Director's Perspective

Welcome to the Office of Security Evaluations

Director, William A. Eckroade

The Office of Independent Oversight is one of the newly organized offices within the Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS). The Office of Security Evaluations, HS-61 (formerly SP-41, and the Office of Safeguards and Security Evaluations, OA-10) is one of four subordinate offices aligned under the Office of Independent Oversight. Independent Oversight is charged with the mission of being the Secretary's eyes and ears on safeguards and security and to be a catalyst for integration and collaboration in the Department of Energy (DOE) safeguards and security program. HS-61 provides feedback on security program matters and is responsive to the Secretary's goals and direction. To this end, in addition to inspections, HS-61 conducts special reviews and has worked in collaborative efforts such as Site Assistance Visits to assess crosscutting security issues.

HS-61 calendar year 2007 planned schedule consists of five comprehensive inspections to include force-on-force (FOF) performance testing at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Office; Hanford Site; Sandia National Laboratories (New Mexico and California); Idaho National Laboratory, and the Nevada Test Site. Additionally, HS-61 has planned Independent Oversight inspections of the Classification and Information Control Programs at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Office; Oak Ridge Office; Sandia National Laboratories; Kansas City Plant, Idaho National Laboratory, and the Nevada Test Site. HS-61 is also continuing to inspect Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities and Special Access Programs.

HS-61 is supporting the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) request that Independent Oversight lead a review, with NNSA Headquarters participation, to assess the effectiveness and direction of the Department's Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) program. Accordingly, this special review will focus on identifying the cross-cutting problems and issues for effective TSCM program implementation.

The methods used by HS-61 should be familiar to most DOE organizations. We will continue to stress performance during our inspections and take every action necessary to ensure that our inspection data and its potential impact are validated early and often. We will also continue to offer potential enhancements that, while not intended to be the only acceptable way to address an identified concern, are intended to provide a starting point for the development of site-specific corrective action plans that can effectively and efficiently address the identified concern.

A few words are in order about the organization of this web site. From the HS-61 Home Page, the reader will be led to information on our "Mission and Functions" and on each "S&S (Safeguards and Security) Topic." These topical areas are the security program elements that HS-61 routinely inspects. Each topic is defined and the principal baseline documents used during the inspections are indicated. You can find information on cyber security inspections under the link for our sister organization, the Office of Cyber Security Evaluations (HS-62). If you would like to view the S&S inspection reports, return to the HS-61 Home Page and select "Reports." Once there, select "Security Evaluations" and there they are. While the great majority of these reports are classified, individuals with the appropriate clearances and need-to-know authorization may request them through the appropriate channels.

Finally, we hope that you will find this web site helpful in understanding what the Office of Security Evaluations is all about, and how and why we do the things we do.