OPINION:
Kudos to Peter Pry for pointing out the need to clean house at the Department of Energy, and to The Washington Times for publishing his op-ed (“Dereliction of duty at the Department of Energy,” Web, Feb. 7).
As a retired deputy director of the U.K. Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, I was a regular visitor to the national labs when they were active and vibrant. Watching the deterioration of their capabilities has been a disaster. The labs have been unable to retain experienced staff or even the essential upgrading of facilities to enable a return to their preeminent position in a timely manner.
In his piece, Mr. Pry notes that the collective judgment of the national laboratories on nuclear weapons and their effects can no longer be trusted. This is a direct consequence of the labs’ loss, by non-retention and retirement, of experienced scientists and engineers — principally due to the lack of stimulating work they have been able to offer. In the past the labs had no problem recruiting the brightest and the best because they could offer exciting opportunities over a range of scientific disciplines. These opportunities declined during the Clinton presidency and vanished under President Obama.
President Trump has inherited a skeleton capability, and despite the injection of new funds and new programs it will take several years to ramp the labs back up to an effective capability. A sad situation.
STANLEY ORMAN
Rockville
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