Kuckuck takes job as NNSA's principal deputy administrator
Gen. John Gordon on Monday announced key leadership team appointments
at the National Nuclear Security Administration, including the appointment
of former Lab Deputy Director Bob Kuckuck as acting principal deputy administrator.
Last week, Gordon, DOE Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator,
formally submitted a plan to Congress for organizing NNSA, as required
by the FY 2000 National Defense Authorization Act. Gordon has requested
that DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham appoint former Lab Deputy
Director Robert Kuckuck as Acting Principal Deputy Administrator for
NNSA. Kuckuck recently retired from the Laboratory after a distinguished
38-year career in technical and operational management roles at the Laboratory.
"I really believe in the NNSA and I believe in the stockpile stewardship
program. Gen. Gordon and his new organization are so important and such
a great opportunity for the country that it was an honor to be asked to
help."
Kuckuck will be appointed as a member of the Senior Executive Service
for a limited term. He is expected to serve until fall, when Gordon hopes
to find a permanent deputy. Kuckuck will focus on NNSA’s internal
operations, working with NNSA and the laboratories, while Gordon will
concentrate on congressional and external issues.
Kuckuck, a physicist, has extensive expertise in nuclear treaty verification
research and program management. He expects to begin his assignment at
NNSA within a week.
Gordon has also requested the reassignment of William Barker, director
of the Defense Programs Strategic Planning Office, to be acting chief
of staff; Ralph Erickson, chief operating officer for Defense Programs,
to be acting associate administrator for Facilities and Operations; Anthony
Lane, associate assistant secretary for Defense Programs' Program Analysis
and Financial Management, to be acting associate administrator for Management
and Administration; and Michael Kane, NNSA personnel director and DOE
headquarters procurement director, to be acting deputy associate administrator
for Management and Administration. Robert DeGrasse, NNSA senior adviser
for Organizational Development and Strategic Planning, will coordinate
the redesign of NNSA management processes.
"With these personnel appointments and the release of our Organizational
Plan, the NNSA begins the detailed implementation process necessary to
stand up all the parts of the NNSA organization by Oct. 1, as required
in Section 3153 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2001," Gordon said.
The Organizational Plan describes the realignment of the NNSA structure
into program and support components, a common practice in many large public
and private sector enterprises. The program components — Defense
Programs and Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation — will focus on defining
and advocating the most effective means of accomplishing the NNSA mission,
he said.
"The two new support components — Facilities and Operations
and Management and Administration — will focus on the enabling functions
that are critical to mission success," Gordon said. "The structure
we are putting in place will strengthen national security and reduce the
global threat from weapons of mass destruction through applications of
science and technology."
The plan will not change the management of Naval Reactors, which will
remain separately managed as specified in the National Nuclear Security
Act.
Congress created the NNSA last year as a semi-autonomous agency within
DOE. It oversees the work of the national laboratories and production
plants that constitute the nation's nuclear weapons complex.
The agency has responsibility to maintain and enhance the safety, security,
and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile; to provide the Navy
with effective nuclear power plants; to promote international nuclear
safety and nonproliferation; to reduce the global danger from weapons
of mass destruction; and to support American leadership in science and
technology.