Proposal To Establish a Statutory Inspector General Within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

GAO discussed the adequacy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Inspector and Auditor's (OIA) recent probes into alleged staff misconduct. GAO noted that: (1) OIA failure to provide guidance to NRC management regarding a high-level supervisor-employee conflict caused significant disruption in senior officials' performance of their duties; (2) OIA failure to interview a party to an alleged wrongful conversation caused undue criticism and allegations of misconduct against a senior official; and (3) NRC selected an office charged with allegations of impropriety to investigate itself. GAO believes that NRC has a critical need for a: (1) more independent audit and internal investigative unit; and (2) statutory inspector general for greater oversight of NRC activities.