Abstract :
Upon becoming Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE), Admiral Watkins first pledged to Congress that he would "clean-up" the nuclear weapons production complex and then initiated many changes in the way DOE facilities are operated. He generated new orders regarding environment, safety, and health and created investigation units called "Tiger Teams" to check on how well his orders were being followed. During the spin-up of this massive undertaking, DOE decided to include all its facilities and not just the ones involved in nuclear production. This resulted in research and development labs, such as Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Laboratories being subjected to more stringent regulations. This paper addresses the action Sandia National Laboratories has taken during the past year, particularly in regard to its pulsed-power accelerators, to come into compliance with the new DOE orders.
