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In 1993, the Board issued Recommendation
93-3, Improving DOE Technical Capability in Defense Nuclear Facilities.
This recommendation resulted in DOE's establishing the Federal Technical
Capability Panel (FTCP) and developing two noteworthy standards: DOE
M 426.1-1, Federal Technical Capability Manual, and DOE
G 426.1-1, Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining High Quality Technical
Staff: A Manager's Guide to Administrative Flexibilities. These
standards provide techniques and processes for improving the recruitment,
retention, training, and qualification of high-quality personnel.
Board Recommendation 93-3 was issued on June 1, 1993, and accepted by the
Department of Energy on July 23, 1993. The Recommendation discussed the need to
improve the technical capability of federal employees associated with defense
nuclear facilities. The Department's Implementation Plan for Improving Technical
Capability in Defense Nuclear Facilities Programs, and Training and
Qualification, was issued on November 4, 1993. The Implementation Plan
commitments represented a significant and fundamental change in the Department's
training and qualification programs. Since that time, the Department has made
considerable progress on several aspects of these commitments.
However, in their April 2, 1997, letter, the Board
requested that the Implementation Plan be revised to reflect current
Departmental initiatives, to address those actions that had not achieved the
desired results, and to provide realistic milestones for open commitments. The
Department convened the "Recommendation 93-3 Implementation Plan Recast
Working Group" in June 1997 with the charter of developing the content and
structure of the revised IP. The group met several times during 1997 and early
1998, and developed the "Revised
Implementation Plan for Improving DOE Technical Capability in Defense Nuclear
Facilities Programs," which was approved by the Secretary on May 5,
1998, and accepted by the Board on June 1, 1998.
The revised IP enhances current Departmental initiatives to establish the
Federal Technical Capability Program (FTCP) for federal employees with safety
responsibilities at defense nuclear facilities. Recognizing that corporate
leadership and line management ownership are essential to the successful
implementation of a corporate program to recruit develop, deploy, and retain
technical capacity at defense nuclear facilities, the IP commits the Department
to charter a Federal Technical Capability Panel (Panel) to oversee and resolve
issues affecting the FTCP.
The objective of the Federal Technical Capability
Program is to: recruit, deploy, develop, and retain federal personnel with the
demonstrated technical capabilities to safely accomplish the Department's safety
missions and responsibilities. The Department is determined to continue making
improvements in the capabilities of the federal workforce and to fully utilize
all of the tools at its disposal.
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