, less certain specified amounts. Under
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), as amended, the
fee recovery requirement was about 100 percent in fiscal years 1991
through 2000, and gradually reduced to 90 percent in 2006. The Energy
Policy Act of 2005 permanently extended NRC's 90-percent fee recovery
requirement beginning in fiscal year 2007. NRC collects license and
inspection fees under the authority of the Independent Offices
Appropriation Act of 1952, known as the User Charge Statute, 31 U.S.C. S
9701. NRC collects "annual fees"--generic and other regulatory costs not
covered by the license and inspection fees--under the authority of
OBRA-90, as amended. Operators of federally owned research reactors are
exempt from paying fees if the reactors are used primarily for educational
training and research and meet certain technical design criteria. See 71
Fed. Reg. 30722, 30732 (May 30, 2006).
About 70 percent of NRC's workforce in fiscal year 2006 was dedicated to
ensuring the safe and secure operation of civilian nuclear power reactor
facilities and research and test reactors. NRC estimates that at least 500
new critically skilled positions will be added through fiscal year 2009,
primarily to license and inspect the construction of new reactors. (See
app. III for more information on NRC's new reactor licensing process.)
NRC's reactor safety activities and their related percentages of NRC's
workforce include the following:
o reactor licensing: power upgrades (approving increases in the
allowable level of generated power) and license transfers,
operator licensing, regulation development, operating experience
evaluation, and financial assurance (25 percent of NRC's
workforce);
o reactor license renewal (3 percent);
o new reactor licensing (6 percent);
o reactor inspection and performance assessment: emergency
preparedness and incident response, reactor technical and
regulatory training, imposition of enforcement sanctions for
violations of NRC requirements, and investigation of alleged
wrongdoing by licensees, applicants, contractors, or vendors (30
percent);
o homeland security activities: threat assessment, safeguards and
security reviews and inspections, force-on-force exercises, and
regulatory infrastructure (5 percent); and
o international efforts to enhance domestic and global nuclear
safety (1 percent).
In fiscal year 2006, about 28 percent of NRC's workforce was
devoted to the following nuclear materials and nuclear waste
safety activities to secure the use and management of radioactive
materials:
o nuclear fuel cycle facilities (6 percent of NRC's workforce);
o nuclear materials activities (10 percent);
o repository or disposal of high-level waste--specifically,
licensing decisions and regulatory oversight (4 percent);
o decommissioning of nuclear reactors and other facilities, and
low-level waste management (almost 4 percent); and
o storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel both at and
away from reactor sites (almost 4 percent).
NRC estimates little growth in the number of personnel committed
to these activities, with some slight increases related to fuel
cycle production facilities and possibly high-level waste storage,
depending upon DOE's submission of its license application for the
Yucca Mountain repository.^7 In fiscal year 2007, NRC expects to
oversee more than 4,400 licenses for nuclear materials and nuclear
waste safety, while 34 Agreement States will regulate and oversee
over 18,000 licenses.^8
NRC�s Human Capital Planning Framework Is Aligned with Its
Strategic Mission and Programmatic Goals, but Some Further
Actions Are Required
NRC's human capital planning framework is generally aligned with
its strategic mission, outcomes, and programmatic goals; however,
some key plans and activities are still being developed or
implemented.
NRC�s Strategic Human Capital Planning Framework Is Coherently
Aligned
NRC's human capital planning framework has generally aligned human
capital activities with NRC's management goal and the goal's
strategic outcomes. NRC also has taken significant steps,
particularly during fiscal year 2006, to ensure that human capital
plans and strategies are demonstrated through its human capital
activities by achievement of agencywide and office-specific goals
and outcomes. In addition, NRC's strategic and existing
operational planning documents link human capital goals and
strategies to several agencywide performance measures.
A critical success factor for high-performing organizations is the
alignment of their human capital initiatives with mission and goal
accomplishment. Alignment is demonstrated by linking human capital
management strategies with agency mission, goals, and
organizational objectives and integrating these strategies into
its strategic plans, performance and accountability plans, and
budget requests. This linkage allows agencies to assess and
understand the extent to which their workforce contributes to
achieving the overarching mission.
As shown in figure 1, NRC's strategic human capital approach
demonstrably supports the agency's organizational performance
objectives. Together, NRC's plans and strategies, programs, and
activities provide a coherent structure designed to support NRC's
safety and security mission. Specifically, NRC's strategic plan
outlines six human capital strategies that delineate how the
agency will achieve its strategic outcomes of (1) continuous
improvement in NRC's leadership and management effectiveness in
delivering the mission and (2) a diverse, skilled workforce and an
infrastructure that fully support the agency's mission and goals.
^6NRC uses OPM's Human Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework
categories to organize its human capital budget. In fiscal year 2006,
three human capital budget categories--talent, results oriented
performance culture, and leadership and knowledge management--contained
over 25 items and accounted for nearly $40 million and over 90 full-time
equivalent (FTE) positions. In addition, strategic alignment,
accountability, and workforce planning/deployment were assigned 2 FTE
positions.
^7In July 2006, DOE announced its intention to submit its license
application for the Yucca Mountain repository to NRC by June 30, 2008, and
to initiate repository operations in 2017. DOE stated the 2017 opening
date is a "best-achievable schedule" and is predicated upon enactment of
new legislation.
^8Under section 274(b) of the Atomic Energy Act, NRC has relinquished to
the 34 Agreement States responsibility for licensing and regulating the
use of source, by-product and certain quantities of special nuclear
material within the state.
Figure 1: NRC's Strategic Human Capital Planning and Implementation
Framework
NRC has also taken significant steps to ensure that human capital plans
and strategies are implemented to achieve agencywide and office-specific
goals and outcomes. For example, NRC's 2004 strategic human capital plan
delineates tools, authorities, flexibilities, and programs for hiring,
developing, and retaining personnel, most of which NRC currently uses. The
strategic human capital plan also directs the development of several
additional plans, strategies, and activities--many of which have been put
into place--to achieve the workforce needed to accomplish NRC's goals.
NRC's strategic and existing operational planning documents also link
human capital goals and strategies to several agencywide performance
measures, in part illustrated in its annual performance budget and
accountability reporting.
Some Key Human Capital Planning and Implementation Efforts Are Still in Process
While NRC's planning framework delineates the relationship between human
capital activities and strategic outcomes, some key plans are still being
developed, completed, or put into practice. Although most of NRC's
agencywide and office specific plans provide human capital management
strategies, the linkage is not fully delineated between generally
identifying strategies and selecting and deploying particular strategies.
An agency that is successful in aligning and integrating human capital
approaches and goals considers further initiatives and refinements when
organizational needs change or when successes or shortcomings of its human
capital efforts are demonstrated.^9 NRC is currently undergoing such a
transition because the agency, both in terms of demographics and workload,
will have increasing and diverse human capital needs in coming years. In
response, during fiscal year 2006, NRC initiated a range of activities, in
various stages of completion, intended to provide a more robust framework
through which to operate during the next few years. For example:
o Since late 2005, NRC's four regional offices have developed or
are further implementing human capital management plans that
reflect their human capital activities. The general framework of
these plans mirror NRC's 2004 strategic human capital plan.
o In August 2006, NRC adopted a more comprehensive approach to its
knowledge management and knowledge transfer. NRC's prior approach
to knowledge management did not fully support the agency's need
for a faster rate of knowledge transfer to accommodate increasing
retirements, midcareer turnover, agency growth, and the broader
scope of knowledge needed, for example, to support new
technologies and new reactor designs. NRC's new framework provides
significant direction and detail regarding how knowledge
management can be accomplished. However, it remains to be seen
whether implementation of these initiatives will
stimulate the rate of knowledge transfer necessary for new staff
to gain the critical skills they need to perform their regulatory
responsibilities.
o In fiscal years 2006 and 2007, NRC has been developing common
measures for offices to monitor and evaluate performance in
support of the goals in its 2004 Comprehensive Diversity
Management Plan (CDMP) to (1) recruit diverse employees at all
levels, (2) develop and retain diverse employees by promoting an
environment that values differences, and (3) increase the
diversity of employees in senior and managerial positions. CDMP
was designed to promote strategies that increase NRC's
organizational capacity, guide decisions and practices that impact
equal opportunity, and promote the principles of diversity
management.
o In early 2006, NRC developed a more detailed agencywide list of
best practices strategies and actions for achieving equal
employment opportunity goals through recruiting, staff
development, merit process, inclusion and workforce culture,
awards and recognition, communication, action tracking, and
organization assessment. These best practices strategies and
actions complement CDMP strategies.^10
o In September 2006, NRC finalized a strategic training and
development plan to more specifically identify how existing
efforts to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of training
will be augmented and integrated. The plan's goals are to enhance
individual performance, meet agency needs, ensure resources are
optimized, and confirm the extent to which NRC is realizing
training benefits.
o During fiscal year 2006, NRC identified inefficiencies in
coordinating and integrating planning and operations, stretching
its human capital resources to hire and meet the need for nearly
double the number of new employees than in previous years. In
part, NRC's intensified activity demonstrated that coordination
among human resources and program offices, although considerable,
was not yet optimized. In response, in July 2006, NRC created a
Human Capital Council composed of office deputy directors and a
deputy regional administrator to provide a senior leadership and
programmatic perspective.^11 OHR chairs and supports the council,
whose purpose is to provide an agency-level forum to formulate
strategies to address human capital challenges, share best
practices, and develop an integrated approach to address human
capital issues. The council is expected to make recommendations
for action to the Executive Director for Operations and Chief
Human Capital Officer to improve the agency's management of human
capital. The council also intends to identify ways by which OHR
personnel can more proactively support program offices and solve
problems. However, it is too early to determine whether the
council can balance its responsibility to provide both strategic
direction and develop an integrated approach for effectively
addressing these key challenges.
o NRC has drafted but has not completed its first annual human
capital implementation plan, in part because of the need to
support competing human capital demands, particularly NRC's
sharply increased hiring targets.^12 Similar to the aims of the
Human Capital Council, the implementation plan would serve to link
strategic planning to operational planning and implementation
efforts. At least one program office, NRR, has developed such a
plan, which both demonstrates alignment to NRC's 2004 strategic
human capital plan and provides much more specificity on the means
to achieve and implement human capital strategies. Without the
plan, NRC managers face increased complexity and uncertainty in
managing recruitment and development activities for the critically
skilled employees they will need.
It is too soon to determine the extent to which these recent
efforts, taken together or separately, will help NRC to more
effectively respond both to continuing and new workforce demands
during 2007 through 2010, and beyond. The urgency to incorporate
strategic human capital management principles more explicitly into
operations may vary across program offices, in part because of
somewhat different program needs or requirements. Because key
internal stakeholder commitment and involvement will dictate their
success, the further development and use of these plans and
activities are likely contingent on whether stakeholders consider
them necessary and effective for integrating NRC's human capital
activities and enable them to achieve the desired results.
NRC Has Generally Been Effective in Recruiting, Developing, and
Retaining Critically Skilled Employees, yet Many Activities Were
Only Recently Initiated
To date, NRC's approach for recruiting, developing, and retaining
a critically skilled workforce has generally been effective and
addresses our five key principles for effective strategic
workforce planning. NRC's implementation of its workforce planning
strategies demonstrates significant agency focus on achieving a
diverse, skilled workforce to meet anticipated workload demands
that it foresees in the next few years. For example, NRC has
estimated the skills and personnel it needs for new reactor
licensing and exceeded its fiscal year hiring target by bringing
on 371 new employees. However, because of substantial challenges
facing NRC and because several efforts have not yet been fully put
into practice, the framework's overall effectiveness in
collectively enhancing NRC's overall workforce capacity is not
fully clear. As a result, while NRC determined that it closed
about 55 critical skills gaps in fiscal year 2006, it also
identified 115 new gaps and 76 continuing or long-term gaps, many
of which will take a significant amount of training and
development to be considered filled. NRC has proposed to increase
funding for leadership, training and development, and knowledge
management by 37 percent in its fiscal year 2007 budget request in
an effort to further close these gaps. In addition, NRC's use of
its flexibilities could be further improved by systematically
evaluating how they contribute to desired outcomes. Similarly, NRC
could revise some of its measures, metrics, and targets to better
target and gauge agency progress.
NRC Analyzes Its Mission Priorities and Workforce Capacity to
Identify Ongoing and Future Critical Skills Needs
Our prior work found that top leadership and management, when
clearly and personally involved in workforce planning, can provide
the organizational vision that is important in times of change,
and can generate stability and cooperation within the agency to
ensure that planning strategies are thoroughly implemented and
sustained. With respect to our first principle, we found that over
the past several years, NRC's top leadership has provided
direction, and together with senior management, has become
increasingly engaged in human capital management and strategic
workforce planning.^13 NRC's 2004-2009 Strategic Plan, which
introduced a management goal and objectives specifically for
strategic human capital management, was developed through
high-level collaboration among the Deputy Executive Directors for
Operations, the Chief Financial Officer, the four regional
administrators, and the directors of program offices and OHR.
Top leadership's involvement in strategic workforce planning and
human capital activities is further evidenced through annual
briefings to the Commissioners on human capital management;
biannual briefings to the Commissioners on comprehensive diversity
management; and the Commission's hosting of annual all-staff
meetings, during which Commissioners communicate agency progress,
discuss challenges the agency faces, and respond to employees'
questions. During the past year, the Commissioners also solicited
more information on, and provided more direction for, implementing
such human capital activities as recruiting, hiring, and knowledge
management. NRC managers generally told us that the agency's human
capital approach plays a significant role in enabling NRC to
attract, hire, and retain a diverse and skilled workforce.
Overall, NRC's 2005 employee survey results showed that employee
perceptions of management had improved since 2002; nevertheless,
results also indicated that NRC management could further improve
upon how it encourages employees to give their best.
In emphasizing the importance of succession planning, senior NRC
managers also said the agency is active in identifying and
developing its midlevel and upper-level managers and leaders. Our
prior work has found that such activities can positively affect an
agency's ability to increase the retention of high-potential
employees, maintain sufficient leadership capacity as senior
executives retire, and achieve a more diverse workforce. NRC
continued and intensified its succession planning activities in
2006 in light of agency growth and reorganization with managers
conducting efforts to determine the appropriate skills and
leadership "fit" for Senior Executive Service (SES) positions and
anticipating replacement needs in 2-, 4-, and 6-year time
frames.^14
Our prior human capital work also found that an organization's
effective use of communications strategies promotes transparency,
creates shared expectations, and enables improved progress
reporting. Although from 2001 to 2005, NRC's IG identified
intra-agency communications as one of the most serious challenges
facing the agency, it removed this challenge in its 2006 report
because of various actions NRC has taken to improve internal
communications. In addition, NRC's 2005 employee survey results
demonstrated a significant improvement over the 2002 survey
results. The steps that NRC has taken include the following:
o In response to a 2002 IG recommendation, NRC created a
Communications Council in 2003. The council, which meets monthly,
coordinates and launches internal communications initiatives,
shares best practices, provides a forum for offices to advise and
recommend further improvements, and posts meeting summaries to
NRC's internal Web page.
o Management has promoted transparency by developing and
disseminating key information on its human capital policies,
procedures, and processes through management directives and
"yellow announcements."^15
o To create shared expectations and buy-in, OHR conducts periodic
video teleconferences with regional offices' management,
supervisors, and staff to explain new policies and procedures. OHR
also provides other face-to-face training as needed, typically on
new developments or major changes in human capital policies and
procedures. For example, in 2006, OHR and the General Counsel
partnered to conduct focused training on such topics
as merit staffing, performance and conduct issues, and equal
employment opportunity, which NRC plans to incorporate into its
formal supervisory curriculum.
o The NRC Reporter, a weekly newsletter instituted in early 2005,
provides employees with information on various agency initiatives,
and an Executive Director for Operations Update, introduced in
2002, discusses operational activities on a weekly to biweekly
basis.
o NRC's Web site and Agencywide Document and Access Management
System also provide easy access to human capital materials,
including transcripts of annual briefings, planning documents, and
its "human capital management tool box."
o NRC routinely solicits feedback or comments from offices,
employees, and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) on the
introduction of new or major changes to flexibilities, policies,
and procedures.^16
o NRC's 2005 employee survey results on NRC's Differing
Professional Opinions Program, through which employees can provide
alternative professional theories or opinions, demonstrated no
statistically significant increase in this category's results
since 2002, and NRC identified it as an area for improvement. A
key senior manager also noted that concern still existed about
this program yet encouraged its use, saying that such opinions and
resulting discussions make NRC's organizational safety and
security mind-set sounder.
Although NRC has demonstrated efforts in the above areas,
opportunities exist to further enhance its capability to monitor
and measure its human capital success and progress. We have found
that leading organizations have periodically sought their
employees' input and explicitly addressed that input to adjust
their human capital approaches.^17 One way agencies assess
employee satisfaction and leadership and management practices that
contribute to agency performance is through employee surveys.
NRC's IG conducts its Safety Culture and Climate Survey every few
years, the last being in 2005; NRC also participates in OPM's
biannual Federal Human Capital Survey, most recently conducted in
2006. Even though (1) at least one third of its workforce will be
directly affected by office reorganizations or expansions, (2)
several key human capital efforts are to be further implemented,
and (3) over 200 retirements or resignations are anticipated, NRC
does not plan to conduct an employee survey during fiscal year
2007. Employee survey results could provide NRC managers with
employees' feedback that could be used to adjust the human capital
approaches as appropriate during this particularly critical year.
Without such data as a key basis for understanding the workforce
climate, it will be more difficult for NRC to gauge any shifting
trends, determine strategies to address any problems, and report
on actions it has taken to move forward.
NRC managers and a key NTEU official we interviewed said that
their relationship, characterized as somewhat tenuous, could also
be improved. NTEU officials told us that NTEU's influence had
diminished somewhat in recent years because (1) since 2001,
federal agencies are no longer required to establish partnerships
with their labor organizations;^18 (2) the union's own leadership
style was not always conducive to effecting change; and (3) the
union provided limited resources and incentives to stimulate
active participation of its members. NTEU officials and NRC
managers also had differing views on how to facilitate Agency
Labor-Management Partnership Committee meetings between senior
union officials and NRC managers, yet they agreed on the need to
raise issues appropriate for committee consideration. NRC managers
and NTEU officials told us that they plan to defer renegotiation
of the NTEU contract until 2008, although they recognize NRC's
work environment is rapidly changing.
Our prior work found that maintaining information on the critical
skills and competencies that an organization's personnel possess
is especially important for federal agencies operating in a
changing environment.^19 Shifts in national priorities, advances
in technology, budget constraints, and other factors affect the
critical skills an agency needs to fulfill its mission. NRC
annually analyzes its workforce's skills by gathering data on
employee skills and competencies, identifying the existing and
future critical skills needed, and determining if and where gaps
exist. As a result of this process, which has become increasingly
institutionalized since 2002, NRC reviews its existing workforce
characteristics, identifies ongoing and future critical skills
needs, and tracks critical skills gaps. Engineers and scientists,
who represent about half of the overall workforce, are the more
evident of NRC's critically skilled population; however, NRC has
identified the fields of contracting, law, security, and risk
assessment, among others, as mission-critical skills. In addition,
because of increased homeland security requirements, NRC's
critical skill set has broadened in recent years to include more
expertise in materials and reactor security, emergency
preparedness, and incident response.
For NRC's annual critical skills assessment, (1) employees
inventory their skills, competencies, and levels of expertise; (2)
office and branch managers assess the supply of and demand for
general and particular skills; and (3) OHR personnel further
analyze this information to determine agencywide critical skills
needs. The primary tool NRC uses to gather detailed data on an
employee's critical skills and competencies is its strategic
workforce planning (SWP) system database, which was developed in
2002. The SWP system identifies the critical skills and
competencies each employee possesses, his or her career stage, and
his or her retirement eligibility dates. Supervisors, managers, or
human resources personnel can then generate summary reports with a
range of parameters. The SWP system's staff and critical skill
matrix lists all staff in a given branch or office, and indicates
each employee's skill level, title, retirement eligibility date,
and years until retirement. OHR and program office managers told
us that the SWP system's accessibility and utility have improved
in the last 2 years. Some program managers noted that they have
used SWP data to identify potential skills needs and gaps, to
inform decisions when assigning work, and for succession planning.
These managers noted that the SWP system requires recurring
employee input and managerial and supervisory inputs and analysis
to be effective. In 2006, over 80 percent of employees and
supervisors updated their skills and anticipated needs,
respectively.
In addition to gathering skills information, NRC has conducted an
annual agencywide needs and gaps assessment since 2003. More
specifically, program office managers assess the supply of and
demand for general and particular skills in their offices and
branches, given their existing and anticipated workload. The
offices each identify their "most critical" needs.^20 They then
categorize these needs as either near term (0 to 2 years) or long
term (3 to 5 years), and their importance as either top tier or
second tier. Then, OHR compiles these assessments, conducts
further analyses, and reports the results to senior NRC managers
and program offices. NRC's fiscal year 2006 analyses identified
over 300 critical skills needs, over 100 of which were categorized
as top tier.
In preparation for reviewing combined license (COL) applications
for constructing and conditionally operating new nuclear reactors
and plants, NRC has assessed the range and magnitude of critical
skills needs. Specifically, NRC conducted a job-task analysis in
early 2006 to better define anticipated critical skills needs by
identifying detailed tasks, competencies, and skills associated
with prior reactor license application reviews. NRC managers
determined that a large majority of skills associated with current
licensing, regulatory, and technical expertise related to existing
reactors are "portable" to the new reactor licensing reviews.
These managers also identified a small number of new critical
skills that are specific to new reactor licensing, such as
hydrology and reactor physics. NRR then developed an initial
resource estimate model that, in part, estimated critical skills
needs by functional areas.^21 Five skill sets--project management,
civil engineering, instrumentation and controls, legal, and
operator licensing--make up over 50 percent of the estimated
effort, while about 17 other skill sets make up the remainder. In
the summer of 2006, NRR retained a contractor to develop a master
project management plan for project planning and scheduling that
would (1) support NRC's review of COL applications for
constructing and conditionally operating a new reactor and (2)
link critical skills needs to actual personnel, positions, and
time frames. The plan, which will be completed in early 2007, will
estimate how to phase, project manage, and staff each aspect of
the reviews, on the basis of validation of initial estimates. NRR
is also developing a transitional staffing plan to identify the
employees who will work in NRR and in NRC's newly established
Office of New Reactors. (See app. IV for information about NRC's
recent workforce reorganization and expansion.) In doing so, these
managers said that the combined use of the SWP system, the
resource estimate model, and the project management plan will
inform how NRR will reorganize its personnel into the two offices
and allocate its resources.
NRC Primarily Uses Recruiting, Hiring, Training, and Development
Strategies to Close Existing and Future Critical Skills Gaps
Our prior work has found that, to fill skills gaps, agencies need
to develop human capital strategies and tools with the resources
that are reasonably expected to be available. These strategies and
tools encompass recruiting and hiring, training and developing
staff and leadership, succession planning, knowledge management,
and use of flexibilities. Agencies also need to align these
strategies to eliminate gaps and optimize the contribution of
current and future critical skills and competencies for mission
success.
NRC annually identifies critical skills gaps and develops
strategies to address the gaps to achieve and maintain the level
of expertise required to meet existing and anticipated workload
demands. During the last 2 years, program office managers have
relied on (1) recruiting and hiring and (2) training and
development as their key gap closure strategies, among others.
These also represent the majority of the tools, programs,
authorities, and flexibilities NRC regularly employs as human
capital strategies.
NRC Significantly Increased Its Recruiting and Hiring Efforts
and Its Use of Certain Flexibilities in Fiscal Year 2006
NRC's recruiting and hiring approach enabled the agency to exceed
both its initial 2006 hiring target of 300 and its subsequent
target of 350, by hiring 371 new employees who had reported as of
September 30, 2006. NRC uses both general and specific vacancy
announcements at the entry, mid, and upper levels that typically
represent few to several critical skills areas in related
disciplines and specialty areas.^22 Fiscal year 2006 was the first
year in over a decade that NRC's recruiting and hiring efforts
were targeted at both replacing personnel leaving the agency and
expanding its workforce--about half of the new hires replaced
employees who left NRC through retirement or resignation and half
increased NRC's total workforce to 3,347 employees.^23 In
particular, NRR lost 75 employees--39 employees retired or
resigned and 36 transferred to other NRC offices--but hired nearly
200 employees, to staff both existing and new reactor licensing
work. NRC's fiscal year 2007 hiring needs represent over 25
critical skills areas, and represent general and specific
engineering and science fields as well as security, intelligence,
information technology, contract management, human resources, and
project management fields.
NRC's approach is driven by the identification of critical skills
needs and efforts to fill gaps, and includes the following
activities:
o NRC's annual recruiting call projects the agency's needs to hire
entry-level and experienced employees with critical skills in
particular disciplines. The fiscal year 2006 recruiting included
general and specific engineering and science fields, security,
information technology, and contract management fields. NRC's
recruiting program includes visits to universities and
professional society organizations to identify highly qualified
candidates.
o While the percentages vary somewhat from year to year, NRC
generally brings on 60 to 70 percent of its new professional hires
at the midlevel or upper level--frequently with several years of
relevant professional experience--and the remainder of its hires
at the entry level. About 200 of these hires--predominantly
engineers, scientists, lawyers, human resource specialists, and
contract specialists--came on at the midlevel or upper level in
2006, including over 50 hired from other federal agencies.
Midlevel or upper level hires generally require less training than
entry-level hires from universities to perform their jobs.
More broadly, although the agency exceeded its hiring goals in
fiscal year 2006, it is unclear whether NRC can effectively close
critical skills gaps in the near and longer term. While the agency
determined that it closed about 55 gaps in fiscal year 2006, it
also identified 115 new gaps and 76 continuing or long-term
gaps.^24 Most new NRC employees typically need from 1 to several
years of targeted technical training, on-the-job experience,
and/or development opportunities to fully learn and perform agency
job functions, according to NRC managers. In addition, making
determinations about whether gaps are sufficiently filled is an
involved process and often depends on managers' understanding of
each employee's knowledge and skills. However, maintaining that
understanding will likely become more difficult as workforce
demographics shift and NRC reorganizes and grows. In addition,
gaps are determined at the branch level, reported at the office
and regional levels, and compiled into an agencywide assessment.
While some knowledge and skills are easily shared within branches,
divisions, or offices, managers told us that the transferability
of employees across these areas can be limited.
NRC also uses various flexibilities in recruiting and hiring new
employees, and it tracks the frequency and cost associated with
the use of some flexibilities. (See app. V for NRC's use of human
capital flexibilities, authorities, tools, and programs.) For
example, we found that OHR, program, and regional managers
identified recruitment incentives as among the most valuable of
NRC's tools. Comparisons of recruitment incentive awards in fiscal
years 2004 and 2006 show that (1) the number of awards increased
from 6 to over 140, (2) total monetary awards increased from
$77,000 to $979,000, and (3) the maximum value of an award
increased from about $5,400 to over $20,000. NRC requested $1.25
million to make about 160 incentive awards in fiscal year 2007. In
addition, NRC awards standardized recruitment incentives to many
entry-level engineers and scientists and, on a case-by-case basis,
to midlevel personnel who are typically in more specific critical
skills areas. NRC tracks midlevel hires who received recruitment
incentives--about 60 in fiscal year 2006--and at least 90 percent
worked in the private sector, including many for nuclear power
plants or reactor vendors.
NRC managers we interviewed and surveyed were generally satisfied
with recruitment incentive awards and other available recruiting
and hiring flexibilities, but they also said that direct hire
authority would be a particularly useful recruiting and hiring
tool.^25 In March 2006, OPM did not approve NRC's request to
obtain this authority because it determined that the law does not
apply to NRC's excepted-service positions. OHR managers told us
that direct hire authority is among NRC's most wanted legislative
authorities and that NRC is exploring avenues for obtaining it by,
for example, requesting legislation.
Although NRC tracks the frequency and cost associated with some
recruiting and hiring flexibilities, it does not fully use some of
these data to inform management decisions and further target
recruiting and hiring efforts. Similarly, NRC does not
systematically evaluate the extent to which the flexibilities
positively affect its ability to realize a diverse, highly skilled
workforce. For example, NRC does not assess the effectiveness of
alternative recruitment incentives in attracting highly skilled
employees or early replacement hiring that enables a new employee
to work with a long-term employee who plans to transfer locations
or retire. Without evaluating the effectiveness of its
flexibilities, NRC may either under- or over-use certain
authorities and flexibilities and inefficiently use its annual
human capital funding. The Human Capital Council could provide a
forum for evaluating the office- and agency-level implementation
of human capital flexibilities and their effectiveness.
Opportunities may also exist to improve some of NRC's recruiting
processes. For example, it is unclear to what extent NRC managers
systematically prioritize the positions that need to be filled,
including the extent to which incentives should be offered to
prospective employees. Similarly, a cognizant NRC manager told us
that the agency appeared to dedicate a disproportionate amount of
resources to recruiting and hiring at the entry level, for which
the pool of applicants is very robust, as opposed to midlevel and
upper-level positions, for which candidates generally have had
work experience in the nuclear power industry--mainly either at
nuclear power plants or reactor vendors. In addition, most NRC
managers expressed concern about NRC's future ability to recruit
for midlevel and upper-level positions when faced with more
aggressive industry competition.
NRC Has Many Training and Development Programs in Place and Is
Using Flexibilities to Enhance Existing Capacity
NRC's training and development activities also represent a key gap
closure strategy the agency uses. In general, the agency's
training and development efforts include (1) agencywide, formal
technical or leadership training and certification programs; (2)
external training such as enrollment in specialized programs; and
(3) on-the-job training involving knowledge and skills transfer on
particular subjects. NRC recently finalized both a knowledge
management program and a strategic training and development plan
to support and sustain its critically skilled workforce. In fiscal
year 2006, NRC allocated about $9.7 million for leadership
development, training and development, and knowledge management
activities. Its fiscal year 2007 budget request proposed to
increase training and development spending to about $15.4 million,
including $4.2 million for new reactor training, $4 million for
internal technical training, and over $3 million for
office-specific training.
Managers we interviewed and surveyed identified NRC's formal
training and development--such as qualification programs for
materials or reactor health physics inspectors--and its Nuclear
Safety Professional Development Program, SES Candidate Development
Program, and Leadership Potential Program as among the most
valuable for training and developing personnel. While NRC's
Nuclear Safety Professional Development Program has been in place
and has grown over the past several years, the agency also has
expanded development opportunities for its midlevel and
upper-level supervisors and managers, particularly in fiscal year
2006. Specifically, NRC facilitated increased, more frequent
enrollments in both the Leadership Potential Program and its
counterpart Team Leader Development Program. Because the increase
in the overall size of NRC's workforce corresponds with the need
for trained supervisors, managers told us that providing
sufficient training and development opportunities for new
supervisors is vital. These managers expressed concern about any
potential negative effect of excessive workloads on frontline
supervisors, many of whom are also new to their positions.
In addition to increasing participation in its development
programs, NRC is increasing the frequency of key course offerings
and focusing on particular critical skills areas. For example, in
early 2006, OHR and NRR evaluated the extent to which training on
new reactor designs would be required--anticipating future gaps on
unique elements related to the regulatory process and design
technologies--for which the agency has initiated specific training
courses. Similarly, NRC plans to extend its Graduate Fellowship
Program, which helps attract a small number of high-quality,
highly educated employees in critical skills areas that the agency
might not otherwise successfully hire.
In July 2006, NRC instituted a knowledge management program to
facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills on specific
subjects. The program is intended to systematize NRC's existing
structure to better support the faster rate of collection,
transfer, and use of a broader scope of knowledge needed to
support, for example, new reactor technologies and new reactor
designs. The program outlines initiatives that serve to avoid
significant loss of mission-critical knowledge. NRC plans to (1)
take over 15 implementing actions to facilitate the transfer of
knowledge and skills during fiscal years 2006 through 2008 and (2)
allocate over $1 million and several personnel to implement the
program.^26 In general, the managers we interviewed and surveyed
said the program would be an increasingly valuable tool in the
coming years. NRC also uses the following specific flexibilities
to transfer skills and knowledge:
o NRC has hired replacements for certain positions before the
current occupants leave the agency. Known as early replacement
hiring or double encumbering, this flexibility allows NRC to
provide salary and benefits funding for up to 1 year for the
purpose of transferring critical skills, competencies, and
institutional memory from an employee who is planning to leave NRC
to a replacement employee. To be effective, early replacement
hiring requires that the departing employee inform NRC of such
intentions well in advance of the actual departure date. Since
2004, NRC's annual funding for early replacement hiring has
remained at $630,000, and an agency manager estimated that NRC had
spent about $565,000 for 12 positions in fiscal year 2006.
o As authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, NRC has waived
dual compensation limitations, known as the pension offset, for
rehired retirees receiving pensions. This flexibility, known as
the elimination of pension offset, allows NRC to rehire a retiree
to fill a position at full pay if NRC has had difficulty in
filling the position or if a temporary emergency exists.^27 In
fiscal year 2006, NRC granted waivers for 46 retirees in eight
headquarters and regional offices and spent about $2.3 million to
employ them. The elimination of the pension offset is expected to
become increasingly valuable to NRC in the next few years to
retain access to expertise for knowledge transfer purposes.
Also in 2006, NRC completed its agencywide training and
development strategic plan to support more systematization,
definition, and integration of its overall training and
development approach. The plan delineates four goals related to
individual performance, training effectiveness, training
efficiency, and organizational performance. It identifies the
following actions that NRC plans to take to better anticipate
staffing, skills, and expertise to improve planning and reduce
reactive responses:
o ensure that its intended benefits are realized by using a
documented and integrated approach;
o more comprehensively define competencies and training needs for
major functions or groups of like positions; and
o better integrate its training and development programs with
performance elements and standards, position descriptions,
training needs surveys, and the SWP system.
NRC managers generally believe that documenting and enhancing
training, development, and qualification programs will be
essential to enable NRC personnel to accomplish NRC's mission
effectively and efficiently over the next several years. Because
determining gap closure frequently requires tracking particular
skills gaps over a multiyear period, and is not always easily
demonstrated, NRC could benefit from this more systematic
approach.
NRC�s Use of Tools, Authorities, and Flexibilities to Retain
Critically Skilled Employees Varies
Nearly all of the managers we interviewed and surveyed said
retention was not a problem, often citing NRC's 2005 attrition
rate of about 6 percent. As a result, few managers identified
retention tools as primary gap strategies that NRC most frequently
uses to meet existing and future skills needs. However, the
managers expressed general concern about impending retirements and
potential future resignations if competition with the nuclear
power industry intensifies for critically skilled employees.
NRC employs some of the same tools, programs, and flexibilities to
retain personnel that it uses to hire employees, but their
purpose, audience, and application vary. For example:
o NRC managers cited the relocation incentive as a valuable tool
in retaining NRC personnel, especially inspectors, who move to new
positions. Overall, 39 employees at the midlevel and upper level
received a cumulative amount of $638,000 in fiscal year 2006. When
change-of-station benefits and relocation services are added to
this amount, relocation outlays totaled approximately $15 million
and represented the majority of NRC's 2006 human capital budget's
Talent subcategory.
o NRC offers retention incentives, although somewhat infrequently.
In fiscal year 2006, it awarded four, totaling less than $35,000.
o NRC spent less than $1 million in total for student loan
repayments for fiscal years 2004 through 2006. Its use of student
loan repayments as a retention incentive has been relatively
steady in recent years and has primarily targeted a handful of
employees hired into the Honor Law Graduate Program. However, some
NRC managers believe its use might be expanded in the next few
years.
o Most managers we interviewed and surveyed considered telework
and flexible work schedule arrangements to be very to extremely
valuable, and would be of the same or increasing value in
recruiting, hiring, and retaining NRC personnel in the next few
years. However, a cognizant NRC manager said that managerial and
supervisory responsiveness to such arrangements varies. NRC does
not routinely track or evaluate telework participation, such as
the number and type of requests approved and denied, costs,
benefits, and resource requirements associated with the program.
However, NRC informally surveys offices about the number of
employees who telework regularly, which is typically considered to
be 1 day per workweek. As of November 2005, when NRC last gathered
this information, about 250 of NRC's 3,000 employees regularly
teleworked. In addition, many NRC employees telework on an
irregular and infrequent basis.
Although NRC uses and tracks these retention flexibilities to
varying extents, it has not collected the information on each
flexibility's costs and benefits needed to assess its
effectiveness in retaining critically skilled employees while
fulfilling management's objectives.
Some Enhancements of NRC�s Infrastructure to Support Administrative,
Educational, and Other Requirements Are in Process
Agencies should build the capability needed to address
administrative, educational, and other requirements--including
information technology, security, and adequate space--that are
essential to supporting infrastructure needs. Our prior work has
found that agency officials should look for instances to improve
process and procedure efficiencies and economies to reallocate
resources and enable their human capital organizations to meet
expanded roles in times of growth or change. We determined that
NRC has taken steps to develop its internal capability to support
the large number of new employees it expects to hire in upcoming
years because of retirements and anticipated applications for
licensing new nuclear reactors. In recent years, NRC has enhanced
its administrative and information technology and communications
support processes to improve its infrastructure. However, the
agency still faces a few key limiting factors that, if left
unaddressed or unresolved, may adversely affect its ability to
meet current and future workforce needs.
To improve its human capital administrative processes related to
management, NRC has streamlined its recruiting and hiring
processes by, for example, introducing an automated hiring system,
identifying areas where it could standardize and streamline its
processes, and eliminating unnecessary duplication of efforts.
Implemented in 2002, NRCareers is an automated hiring system that
hosts on-line vacancy announcements and an online application
process. While this system has the ability to support an automated
rating process and interface with such Web sites as USAJOBs, the
development of these capacities is still in process. In addition,
NRC has been (1) working with its personnel security branch to
streamline the security clearance process for new hires and (2)
granting clearances under reciprocity required by pertinent
executive orders.
NRC also has been creating support systems to improve its
management of human capital data and reduce inefficiencies. For
example, in July 2005, NRC created the Recruitment Activity
Tracking System, a centralized Web-based system to monitor
candidates' status, including when offers are received and for
what position, start dates, and reasons candidates gave for
declining offers. OHR and program office managers use this system
to monitor vacancy announcements agencywide. Because the system
records acceptance status, it can enhance coordination when NRC
offices extend more than one offer to selected candidates;
although calculating actual offers and acceptances is slightly
more complex. NRC also uses the Recruitment Activity Tracking
System to facilitate planning for space, security, resource
allocation, and information technology by tracking employees'
arrival dates. NRC plans to expand the system's capacity to track
the security clearance process and notify OHR managers if
candidates exceed a 30-day review period. NRC also has taken steps
on e-Government initiatives to provide consolidated information on
employment actions and history, integrating payroll and personnel
action processing, and human resources line-of-business
alignment.^28
To improve its educational infrastructure and internal
communication process, NRC has developed and is in the process of
implementing the following three information management systems
during fiscal year 2007:
o NRC is developing an automated system to support its Lessons
Learned Program--a set of processes, procedures, and oversight
designed to collectively ensure that significant agency
deficiencies are identified and corrected so they do not recur.
This tool will link two existing agency systems to provide a
Web-based, searchable and retrievable record of how each
recommendation is addressed and will support program efforts to
institutionalize the knowledge gained through the corrective
action processes and develop solutions for long-term
organizational retention.
o NRC is improving the quality and capabilities of its Agencywide
Document and Access Management System in terms of availability,
performance, functionality, ease of use, and timeliness.
Specifically, as a tool to capture knowledge, the Agencywide
Document and Access Management System could help coordinate the
timely review of license applications by serving as a complete and
easily accessible repository of documentation for licensee
information, according to NRR managers.
o By mid-2007, NRC plans to launch the Learning Management System,
which will replace the current training administration system. The
Web-based system is designed to facilitate employees' and
managers' abilities to view training options, plan coursework, and
track and record progress in qualification programs. The system's
original launch date, September 2005, was delayed because of
compatibility problems related to the application and
certification and accreditation requirements. NRC subsequently
postponed its launch to implement an updated version of the
application that had been developed. OHR managers want to link the
Learning Management System to the SWP system because their efforts
to efficiently use training resources have been complicated by
incompatible information technology systems.
While these initiatives are under way, NRC faces challenges in
building the information technology and security infrastructure
necessary for its increasing workforce. For the past 5 years,
NRC's IG has cited the protection of information and the
implementation of information resources as serious management
challenges. NRC's Office of Information Services--which is
responsible for information management, architecture, and
policies--has taken steps to improve the infrastructure by
acquiring new systems and integrating existing systems. The Office
of Information Services also has (1) interfaced with NRR and other
offices to determine the amount and type of services needed for
new reactor licensing, (2) recruited and hired additional
personnel to support the implementation of these new systems, and
(3) begun to investigate contracting options to complement these
new hires. However, it is unclear whether these steps will
adequately meet the challenges associated with NRC's changing
demographics and growing workforce. For example, NRC managers we
interviewed and surveyed said telework would be one of the most
valuable flexibilities available to NRC personnel in future years.
However, NRC's information technology infrastructure can support
only a limited amount of telework and would need to be upgraded to
provide teleworking employees with secure and reliable access to
e-mail and agency applications.
Providing sufficient physical space in which its growing workforce
can interact is one of NRC's greatest human capital challenges,
according to its top leadership. In April 2006, NRC requested
congressional assistance in persuading the General Services
Administration and the Office of Management and Budget to address
its space needs because NRC had exhausted the space available in
its headquarters building in Rockville, Maryland, despite its
space optimization program. Among the negative effects of
inadequate physical space cited by NRC's top leadership are the
inability to (1) appropriately colocate its new personnel with
their organizational units to integrate them into the organization
and provide supervision and (2) provide sufficient training and
meeting space in headquarters for knowledge transfer and training
and development purposes. OHR managers told us that training
classes, in recently acquired space, began in mid-October 2006
after a 6-month delay. However, it is unclear when NRC will be
able resolve its long-term space needs because the Office of
Management and Budget had not authorized the General Services
Administration to send its proposal for more space to Congress for
approval. NRC's top leadership is concerned that insufficient
space will lead to overcrowding that will adversely affect NRC's
ability to attract new workers and could lead current workers to
leave NRC for organizations with a better working environment.
Although NRC Uses Several Human Capital Measures, Some Do Not
Provide Sufficiently Meaningful Information to Evaluate Progress
Our prior human capital work found that agencies need to develop
appropriate performance measures to link human capital measures
with strategic goals so they can be used to gauge success and
evaluate the contribution of human capital activities toward
achieving programmatic goals. We also found that developing
meaningful outcome-oriented performance measures for both human
capital and programmatic goals, and the collection of performance
data to measure achievement of these goals, are major challenges
for many agencies.
NRC's annual performance planning process, through which its
performance budget is developed, provides performance measures for
each goal in its strategic plan.^29 Through the performance budget
process, NRC develops key planning assumptions, program drivers,
and outputs and establishes output- and outcome-based measures to
monitor and evaluate program execution. NRC maintains two overall
performance outcome measures to determine progress toward
achieving excellence in agency management. To monitor human
capital performance, NRC assesses progress using six output
measures and targets for the recruiting and staffing and the
training and development categories.
In assessing NRC's human capital measurement framework, we found
the following:
o NRC has collected, tracked, and reported important demographics
and human capital data and monitored workforce size, shape, and
other characteristics for at least the past 5 years. OHR maintains
a series of agencywide strategic workforce planning demographics
tables that track employees by office and, for example, by their
(1) race, ethnicity, and gender characteristics; (2) occupations
and degree levels; (3) years of NRC and federal service; (4) grade
or pay level; and (5) retirement eligibility and attrition
projections and rates. NRC uses these data to monitor progress in
achieving such human capital targets as the number of professional
entry-level hires as a percentage of total hires.
o OHR uses around 30 intended outputs, targets, and measures to
monitor progress in recruitment and staffing, training and
development/knowledge management, strategic workforce planning,
leadership development and succession planning, employee and labor
relations, and diversity management. OHR categorizes intended
outputs in terms of effectiveness, timeliness, quality,
efficiency, and customer satisfaction and compiles the agencywide
results on these metrics. Program offices also are expected to
monitor certain administrative metrics, such as the percentage of
professional hires at higher grade levels, and to report their
status to the Executive Director for Operations.
o In fiscal year 2006, NRC met or exceeded most of its human
capital targets associated with its measures and intended outputs.
For example, NRC exceeded its target for overall hires of 300 new
employees--subsequently increased to 350 new hires--by bringing on
371 employees in fiscal year 2006. In addition to these new hires
who started by September 30, 2006, approximately 145 employees
were hired as a result of fiscal year 2006 efforts but reported
for duty during the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. Of these
145 employees, at least 95 are in occupational series that are
typically considered mission-critical.
o NRC plans to develop, or is in the process of developing,
several additional measures, outputs, or metrics to gauge its
overall progress toward achieving human capital outcomes. These
efforts include the following:
o NRC is developing additional output measures for
workforce diversity and work life services to include
in its performance budget during fiscal year 2007.
NRC also plans to develop measures to annually assess
program results in knowledge management.
o NRC continues to explore ways to improve its
existing training and development performance
measures and metrics. For example, NRC is refining
its training output measures related to tracking the
average number of training hours completed per person
and the percentage of personnel who completed a
minimum number of training hours. These data will
provide a baseline to determine appropriate future
targets and ensure consistency across offices, as
appropriate, according to OHR managers. These two
output measures are among others being or already
developed to enhance how NRC monitors the extent to
which it is addressing identified training needs,
which is one of its broader performance plan
measures.
o NRC plans to refine preliminary employee and labor
relations measures to improve both the monitoring and
evaluation of employee and labor relations actions,
services provided, or overall performance. In
particular, a cognizant agency manager told us that
measuring the timeliness of processing grievances and
disciplinary actions, as well as services provided,
would enhance performance measurement.
Although NRC met many of its human capital-related targets for
fiscal year 2006, the agency has not fully implemented an
agreed-upon framework by, for example, integrating its measures
through a human capital accountability system plan. According to
its 2004 strategic human capital plan, NRC intended to develop
such a plan to identify the measures and associated targets that
NRC would use to assess its achievement of human capital outcomes.
Program office and OHR managers we interviewed and surveyed cited
the need for an agreed-upon framework to improve the effectiveness
and appropriateness of specific measures and targets. In further
commenting on NRC's measurement framework, some managers cited the
importance of sufficient linkage between the successful use of
human capital strategies and meeting safety, security, openness,
and effectiveness goals. The managers believe reliability and
validity improvements would help NRC evaluate progress as its
workforce expands and changes. Specifically, they expressed
concern that while existing agency measures, intended outputs, and
targets may be used to monitor progress, they do not enable
managers to fully evaluate associated progress or performance.
Without effective measures and appropriate targets, it may be more
difficult for NRC to gauge workforce trends and use them to inform
decision making.
In addition, the managers we interviewed and surveyed had varying
opinions about specific measures or targets. For example:
o While NRC exceeded a 75-percent target to retain personnel for a
minimum of 3 years--reaching over 90 percent--some managers
suggested that the target should be further examined to determine
whether the 3-year target correlates with a long-term or career
commitment because the new generation of workers appears to be
less inclined than the previous generation to make a longer-term
commitment to NRC.
o NRC also exceeded a target of hiring at least 25 percent of
staff at the entry level--reaching 34 percent, a target originally
put in place to reduce the NRC employee's average age, according
to officials. However, some suggested that NRC consider whether
the target is an appropriate agencywide measure, or would be
better set at the program office level, given offices' varied
workforce needs.
o NRC's overall attrition rate of 6.3 percent for fiscal year 2006
was higher than its expected 6 percent; the agency lost about 205
staff, predominantly to retirement. NRC's projected attrition
rates are 6.25 percent for fiscal year 2008 and 6.5 percent for
fiscal year 2009. Because NRC slightly underestimated its
attrition for fiscal year 2006 and the attrition rate projection
for fiscal year 2008 is lower than the actual fiscal year 2006
rate, maintaining these projections may underestimate the rate at
which attrition may rise as nuclear industry competition for
skilled employees increases and as older staff members retire. As
a result, some managers believe that projections should
incorporate a higher estimated attrition rate.
o Some managers noted both the usefulness of having, and the
difficulty in attaining, the OPM target of issuing offer letters
within 45 days after a vacancy announcement closes. NRC reported
it met this target 67 percent of the time; however, while over 190
offer letters took at most 45 days, about 65 offer letters took at
least 100 days to issue. Additionally, one manager stated that the
45-day time frame is too long for the competitive environment in
which NRC is hiring.
NRC Is Taking Steps to Address Future Uncertainties That Could
Adversely Affect Its Overall Workforce Capacity
NRC is addressing two key uncertainties affecting its emerging
workforce needs--how to (1) maintain its workforce in the face of
future competition with the nuclear power industry for critically
skilled workers and (2) accurately gauge its workload during the
next 3 years--particularly for reviewing COL applications to
construct and conditionally operate new reactors. Regarding a
likely increase in competition with the nuclear industry for
critically skilled workers, NRC is monitoring the numbers and
salaries of scientists and engineers in a few key disciplines and
working more closely with key university programs with the goal of
strengthening its candidate pipeline. Regarding COL applications,
although electric power companies have sent letters of intent to
NRC, stating that they plan to apply for 20 licenses to build and
operate at least 29 new nuclear power reactors in fiscal years
2008 and 2009, it is unclear how many of these projects will
proceed in the near future. Specifically, NRC expects to receive 8
applications by December 2007, 10 additional applications by the
end of September 2008, and 2 more by the end of September 2009;
for each COL application, almost half of the resources required
would be used in its first year. To reduce uncertainties and
encourage efficiencies related to its license review process, NRC
has developed a design-centered approach to standardize its review
of COL applications for new reactors. However, changes in the
number and timing of application submissions will affect NRC's
staffing and resource requirements.
NRC Has Taken Steps to Address Broader Challenges It Faces in
Sustaining Expertise
NRC and the nuclear power industry have raised concerns in recent
years about a shrinking labor pool of critically skilled
individuals in several workforce areas required for the research,
design, construction, operations, and oversight of nuclear reactor
and plant operations. The nuclear power industry estimated in 2001
that about 90,000 workers will be needed to support existing
industry operations through 2011.^30 In addition, thousands of
employees will be needed for the design, licensing, construction,
and start-up operations of the proposed new reactors.
Specifically, the nuclear industry faces a potentially critical
shortage of workers in several fields over the next 5 years.^31
To keep apprised of industrywide trends and inform its workforce
assumptions, NRC has contracted with DOE's Oak Ridge Institute for
Science and Education for over 20 years to gather and evaluate
occupational, salary, and university enrollment data particularly
for nuclear engineering and health physics--two mission-critical
occupations. For example, although university bachelor's and
master's enrollments and degrees granted in these disciplines have
increased since 2004, fewer than 700 degrees are granted annually
from about 60 academic programs nationwide,^32 which is less than
during the early to mid-1990s. For nuclear engineering, the
institute also has reported:
o Overall national trends have improved in terms of enrollment and
degrees granted. For example, in 2005 total junior, senior, and
graduate student enrollments surpassed the 2,000 level for the
first time since the mid-1990s. However, only about 60 percent of
new graduates directly enter the U.S. civilian labor force, while
the other 40 percent continue their academic studies, enter
active-duty military, or take jobs in foreign countries.
Furthermore, NRC typically requires that applicants be U.S.
citizens,^33 which further reduces the number of graduating
candidates eligible for employment, especially at advanced degree
levels. While a large majority of B.S. degree recipients were U.S.
citizens, non-U.S. citizens comprised 20 percent of master's
recipients and 47 percent of Ph.D. recipients in 2005.
o Because the demand for nuclear engineers is expected to grow
faster than the supply, upward pressure on starting
salaries--which increased by only 2 percent in 2004-2005 but by
over 5 percent in 2005-2006--will continue and provide even more
competition to employers in the nuclear engineering field.
For health physicists, the institute has reported:
o Overall trends have improved in terms of enrollments and degrees
granted. For example, undergraduate and graduate enrollments were
15 percent higher than in 2004, and continuing increases are
expected. The number of health physics-related B.S. degrees
granted in 2005 increased by over 40 percent from 2004, and at 78
is the highest reported since 1996; degrees in master's programs
increased by 20 percent to 77 granted, while Ph.D.s granted
remained constant. Similar to nuclear physics, while a large
majority of B.S. degree recipients were U.S. citizens, 30 percent
of master's and 36 percent of Ph.D. degree recipients were
non-U.S. citizens.
o The number of job openings for new graduates will likely
continue to exceed the number of new graduates available in the
labor supply from 2006 to 2008 and even with increases in
enrollments will likely be insufficient to substantially reduce
projected relative shortages of new graduates between 2006 and
2008. The institute noted that more health physicists will be
retiring over the next few years and many, if not most, will have
to be replaced, as reflected in a higher number of projected job
openings. NEI also reported that the general availability of
health physicists is expected to decline over the next 5 years.
Because the workforce will likely tighten in several areas before
current graduation levels produce anywhere near the number of
trained and educated personnel to meet the likely demand over the
next decade, NRC has taken the following steps to increase its
talent pool:
o Has planned to spend nearly $5 million in fiscal year 2007 to
implement its authority under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to
award, in grants to universities and colleges, support for
educational programs that will benefit its safety, security, and
environmental responsibilities. During fiscal year 2006, training
and development program managers worked to develop criteria for
identifying educational programs for which investments will most
likely expand expertise in critical skills areas. Implementation
of this grants-to-universities program is targeted for fiscal year
2007.
o Budgeted $225,000 in fiscal year 2006 and proposed $375,000 in
fiscal year 2007 to offer scholarships and fellowships in critical
skills areas.
o Budgeted $125,000 in fiscal year 2006 and proposed $140,000 in
fiscal year 2007 for student transportation and lodging expenses
while on temporary assignment to NRC, which managers told us was
particularly useful in attracting candidates.
o Integrated and enhanced existing programs to create a program
for Minority Serving Institutions--historically black colleges and
universities, Hispanic serving institutions, and tribal colleges
and universities--that provides financial assistance to programs
and such activities as mentoring, training, research and
development, cooperative agreements, fellowships, internships, and
scholarships. In August 2006, NRC announced plans to link this
program with its recruiting program and develop relationships with
recipients of its financial assistance to (1) encourage the
development of skills and research critical to the agency, (2)
provide access to educational and career development
opportunities, and (3) increase the diversity of the job applicant
pool.
While NRC has taken these steps, and the nuclear power industry is
similarly making or continuing efforts to partner with educational
institutions to develop workers or augment their existing training
programs, enhancing the talent pool may require additional
approaches. Besides health physics and nuclear engineering, many
of the over 300 vacancies--for which NRC posted over 60 position
descriptions in several occupational series in fiscal year
2006--require specialized knowledge, skills, and experience that
will likely continue to be hard to fill or in high demand. These
include, but are not limited to, areas such as project management,
reliability and risk analysis, and digital instrumentation and
control. Quicker and more focused training options include
intensifying the amount of course detail and/or increasing
certification or specialization requirements, and further
developing and executing strategies that capture and transfer the
significant knowledge of aging workers.
NRC Has Taken Several Steps to Prepare for New Reactor Licensing,
but the Combined License Review Process Is Untested
A number of activities that NRC has undertaken to prepare to
review COL license applications to construct and conditionally
operate new reactors are in various stages of completion. These
NRC activities include (1) initiating its Construction Inspection
Program; (2) moving forward on design certifications and early
site permit activities; (3) continuing and finalizing the
development of regulatory guidance, rulemaking, and standard
review plan materials addressing the contents of a COL
application. NRC also has developed initial estimates of the
resources needed to review new reactor license applications. As of
August 2006, when the Commission approved the creation of the
Office of New Reactors, fewer than 100 employees were working
either part- or full-time on new reactor licensing and preparatory
activities. NRC is in the process of staffing the Office of New
Reactors with the targeted number of employees scheduled to more
than double from 230 in late January 2007 to over 480 in October
2007.^34 (See app. IV for information on NRC's recent
reorganization efforts.) In addition, NRC has estimated the
following regarding new reactor licensing work:
o NRC employees will perform about two-thirds and contractors will
perform about one-third of the COL review work. In August 2006,
NRC reported that about $60 million for contracted expertise would
be required in fiscal year 2008 to acquire the expertise of
individuals who have (1) very specialized skills that NRC
personnel do not possess and that is not cost-effective to add
full time or (2) general engineering expertise that NRC personnel
possess in insufficient numbers.
o Given that nearly all applications are expected to be submitted
in fiscal year 2008, licensing resource needs for new reactors
would remain the same or increase slightly in fiscal year 2009,
depending on whether NRC receives more applications, and on their
timing and number. Industry has advised NRC of the possibility
that higher than the planned number of applications--20 as of
November 2006--may eventually be submitted.
To integrate planned and ongoing activities, NRC is also
developing a master schedule/project management plan that is to
match activities to personnel with appropriate skills to scheduled
completion dates; NRC estimated the plan's completion date is
early 2007. In addition, in the event that the agency's recruiting
goals are not met, NRC is developing a procurement contingency
plan. This plan would enable NRC to acquire technical review
support from a broad spectrum of organizations. NRC anticipates
that the upcoming increase in contracting demand for a diverse
range of skill sets needs may exceed the capabilities or supply of
any given source. Also, NRC reported that DOE's Office of Science
laboratories are establishing a team to assist NRC in identifying
needed technical resources and management skills.
NRC also has focused its new reactor licensing efforts on
delineating its standardized design-centered review approach. NRC
expects this approach will improve the efficiency of its review of
COL applications by reducing the review time to at most 42 months,
including holding required public hearings. NRC could not fully
base its estimates on recent experience or historical data because
its review process has yet to be tested. However, NRC did evaluate
the resource requirements for the first three early site permit
applications it received in 2003 to inform its COL application
estimates.^35 NRC's review of each early site permit took more
time and effort than either NRC or the applicants expected. NRC
managers told us that the agency learned from this initial
experience and expects future early site permit reviews to go more
smoothly. They expect a similar learning curve with the first
group of COL reviews, noting that estimates of the personnel
needed to review COL applications may thus be subject to some
adjustment. In addition, because this first group could be
large--10 applications are expected in the first 6 months of
fiscal year 2008, and 8 are expected in the second 6 months--any
challenges, if not fully resolved, could be exacerbated.
The COL application process is new for the electric power
companies as well. NRC's staffing and resource estimates are based
on standardization and consistency and complete, high-quality
applications. To this end, NRC has established reactor
design-based working groups with industry to facilitate
communication and interaction about all aspects of the application
process, including lessons learned on most recent construction
activities as well as financing, hardware, supply, and other
infrastructure issues. Nevertheless, the agency will not know how
effective these activities have been until applications are
submitted--NRC expects the first COL applications to be submitted
in October 2007. In addition, determining the sufficiency of
additional information NRC requests from a licensee may require
both significant analytical expertise and review by the agency,
and timeliness on the part of the applicant. Furthermore, any
delays in the completion of technical review plans or lack of
clarity in regulatory guidance could make it more difficult for
companies to ensure the adequacy of their submissions.^36
The timing of COL application submissions could also adversely
influence the intended effectiveness of NRC's design-centered
review approach. Although NRC documents state that the optimal
implementation of the approach is to first have a completed design
certification, many activities will likely occur simultaneously or
near-simultaneously. Standardization is key to NRC's approach, as
applicants are expected to submit standard applications that use
reactor designs that have been certified. This suggests that NRC
would certify a reactor design before it reviews COL applications
that refer to that design. That is not the case, however, for 8 of
the 20 COL applications NRC expects to receive because (1)
applicants plan to submit 3 COL applications about halfway through
NRC's certification of the associated design and (2) NRC expects
to review 5 other COL applications nearly simultaneously with its
certification of the design.^37
Similarly, an important component of NRC's approach is the use of
a "reference application." According to NRC managers and NEI
executives, around 70 percent of additional application contents
are intended to be virtually identical to the reference
application. NRC assumes it will realize FTE/resource savings of
50 percent on the safety reviews of applications consistent with
the reference application. However, it is unclear whether the use
of reference applications will actually save NRC review time when
they are reviewed concurrently with others. In essence, NRC will
conduct multiple, nearly simultaneous application reviews for all
designs that companies currently intend to use. For example, NRC
expects the reference application and three applications for the
same design to arrive in the same fiscal quarter. Ultimately,
because of these compressed time frames, the efficient and
effective allocation of resources and adherence to schedules is
paramount.
Conclusions
In recent years, NRC's human capital management has been generally
effective in comparison with its federal government counterparts.
Nevertheless, NRC faces a considerable challenge in addressing
workforce retirements and anticipated significant additional work
beginning in October 2007, as electric power companies submit
applications for licenses to construct and operate the next
generation of nuclear power reactors. Through its strategic human
capital planning and management framework, NRC has taken several
important steps to enhance its overall workforce capacity;
however, some new and in-progress efforts have not yet been
tested. It is unclear how the confluence of increasing regulatory
workload demands, maintaining existing focus on safety and
security activities, rising numbers of retirement-eligible
employees and other demographic shifts, and anticipated industry
competition for critically skilled workers will ultimately
influence NRC's generally positive workforce trends and successes.
These challenges require a considerable level of flexibility,
staff commitment, and successful strategic human capital
management for NRC to be able to appropriately adapt to shifting
human capital needs. If overall workforce and resource allocations
are not balanced, NRC risks overextending its available workforce,
undermining its employee satisfaction, and potentially increasing
its attrition. If so, reviewing license applications and
conducting other mission-critical activities within estimated time
frames could become more difficult and could adversely affect
NRC's ability to ensure a safe and secure nuclear power industry.
Furthermore, substantial delays in the license application process
could adversely affect investor confidence, decrease the
likelihood of nuclear energy generation being cost beneficial, and
possibly reduce the amount of electricity available to the U.S.
market.
Recommendations for Executive Action
To improve NRC's ability to meet its current and future needs for
a critically skilled workforce, we are recommending that NRC take
the following four actions:
o Promote the coordination and integration of human capital
planning and implementation activities by completing the
agencywide human capital implementation plan; ensuring that the
Human Capital Council provides strategic direction, advice, and
recommendations on addressing human capital issues; and providing
the appropriate level of resources to implement knowledge
management program and strategic training and development plan.
o Systematically assess the effectiveness of NRC's use of tools,
authorities, and flexibilities for recruiting, developing, and
retaining its workforce and adjust their use and targeting, as
necessary, to meet workforce needs.
o Periodically and comprehensively evaluate and share information
among NRC's offices on the usefulness of human capital measures,
intended outputs, and targets to enhance NRC's ability to monitor
trends, reliably measure progress, and inform program office
managers in achieving critical human capital tasks.
o Survey employees during fiscal year 2007 on their satisfaction
with NRC's human capital program, including new initiatives and
offices' use of flexibilities to maintain a quality work
environment.
Agency Comments
We provided NRC with a draft of this report for its review and
comment. In written comments, NRC generally agreed with the
report's findings, conclusions, and recommendations, stating that
they are very constructive. NRC also noted, however, that the
circumstances underlying the report have changed because
Congressional leaders have announced their intent to extend the
Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, for the full fiscal
year, with few exceptions. According to NRC, the funding in the
Continuing Resolution--which extends the fiscal year 2006
appropriation amount to fiscal year 2007--would result in a $95
million reduction in the level of funding that NRC had expected
compared with the level approved by the full House of
Representatives and the Senate Committee on Appropriations for
fiscal year 2007. NRC states that the funding and FTE restrictions
under a full-year Continuing Resolution at the fiscal year 2006
level would have a crippling effect on its ability to manage human
capital, citing as an example that NRC would significantly
curtail--and possibly cease--new hiring, except for those already
given offers and those necessary for the most critical of skills.
(See app. VI.) In addition, NRC provided comments to improve the
report's technical accuracy, which we have incorporated as
appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional
committees, the Chairman of NRC, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, and other interested parties. We will also
make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the
report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at
http://www.gao.gov .
If you or your staffs have questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-3841 or [email protected]. Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be
found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major
contributions to this report are listed in appendix VII.
Jim Wells
Director, Natural Resources and Environment
^9GAO, Exposure Draft: A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management,
[43]GAO-02-373SP (Washington, D.C.: March 15, 2002).
^10GAO, Diversity Management: Expert-Identified Leading Practices and
Agency Examples, [44]GAO-05-90 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 14, 2005).
^11Our report entitled Human Capital: Selected Agency Actions to Integrate
Human Capital Approaches to Attain Mission Results, [45]GAO-03-446
(Washington, D.C.: April 11, 2003) found that Human Capital Councils are
among the key actions agencies have taken to integrate human capital
approaches with strategies for accomplishing agency missions. Generally
composed of senior program and human capital managers, councils meet
regularly to (1) review the agency's integration efforts; (2) ensure that
strategies are visible, viable, and relevant; and (3) monitor whether
human capital approaches are well considered, effectively contribute to
outcomes, and are implemented equitably.
^12NRC's 2004 strategic human capital plan called for annual agencywide
human capital implementation plans beginning in October 2005. Each annual
plan would link NRC strategies to its offices' tactical planning for
accomplishing yearly goals.
^13NRC's senior leadership includes its five Commissioners, Executive
Director for Operations, and four Deputy Executive Directors.
^14NRC's Executive Resources Board is responsible for defining and
overseeing succession planning activities. It is chaired by the Executive
Director for Operations and includes the four Deputy Executive Directors
for Operations, the four Regional Administrators, and most of the NRC
office directors.
^15NRC traditionally used yellow paper to distribute official
announcements to establish practices or procedures; introduce changes in
policy, senior staff assignments, or organization; and address major
agencywide events. NRC now maintains these "yellow announcements" on its
intranet.
^16NTEU estimates that 30 to 40 percent of NRC's workforce is eligible for
NTEU membership, of which about 600 regularly pay dues.
^17 [46]GAO-02-373SP .
^18Although Executive Order 13203 (Feb. 17, 2001) revoked Executive Order
12871 (1993), which had directed that federal agencies establish such
partnerships, NRC's Agency Labor-Management Partnership Committee has
continued by mutual agreement of management and NTEU officials. In
addition, several NRC offices have continued their labor-management
partnerships with appropriate union officials.
^19 [47]GAO-04-39 .
^20NRC defines "most critical" skills as knowledge, skills, or abilities
that will be in extreme demand in the specified planning period. Limited
availability of a most critical skill would severely affect an office's
ability to meet business requirements and/or mission demands.
^21NRR's resource estimate model includes activities related to design
certification. The new reactor licensing effort will also require skills
and resources from OHR and the Offices of Administration, General Counsel,
Nuclear Regulatory Research, Information Services, and Nuclear Security
and Incident Response.
^2242 U.S.C. S 2201(d) authorizes NRC to set special pay rates for
scientists and engineers that are higher than many other federal agencies
seeking to attract similar talent. NRC's GG-5 to GG-11 grade levels are
entry-level positions, and GG-13 and above grade levels are midlevel and
upper-level positions.
^23NRC expects to hire about 1,300 employees between fiscal years 2006 and
2009, according to the IG.
^24NRC defines "new gaps" as those of the current fiscal year; "continuing
gaps" as those of the last 2 fiscal years; "long-term gaps" as those of 3
or more fiscal years; and "closed gaps" as those for which the need has
been filled.
^25Direct hire authority enables an agency to hire any qualified
applicant, after public notice is given, without regard to competitive
rating and ranking, veterans' preference, and "rule of three" procedures.
OPM can give direct hire authority to federal agencies when a critical
hiring need or severe shortage of candidates exists. See 5 U.S.C. S
3304(a)(3).
^26Some of the fiscal years 2007 and 2008 funding and new projects have
not been approved.
^27NRC's Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act panel, composed of senior
management officials, must approve the application of this and other
flexibilities.
^28The goals of the human resources line-of-business alignment include
improved management, operational efficiencies, cost savings or avoidance,
and improved customer service.
^29Measuring and monitoring performance is one of four components of NRC's
Planning, Budgeting, and Performance Management process.
^30NEI is working to estimate the number and general types of workers
needed to bring this new generation of reactors and plants to fruition.
^31NEI, Nuclear Energy Industry Initiatives Target Looming Shortage of
Skilled Workers, (Feb. 2006).
^32Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Manpower Assessment
Briefs #58 and #59: Nuclear Engineering and Health Physics Enrollments and
Degrees Surveys, 2005 Data (Oak Ridge, TN: 2005); Labor Market Trends for
Nuclear Engineers through 2010 (Oak Ridge, TN: 2006); and Labor Market
Outlook for Health Physicists: Updated through 2008 (Oak Ridge, TN: 2005).
^33NRC has authority to hire non-citizens. See 42 U.S.C. S 5852. However,
according to NRC managers, the agency's policy is to generally require
U.S. citizenship, citing the cost and time of obtaining a security
clearance as a primary concern. NRC would make an exception to this policy
for highly sought after critical skills.
^34For purposes of this report, the number of employees is equated to FTE
positions on a one-to-one basis. NRC provided estimates both in terms of
the number of employees and FTE positions.
^35An early site permit resolves site safety, environmental protection,
and emergency preparedness issues independent of a specific nuclear plant
design. The early site permit application must address the safety and
environmental characteristics of the site and evaluate potential physical
impediments to developing an acceptable emergency plan.
^36In its October 6, 2006, report entitled Inspector General's Assessment
of the Most Serious Management and Performance Challenges Facing the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, (OIG-07-A-01), the IG identified the
ability to meet the demand for licensing new reactors as one of nine
challenges. Elements of this challenge include having staff with project
management skills; reinstituting its construction inspection program;
maintaining a defined technical review process; ensuring that its Standard
Review Plan for examining license applications is comprehensive and
consistently implemented; and instituting a process to compile its
regulatory examination into a Safety Evaluation Report that assesses a
plant's ability to operate safely.
^37Applicants generally plan to use the (1) Westinghouse Company's AP 1000
reactor, which NRC has certified; (2) General Electric, Toshiba, and
Hitachi's Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, which NRC has certified; (3)
General Electric's Economic Simplified, Boiling Water Reactor, which NRC
is currently reviewing; or (4) AREVA NP's Evolutionary Pressurized Water
Reactor, which NRC plans to begin reviewing in fiscal year 2008.
Appendix I: NRC�s Changing Workforce Demographics
The demographics of NRC's workforce will substantially change in
the next few years for two reasons. First, the percentage of
employees eligible to retire is expected to grow from the current
level of about 16 percent to about 33 percent of the workforce in
fiscal year 2010. Second, NRC projects that its workforce size
will need to grow from about 3,100 employees in early fiscal year
2006 to nearly 4,000 employees by 2010 to meet the significant
anticipated upsurge in workload demands as NRC begins to review
power company applications for permits to construct and operate
new nuclear reactors. The following tables present information on
NRC's changing workforce demographics.
Table 2: Comparison of Selected NRC Workforce Demographics, Fiscal
Years 2002 through 2006
Demographic As of 9/30/2002 As of 10/2/2004 As of 9/30/2006
Total employees 2,928 3,110 3,347
Selected offices
Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation 591 (20%) 593 (19%) 739 (22%)
Office of Nuclear Security
and Incident Response 105 (4) 187 (6) 216 (6)
Office of Administration 98 (3) 98 (3) 123 (4)
Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and
Safeguards 332 (11) 334 (11) 334 (10)
Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research 208 (7) 217 (7) 225 (7)
Employees by age
Average age 47.83 47.91 47.60
Under 40 576 (20%) 631 (20%) 745 (22%)
of which 29 and under 164 (6) 225 (7) 313 (9)
40 to 49 982 (34) 1002 (32) 1,016 (30)
50 to 60+ 1370 (47) 1477 (47) 1,586 (47)
Employees by NRC service
years
Average years 13.65 13.16 12.29
0 to 5 years 747 (26%) 1,013 (33%) 1,311 (39%)
6 to 10 years 274 (9%) 265 (9%) 371 (11%)
11 to 20 years 1059 (36%) 983 (32%) 802 (24%)
21 or more years 848 (29%) 849 (27%) 863 (26%)
Employees by federal
service years
Average years 17.88 17.27 16.21
0 to 5 years 438 (15%) 655 (21%) 895 (27%)
6 to 10 years 258 (9) 266 (9) 334 (10)
11 to 20 years 937 (32) 883 (28) 801 (24)
21 or more years 1,295 (44) 1,212 (39) 1,218 (36)
Employees: Science and engineering occupational series (percentage of
agency total)
Nuclear Engineering 14% 13% 12%
Other Engineering 29 31 34
Health Physics 7 6 6
Other Physical Science 5 6 6
Employees: Engineers, scientists, technical managers, and supervisors
(percentage of office total)
Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation 80% 81% 82%
Office of Nuclear Security
and Incident Response 54 55 48
Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and
Safeguards 78 77 79
Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research 77 78 80
Region I 73 76 75
Region II 67 67 68
Region III 68 71 73
Region IV 69 72 73
Employees by pay level (percentage of agency total)
Senior level 8% 8% 7%
GG-15 23 25 25
GG-14 25 25 24
GG-13 18 18 20
GG-12 to 8 16 17 16
GG-7 to 2 10 8 7
Entry-level hire ratio
Agencywide 41% 25% 34%
Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation 40 41 34
Office of Nuclear Security
and Incident Response 18 12 13
Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and
Safeguards 75 29 23
Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research 65 27 60
Region I 30 19 50
Region II 55 42 36
Region III 33 13 38
Region IV 20 45 45
Source: NRC.
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 percent due to rounding.
Table 3: Percentage of the NRC Workforce that Is Eligible to
Retire, Fiscal Years 2002 through 2011
Optional retirement
eligibility As of 9/30/2002 As of 10/2/2004 As of 9/30/2006
Fiscal year 2002 15%
Fiscal year 2003 19
Fiscal year 2004 23 16%
Fiscal year 2005 27 20
Fiscal year 2006 31 23 16%
Fiscal year 2007 36 28 21
Fiscal year 2008 32 24
Fiscal year 2009 37 29
Fiscal year 2010 33
Fiscal year 2011 37
Source: NRC.
Note: Actual percentages of NRC's workforce eligible to retire are
shown for 2002 through 2006. Estimated percentages of NRC's
workforce eligible to retire are shown for 2007 through 2011.
Table 4: Employees Who Left NRC, Fiscal Years 2002 through 2006
Permanent attrition Number Percent^a
Fiscal year 2002 146 5.1
Fiscal year 2003 149 5.0
Fiscal year 2004 161 5.1
Fiscal year 2005 189 6.0
Fiscal year 2006 205 6.3
Source: NRC.
aAttrition percentages are annualized.
Appendix II: Scope and Methodology
To assess the extent to which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) has aligned its human capital planning framework with its
strategic mission and programmatic goals, we analyzed a broad
range of NRC policy, planning, and implementation documents and
reviewed key performance budget and performance and accountability
documents and reports. Specifically, we examined information on
NRC's operations and strategic planning efforts, including
agencywide strategic plans and program documents, operating and
human capital management plans, management directives, select
internal analyses and communications of human resources personnel,
Human Capital Council and Communications Council meeting minutes,
and the NRC Inspector General's Safety Culture and Climate Survey
results for 1998, 2002, and 2005.
We corroborated information provided in these documents in
interviews with human resources managers in NRC's headquarters and
regional offices. We also interviewed cognizant managers in NRC's
Office of Human Resources (OHR); program offices including Nuclear
Reactor Regulation (NRR), Nuclear Regulatory Research, Nuclear
Materials Safety and Safeguards, and Nuclear Security and Incident
Response; and NRC's four regional offices--region I in King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania; region II in Atlanta, Georgia; region III
in Lisle, Illinois; and region IV in Arlington, Texas. We visited
regions I and II as well as NRC's Technical Training Center in
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
To assess the extent to which NRC is effectively recruiting,
developing, and retaining critically skilled personnel, we applied
the five strategic workforce planning principles presented in our
March 2002 exposure draft on a model for strategic human capital
management and in our December 2003 report on key principles for
effective strategic workforce planning. (See the Related GAO
Reports section at the end of this report for a list of previous
reports that we have issued on NRC and strategic workforce
planning and human capital management.) We also reviewed the
Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Human Capital Assessment
and Accountability Framework and related guidance. In doing so, we
analyzed NRC's (1) workforce and demographics data; (2) critical
skills information, including needs and gap assessments; (3)
implementation of its recruiting, hiring, training and
development, and retention strategies and plans; (4)
implementation of new systems, programs, and processes that
support human capital management and planning; and (5) measures of
its progress and results. In addition, we analyzed NRC's
reorganization plans, program plans, and human capital budget and
flexibilities data. Furthermore, OHR and technical training center
personnel provided demonstrations on the Strategic Workforce
Planning system database and Recruitment Activity Tracking System.
We also examined data obtained from the Federal Personnel Payroll
System, NRC's Human Resource Management System, and NRC's
Recruitment Activity Tracking System. In addition, we obtained
budget and outlay data from NRC's Chief Financial Officer and OHR.
To assess the reliability of the data needed to answer the
engagement objectives, we checked these data for obvious errors in
accuracy and completeness, reviewed existing information about
these data and the system that produced them, and interviewed
agency officials knowledgeable about these data. We determined
that these data were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of
this report.
To gain more insight into NRC's use of human capital
flexibilities, authorities, tools, measures, and targets, we
surveyed 45 Senior Executive Service and GG-15 level managers in
11 NRC offices, including OHR, technical program offices, and
regional offices who represent strategic human management and
leadership in offices with large components of critically skilled
personnel. We obtained responses from 32 of 45 NRC managers, a
response rate of 71 percent. The questionnaire asked respondents
to rate the value of human capital flexibilities, authorities,
tools, and programs that NRC uses in hiring, developing, and
retaining personnel, and their value in the future. We also asked
the managers to rate the effectiveness and appropriateness of
measures and metrics in monitoring and evaluating progress in
achieving programmatic goals at the agencywide and office levels.
The practical difficulties of conducting any survey may introduce
certain types of errors, commonly referred to as "nonsampling
errors." For example, differences in how a particular question is
interpreted, the sources of information available to respondents,
or the types of people who do not respond can introduce unwanted
variability into survey results. To reduce nonsampling errors, we
conducted four pretests with respondents to ensure that questions
and response categories were interpreted in a consistent manner
and revised the instruments on the basis of the pretest results.
To assess the extent to which NRC is taking steps to address
future uncertainties that could adversely affect its overall
workforce capacity, we examined (1) the existing and future
engineering, science, and technology labor pool and (2) NRC's new
reactor licensing activities. Regarding the labor pool, we
reviewed reports provided to NRC by the Department of Energy's Oak
Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI), which represents the nuclear industry. We also
examined NRC's efforts to develop a "pipeline" of critically
skilled personnel and its need for any new flexibilities and
authorities and interviewed NRC managers and NEI executives about
the supply and demand for workers with skills critical for
fulfilling NRC's mission. Regarding NRC's new reactor licensing
activities, we reviewed resource estimate model documents and
planning documents and updates. We interviewed managers in NRR and
the recently established Office of New Reactors.
We conducted our work from March 2006 through December 2006 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Appendix III: New Reactor Licensing
Prior to beginning construction, electric power companies are
required to obtain a license from NRC to build and operate a new
nuclear reactor or plant. In the past, NRC had a two-step process
that required companies to obtain a permit to build a nuclear
power plant and then to obtain a license to operate the plant once
construction was completed. In 1989, in response to the nuclear
power industry's concerns about the significant delays and added
costs associated with NRC's review of construction and operating
license applications, NRC revised its licensing process to make it
quicker and more predictable, with designs less subject to
midconstruction, safety-related changes. Specifically, NRC
combined construction permits and operating licenses into a single
combined license (COL) and created two new licenses--design
certifications and early site permits--in 10 C.F.R. Part 52. A COL
authorizes the licensee to construct and conditionally operate a
nuclear power plant. In addition, NRC has formulated a
design-centered review approach (DCRA), which is based on the
concept of industry standardization of COL applications
referencing a particular design. According to NRC, standardized
applications would allow the staff, to the maximum extent
practical, to use a "one issue, one review, one position" strategy
to optimize the staff's review effort, the resources needed to
perform reviews, and the review schedules.
Under Part 52, plant designs are standardized through design
certifications. NRC reviews the design, limits on operation, and
safety of a particular design; resolves any issues that arise; and
then certifies the design through a rule-making process. One goal
of the rule-making process is to establish stable plant designs
that are not subject to major modifications during the COL
application process. This provides more certainty to the applicant
and allows NRC to use a single design review to support multiple
COL applications. A COL application is a detailed description of
the proposed plant's design, operations, site, and environmental
impact. Once a design is certified, COL applicants can refer to
the associated design certification in their applications and do
not have to resubmit the information contained in the
certification. COL applicants are not required to reference a
design certification, but would then have to submit the design
information that would otherwise be in a certification. Another
component of the DCRA is the "reference application," which
encourages applicants to use a standard application. Applicants
work with the reactor's vendor--for example, Westinghouse or
General Electric--to develop a model application that subsequent
applicants will use as the basis for their applications. NRC
managers and NEI representatives estimate that 65 to 75 percent of
the information in additional applications will be identical to
the associated reference application. NRC managers stated that
each design under consideration will have a reference application.
NRC encourages applicants to use reference applications, but they
are not required to do so.
The one aspect not standardized in Part 52 and the DCRA is
site-specific factors. Applicants must submit information and
assessments that address the safety, environmental impact, and
emergency plans of a proposed site. Applicants have the option of
providing that information through submitting an early site
permit, which allows potential COL applicants to evaluate the
suitability of a given site without going through the full COL
application process. Once issued, an applicant can reference an
early site permit in its COL application and does not have to
resubmit the site information. Although COL applicants are not
required to reference an early site permit, if that review is not
previously conducted, the company would then have to submit the
site information that would otherwise be in an early site permit
in the COL application.
Design Certifications
NRC has certified four reactor designs to date, two of which
electric power companies selected in fiscal year 2006 for their
intended COL applications--the AP1000 and the Advanced Boiling
Water Reactor (ABWR). As of December 2006, companies had signaled
their intent to use two other designs--the Evolutionary
Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) and the Economic Simplified,
Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR).^1 On the basis of previous
experience, NRC estimates that new design certifications will take
about 30 months and require 120 full-time equivalent (FTE)
positions. For each reactor design, table 5 identifies the vendor,
certification status, and potential number of COL applications
that plan to use this design.
Table 5: Status of Reactor Design Certification, December 2006
Number of
Design certification potential COL
Reactor design Vendor status applications
System 80+ Westinghouse Certified 0
ABWR General Certified 2
Electric,
Hitachi, Toshiba
AP600 Westinghouse Certified 0
AP1000 Westinghouse Certified 6
ESBWR General Electric Review in progress 3
EPR AREVA NP Certification review 5
expected to begin in
fiscal year 2008
USAPWR Mitsubishi Certification review 0
expected to begin in
fiscal year 2008
Pebble-Bed Modular Eskom Precertification 0
Reactor
International Westinghouse Precertification 0
Reactor Innovative
and Secure
Total 16
Source: NRC.
Combined Licenses
Electric power companies have submitted letters of intent to NRC,
stating that they plan to apply for 20 licenses to build and
operate at least 29 new nuclear power reactors in fiscal years
2008 and 2009. NRC estimates that COL applications will take
approximately 30 months for the technical review--additional
review time and staff resources will be needed for applications
that do not reference a certified design. Reference applications
that reference an early site permit are expected to require
approximately 68 FTEs, whereas subsequent applications are
estimated to require approximately 38 FTEs. NRC estimates that
reference applications that do not reference an ESP will require
83 FTEs, whereas subsequent applications are estimated to require
approximately 53 FTEs. For the 20 expected COL applications,
figure 2 identifies the site locations, reactor design, electric
power companies or consortia, and number of units.
Figure 2: Twenty Potential COL Applications, as of December 2006
aApplication is expected to reference an early site permit.
^1In December 2005, NRC docketed for review General Electric's design
certification application for its ESBWR.
Appendix IV: Time Line of NRC�s Workforce Reorganizations
Since August 2005, NRC has announced several plans to reorganize
and restructure its workforce. Previous actions since 2002 include
the creation of the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident
Response (NSIR) to consolidate security, incident response, and
emergency preparedness. As of December 2006, NRC made
announcements to take the following actions:
o August 2005: NRC announced plans to reorganize NRR to (1)
prepare for the increase in the new reactor licensing workload,
(2) better align the organization for risk informed regulation,
and (3) reduce a layer of executive management to allow an
increase in the number of supervisors. In part, the reorganization
created the Division of New Reactor Licensing; its implementation
was effective October 30, 2005.
o October 2005: NSIR established a New Reactor Security Team in
its Division of Security Policy devoted solely to new reactor
security licensing. In addition, as of September 2006, the
Division of Preparedness approved realignment consistent with that
of other divisions in NSIR.
o November 2005: The Commission approved the reorganization of
NSIR to (1) better align and manage the organization consistent
with the scope and complexity of current and emergent nuclear
security work, (2) enhance organizational effectiveness, (3)
improve the supervisory span of control, and (4) restructure the
organization consistent with the agency's current human capital
management strategy and goals. The reorganization split the
Division of Nuclear Security into two divisions: the Division of
Security Policy and the Division of Security Operations, each
having two deputy directors. Included in the approved
reorganization is a new division-level structure with five to six
branches reporting to each division, with multiple teams. The
reorganization was implemented on February 19, 2006.
o April 2006: The Commission approved the initial approach to
NRC's Construction Inspection Program, which creates a dedicated
organization with total responsibility for the execution of all
construction inspection activities across the country, and
approved its location in region II's offices in Atlanta, Georgia.
In July 2006, the Commission approved the creation of a Deputy
Regional Administrator for Construction in region II. The
organization began operations on October 1, 2006.
o April 2006: NRC's Office of General Counsel implemented a
reorganization to provide increased focus and attention to new
reactor licensing, creating a Division of New Reactor Programs.
o July 2006: NRC announced plans to reorganize its Nuclear
Materials Safety and Safeguards and Office of State and Tribal
Programs to combine activities that deal primarily with materials
licensing, rulemaking and decommissioning under a new Office of
National Materials. Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards'
responsibilities include the nuclear fuel cycle's processing,
transportation, and spent fuel storage and disposal. The
reorganization was implemented on October 1, 2006.
o August 2006: The Commission approved the creation of the Office
of New Reactors, in response to dramatic growth in this program
and to improve the span of control and organizational focus on new
reactor licensing, while ensuring that appropriate focus is
maintained on the safety of operating reactors. The Office of New
Reactors is to be initially staffed with about 230 personnel by
January 2007, and about 440 by July 2007.^1 Five NRR branches are
expected to migrate to the Office of New Reactors, including
reactor planning and scheduling, reactor infrastructure guidance
development, reactor environmental projects, and two branches
associated with three reactor designs.
In addition to these actions, as of August 2006 the Office of
Administration had added procurement, space management, and
regulatory support staff; reorganized its Division of Facilities
and Security; and was planning to reorganize the Division of
Contracts to support the growth in new reactor licensing work.
^1NRC is maintaining a level of flexibility in its staffing plan so that
adjustments can be made as the staff gains experience in performing new
reactor licensing reviews, according to NRC managers.
Appendix V: NRC�s Use of Human Capital Flexibilities, Authorities,
Tools, and Programs
NRC carries out many of its human capital programs under the
authority of section 161(d) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.^1
While section 161(d) directs NRC to comply with classification and
associated pay provisions of Title 5 of the United States Code,
NRC is authorized to depart from them to the extent necessary to
discharge its responsibilities, within certain prescribed limits.
This authority allows NRC flexibility in various areas, such as
recruitment and retention incentives, details to other positions
in the agency, and setting pay for entry-level scientific and
technical personnel. Some of NRC's human capital programs are
authorized under laws that also apply to other federal agencies,
such as the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act of 2004^2 and
certain provisions of Title 5.^3 The Energy Policy Act of 2005^4
gave NRC additional human capital flexibilities. In August 2006,
32 of the 45 NRC managers we surveyed assessed the value of each
of these flexibilities, authorities, tools, and programs (referred
to as flexibilities) in recruiting, hiring, developing, and
retaining employees. Table 6 shows the number of survey
respondents who rated each of NRC's flexibilities as "very to
extremely valuable," or "not at all to moderately valuable," or
"do not use."
Table 6: NRC Managers' Assessment of the Use of Human Capital
Flexibilities, Authorities, Tools, and Programs
Number of respondents, by
rating category
Not at all
Flexibility, Very to to Do
authority, tool, or extremely moderately not
program Definition valuable valuable use
Advances in pay Used for newly appointed 12 8 10
employees, advance
payment of basic pay for
no more than two pay
periods. Typically is
used for recent college
graduates to assist in
moving to a new location
and associated costs.
Awards Cash awards, honorary 28 4 0
awards, informal
recognition awards, and
time-off awards may be
given to federal
employees to recognize
employee and group
performance.
Childcare on-site, An on-site childcare 15 7 10
headquarters center to provide
employees with the
opportunity to balance
career and family.
Childcare tuition Appropriated funds (from 8 10 10
assistance salaries and expenses)
used to assist lower
income employees with the
costs of child care.
Cooperative Program A formally structured 24 8 0
(Student Career program for college or
Experience Program) university students
pursuing undergraduate or
graduate degrees that
allows them to alternate
semesters of work and
study.
Details A personnel action that 21 10 0
temporarily assigns
employees in 120-day
increments to other
positions within the
agency. This provides
additional work
experience and exposure
for the employee.
Differing Professional An internal NRC program 16 15 0
Opinions Program that seeks to engender an
environment in which
employees feel
comfortable contributing
alternative professional
theories or opinions and
are safe from
retaliation.
Direct hire authority An OPM-granted authority 16 2 13
that expedites the hiring
process. This authority
currently is not
available to NRC.
Early replacement Typically used with 27 5 0
hiring (double employees who plan to
encumbering) retire. Allows NRC to
hire someone for a
position not yet vacated
to ensure the continuity
of critical skills.
Employee assistance Provides a range of 21 10 0
program confidential services,
including counseling and
referrals, to employees
experiencing such
personal problems as work
and family pressures;
substance abuse; or
financial problems that
can adversely affect
performance, reliability,
and personal health.
Developmental Internal rotations and/or 26 6 0
assignments and developmental assignments
employee rotations that allow employees to
work in another office or
position on a temporary
basis as well as to fill
workforce gaps.
Employment of The excepted service 23 8 1
experts/consultants appointment is used to
hire experts and
consultants to perform
expert or consultant work
that is temporary (not to
exceed 1 year) or
intermittent.
Fitness center An on-site fitness center 13 8 9
on-site, headquarters with gym equipment,
nutritional counseling,
and health programs to
promote work/life
balance.
Flexible and Allow variations in 27 4 0
compressed work starting and ending times
schedules or allow employees to
complete the basic
80-hour biweekly work
requirement in fewer than
10 workdays.
Formal training and NRC has a training and 31 1 0
development development program that
incorporates external and
internal training,
self-paced learning, and
formal developmental and
qualification programs.
Graduate fellowship A developmental program 15 13 3
program used to recruit, retain,
and develop technical
experts through
experience and advanced
degrees in specialized
engineering and
scientific disciplines.
Entails a minimum 9-month
period of work at NRC,
pursuit of a graduate
education, and permanent
return to the agency in a
position that uses the
learning gained through
graduate study.
Grants to schools Authorized in the Energy 4 10 16
Policy Act of 2005.
Allows the agency to
provide grants to
universities and college
with programs and
research that support
NRC's mission.
Healthcare on-site, An on-site health clinic 18 8 5
headquarters staffed with nurses and a
doctor to promote
work/life balance.
Honor Law Graduate A 2-year program for 13 2 16
Program graduating law students
or judicial law clerks
with high academic
credentials featuring
6-month rotations through
different divisions in
the Office of General
Counsel and additional
training.
Implementation of NRC has the authority to 25 5 0
federal leave programs administer leave and
excused absences, with
regard to NRC work
requirements and the
concerns of individual
employees. For example,
NRC can grant employees
annual leave at the
beginning of the year or
advanced sick leave in
appropriate situations or
accommodate employees'
personal needs through
leave programs.
Intergovernmental Temporary (e.g., 2-year) 1 21 7
Personnel Act assignments from and to
assignments state and local
governments, colleges and
universities, tribal
governments, and other
not-for-profit
organizations made for
the mutual benefit of the
federal government and
the nonfederal entity.
Knowledge management/ NRC's framework to 24 8 0
knowledge transfer integrate new and
existing approaches for
generating, capturing,
and transferring
knowledge relevant to the
agency's mission.
Leadership Potential A 12-month, part-time 29 3 0
Program program to prepare
employees for team leader
and supervisory roles, or
other positions requiring
supervisory, managerial,
and leadership skills.
Nuclear Safety A 2-year developmental 31 1 0
Professional program, open to
Development Program entry-level applicants
with high academic
credentials, featuring
structured coursework,
formal and informal
training events, and
tailored developmental
assignments to expose
participants to the range
of regulatory activities
NRC performs.
Other special Special employment 10 9 10
employment programs to facilitate
the recruitment of highly
qualified candidates from
diverse backgrounds to
fill a wide variety of
positions and job
training opportunities
within the agency.
Part-time employment A part-time work schedule 15 15 1
that requires an employee
to work at least 16
hours, but no more than
32 hours, weekly. It is
typically used to retain
employees with critical
skills who may otherwise
leave the agency.
Pay setting authority This authority allows NRC 23 5 3
to set pay within limits
prescribed by its
statute. This authority
is currently used to set
pay, for example, for
entry-level science and
engineering applicants
and resident inspectors.
Recruitment incentives Subject to management 29 3 0
approval, bonuses of up
to 25 percent of
employee's pay are
available to recruit
highly qualified and
competitive candidates.
Recruitment Giveaway items used to 6 26 0
tokens/giveaways promote NRC at recruiting
events.
Re-employed annuitants Used to obtain staff with a a a
knowledge, skills and
abilities that would
otherwise be difficult to
obtain. This tool allows
the agency to rehire, at
full salary, employees
who have retired from
civil service.
Referral awards The referral award 14 16 1
provides employees with a
monetary award if
candidates referred to
NRC are hired.
Relocation incentives One-time bonuses up to 25 29 3 0
percent of basic pay that
are offered to relocate
new or existing employees
in difficult-to-fill
positions.
Retention incentives Authorized additional 14 13 5
percentage of pay to
retain employees with
knowledge, skills, or
abilities that would
otherwise be difficult to
fill.
Salary exceptions Special pay flexibility 24 6 2
to appoint employees with
superior qualification to
a higher step rate above
the first step of their
grade.
Schedule variations Alteration of work 15 11 3
for training schedules to accommodate
training.
Scholarship and Scholarships or 10 5 14
Fellowship for Service fellowships available to
students pursuing degrees
in a field of study that
is a mission-critical
skill area--contingent
upon an agreed period of
service at NRC.
Service credit for Allows the agency to 23 4 3
annual leave grant a newly appointed
or reappointed employee
credit for prior work
experience that would
otherwise not be
creditable for the
purpose of determining
the employee's annual
leave accrual rate.
Senior Executive A program providing high 29 3 0
Service Candidate potential GG-14 and above
Development Program employees with training
and developmental
activities that prepare
them for future positions
as senior executives
within the agency.
Special rate schedules Under its statutory 19 9 3
or administratively authority, NRC can
determined rates establish rates for
scientific and technical
positions above the
regular general schedule
rates, within prescribed
limits. (See also pay
setting authority.)
Student loan An incentive authorizing 21 10 1
repayments the repayment of student
loans.
Summer hire program Through this program, 24 8 0
(Student Temporary college and high school
Employment Program) students have the
opportunity to work at
NRC--typically during the
summer to gain exposure
to career opportunities
at the agency.
Lodging and In some cases, NRC may 20 9 3
transportation offer to pay lodging,
expenses for student transportation, and
employees subsistence expenses for
students working for the
agency, through the
Student Temporary
Employment Program and
the Student Career
Experience Program.
Team Leader A part-time program that b b b
Development Program typically lasts 12 months
to develop the agency's
team leaders for
supervisory or other
positions requiring
supervisory, managerial,
and leadership skills and
abilities, with training
and development
opportunities comparable
to the Leadership
Potential Program.
Telecommuting A recruitment and 17 15 0
(telework) retention tool that
provides some employees
with flexible work
arrangements.
Telecommuting can occur
on a project-based or
fixed schedule, from home
or through an official
Federal Telecommuting
Center.
Undergraduate This program provides 12 6 13
Scholarship Program tuition, fees, and books
for a limited number of
college seniors who
participated in NRC's
Cooperative Program and
obligates recipients to a
specified period of
employment with NRC.
Visiting fellows Used to supplement NRC 3 11 15
expertise in medicine,
health physics,
engineering, and other
professional (e.g.,
legal) and scientific
disciplines by employing
visiting fellows who can
contribute to NRC's
mission.
Voluntary leave Allows other federal 16 15 0
transfer employees to donate
annual leave to an
employee who has a
personal or family
medical emergency and who
has exhausted his or her
own leave.
Voluntary Separation Voluntary Separation 11 17 3
Incentive Payments and Incentive Payments and
Voluntary Early Voluntary Early
Retirement Authority Retirement Authority help
agencies complete major
downsizing with minimal
workforce disruption.
Waiver of dual Using this authority, NRC 23 4 4
compensation can waive the salary
limitations "offset" required when
reemploying retired
Federal employees who
receive a federal
pension.
Waiver of time in Director of OHR may 11 16 4
grade approve exceptions to the
rate of promotion upon
written request by office
directors or regional
administrators.
^142 U.S.C. S 2201(d).
^2Pub. L. No. 108-411.
^3For example, 5 U.S.C. S 5524a (authorizing advances in pay for newly
appointed employees, 5 U.S.C. S 4503 (authorizing cash awards), and 5
U.S.C. S 3109 (authorizing employment of experts and consultants).
^4Pub. L. No. 109-58.
Source: Results of GAO survey of 32 NRC managers.
Note: Responses may not total 32 because some managers did not respond to
every question.
aNRC discontinued use of this flexibility in 2006 in favor of the pension
offset waiver.
bNRC began this program in 2006.
Appendix VI: Comments from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
GAO Contact
Jim Wells, (202) 512-3841 or [email protected]
Staff Acknowledgments
In addition to the individual named above, Richard Cheston (Assistant
Director), Sarah J. Lynch, Katherine Hudson Walker, Nancy Crothers,
Brandon Booth, William Doherty, Cindy Gilbert, and Doreen Feldman made key
contributions to this report.
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(360670)
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Highlights of [88]GAO-07-105 , a report to the Subcommittee on Oversight
of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of
Columbia, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate
January 2007
HUMAN CAPITAL
Retirements and Anticipated New Reactor Applications Will Challenge NRC's
Workforce
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is responsible for licensing and
inspecting the nation's nuclear power plants to ensure their safety and
security. By 2010, about one third of NRC's workforce with
mission-critical skills will be eligible to retire. At the same time,
NRC's workforce needs to expand because NRC expects to receive at least 20
applications for 29 new nuclear power reactors beginning in October 2007.
GAO assessed NRC's ability to meet its workforce needs by examining the
extent to which NRC (1) has aligned its human capital planning framework
with its strategic mission and programmatic goals; (2) is effectively
recruiting, developing, and retaining critically skilled personnel; and
(3) is addressing future uncertainties that could affect its overall
workforce capacity. GAO examined strategic workforce planning and
implementation documents, interviewed cognizant managers on NRC's human
capital framework and activities, and surveyed these managers about NRC's
human capital flexibilities and measures.
[89]What GAO Recommends
GAO is recommending that NRC better (1) integrate its strategic human
capital planning with its operations and (2) evaluate the effectiveness of
its human capital flexibilities and measures. In commenting on a draft of
the report, NRC agreed with GAO's recommendations.
NRC's human capital planning framework is generally aligned with its
strategic goals and coherently identifies the activities needed to achieve
the following strategic human capital outcomes: (1) continuous improvement
in leadership and management effectiveness in delivering the mission and
(2) a diverse, skilled workforce and an infrastructure that fully supports
the agency's mission and goals. To integrate its human capital planning
with implementation activities, NRC has recently completed or drafted
three key planning documents and created a Human Capital Council in July
2006. However, it is too soon to tell whether implementation of these
initiatives will stimulate, for example, the rate of knowledge transfer
necessary for new staff to gain the critical skills they need to perform
their regulatory responsibilities.
NRC has been effective in recruiting, developing, and retaining a
critically skilled workforce to date, yet it is unclear whether this trend
will continue in the next few years. For example, through improving such
processes as how it implemented hiring for 60 different vacancy postings,
NRC brought 371 employees on board during fiscal year 2006--a
substantially higher number than in previous years. Similarly, NRC filled
several critical skills gaps in 2006, yet it also identified many more new
gaps in 2007 that require significant new hiring or training to fill. NRC
has used various targets and measures to monitor its human capital
progress, but could improve their application by gathering, analyzing, and
sharing information about their usefulness among NRC's offices and
revising some of them. Similarly, NRC may miss opportunities to most
effectively apply human capital funding to recruit, develop, and retain a
critically skilled workforce because NRC evaluates only some of its human
capital flexibilities, such as recruitment incentives, in terms of the
frequency and cost of their use.
NRC has acted to address two key uncertainties that affect its workforce
needs: whether it can (1) maintain its workforce in the face of future
competition for critically skilled workers and (2) accurately gauge its
future workload. To better compete for workers, NRC tracks salaries in key
disciplines to discern trends and is enhancing its university recruiting
efforts. To handle the expected growth in reactor license applications,
NRC has developed staffing and resource estimates, is reorganizing its
affected workforce, and completed many elements of its review process for
new reactors. Because of its workforce changes and anticipated increased
workload, NRC needs flexibility, staff commitment, and sustained human
capital management to adapt to any workforce climate shifts. Similarly,
workload imbalances among employees and across offices could undermine
employee satisfaction, making the recruiting and retention of a diverse,
skilled workforce more difficult as expected industry competition
intensifies. A failure to achieve these human capital goals could
potentially hinder NRC's ability to inspect existing reactors and license
new ones, which might ultimately limit the availability of electricity in
the U.S. market.
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