Some lawmakers have raised concerns about the lack of a single body that would be accountable as the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs modernize and integrate their electronic health records systems despite the presence of an interagency program office, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

The report said Congress mandated the formation of an IPO a decade ago to help VA and DoD facilitate EHR interoperability, but the office has seen its responsibilities reduced in recent years.

“I think it’s evident that they never had the clout to either mediate or resolve the issues between VA and DoD,” Carol Harris, director of IT acquisition management issues at the Government Accountability Office, said of the IPO.

“The IPO was never set up to succeed, because neither of the departments were ever willing to relinquish control,” Harris added.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs’ technology modernization subcommittee, said at a Thursday hearing that he believes the IPO should be given more responsibility and authority over EHR modernization efforts at both departments.

“Most everyone here today agrees the IPO needs to do more. My hope is DoD and VA will hash out what that looks like,” Banks noted.
 

The House has passed a bill seeking to form a White House-led office to coordinate quantum information science research and development efforts among industry, academia and government entities.

The proposed National Quantum Initiative Act would establish the National Quantum Coordination Office under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to facilitate interagency collaboration and work as the contact point of public and private stakeholders, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology said Thursday.

“Quantum technology is poised to redefine the next generation of scientific and technological breakthroughs,” said Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.

“With competition from abroad, America must increase and accelerate efforts to secure leadership in the quantum sector for our national security and economic prosperity.”

Committee Ranking Member Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson said quantum computing knowledge can increase the country’s military and intelligence competitiveness, which the U.S. needs since China, Russia and Europe are leveraging investments in quantum R&D projects as well.

The measure outlines a 10-year federal program to support quantum science R&D at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.

The bill is now up for Senate approval.

 

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill encouraging partnerships with private companies supporting research on clean nuclear power.

The Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act would require the Department of Energy to collaborate with private sector firms aiming to test new nuclear reactor concepts, the office of Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho said Thursday.

The bill would also establish a National Reactor Innovation Center that would leverage the combined expertise of the DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and National Labs to build prototype reactors.

“The passage of this legislation underscores the strong bipartisan commitment in Congress that nuclear energy must be maintained as a reliable, safe, clean and efficient part of our national energy portfolio,” said Crapo.

Crapo introduced the bill in January 2017, with the support of Sens. James Risch, R-Idaho, and and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completely decommissioned the nuclear reactor aboard the MH-1A Sturgis ship.

USACE’s Baltimore-based Radiological Center of Expertise conducted the decommissioning together with Galveston District personnel over the last three years in an effort to remove and dispose of the reactor, USACE said Friday.

The team took out over 1.5 million pounds of radioactive material and recycled over 600,000 pounds of lead.

“We were committed to ensuring the safety of the public and our crews and I’m proud to say we completed our decommissioning work with no evidence of radioactive material, lead or increased radiation exposure from the Sturgis being documented outside of the reactor containment area at any point during the project,” said Brenda Barber project manager at USACE’s Baltimore district.

Among the decommissioning’s challenges was the removal of the reactor pressure vessel that stores fuel and serves as Sturgis’ main source of radioactivity.

“Its removal was a significant milestone for the decommissioning effort and meant we had successfully and safely removed the vast majority of the radioactivity from the Sturgis,” Barber said regarding the RPV.

With the RPV taken out, only two percent of radioactivity remained in the ship’s primary shield tank and reactor containment vessel.

The team finished decommissioning the remaining radioactive components in March and proceeded to complete radiological surveys needed to confirm that Sturgis is free from radioactivity.

Named after U.S. Army Gen. Samuel Sturgis, the ship was the service branch’s sole floating nuclear vessel.

House lawmakers have unanimously passed a bill that authorizes an office within the Department of Homeland Security to leverage necessary tools to counter biological and chemical threats from evolving weapons of mass destruction.

The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 2018 would assign the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office to handle operations to protect the U.S. from WMD threats, the department said Wednesday.

“The United States faces rising danger from terrorist groups and rogue nation states who could use weapons of mass destruction to harm Americans,” said DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The DHS established CWMD in 2017 to consolidate efforts in preventing terrorists from using weapons of mass destruction against U.S citizens and interests.

President Trump appointed James McDonnell, former director of the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, in May 2018 to lead CWMD.

Michael Griffin, undersecretary for research and engineering at the Defense Department, has said the Digital Engineering Strategy will help federal agencies implement digital engineering practices in weapons systems development by the end of 2018.

Griffin noted that the recently released document provides an advanced way of creating defense systems, as well as focuses on rapidly fielding technologies to win future battles, DoD said Thursday.

The strategy’s introduction explains that the DoD is modernizing its engineering strategies to allow the U.S. to maintain its position in technological advancements.

Philomena Zimmerman, deputy director of engineering tools and environments at the DoD, explained that digital engineering leverages models and computer resources to design, analyze, prototype and test concepts.

She added that the modern approach provides a streamlined development process, which can reduce errors and save time and costs.

Zimmerman also said that digital engineering can be used to counter cyber issues, terrorism and the technologies of adversaries.

NASA has confirmed Jody Singer, a 33-year agency veteran, as the director of the Marshall Space Flight Center .

The space agency said Friday Singer will oversee the installation’s civil service and contractor workforce and annual budget of $2.8B.

She recently served as Marshall’s acting director when Todd May retired from the agency in July.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Singer’s management experience in the past three decades will help Marshall launch missions returning and staying in the Moon.

The new Marshall director previously worked for the Space Shuttle Program for 25 years, administering the production and performance of the shuttle’s propulsion elements.

Singer also held deputy roles for the Ares program and the introduction of the Space Launch System.

U.S. Cyber Command seeks a $175M procurement budget increase and sunset date extension in order to implement multiyear contracting efforts, FCW reported Thursday.

Stephen Schanberger, acquisition executive of Cybercom, said at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit held Sept. 6 in Washington, D.C., the command’s spending limit is $75 million and its budget authority is in effect through fiscal year 2021.

“Congress would like us to show that we actually can use our authority the way it’s supposed to be and start to stand on the backbone of what it takes to be a contracting organization,” Schanberger added.

The report noted Cybercom awarded only one contract during FY 2017 and awarded $40M in contracts so far this fiscal year.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has released a memo that lays out the Defense Department’s plan to establish by 2020 a new “space force” that would serve as the country’s sixth service branch, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

John Rood, defense undersecretary for policy, will work with the Joint Staff, military services’ secretaries and DoD’s legislative office to come up with a legislative proposal for the new space force for submission to the Office of Management and Budget by Dec. 1, according to a copy of the Monday memo obtained by the publication.

Shanahan directed Rood to provide a “space governance committee” with an interim report by Oct. 1 and the Pentagon comptroller to draft a proposed budget for the new service by Oct. 15 for inclusion in the funding request for fiscal 2020.

The report said the memo also covers DoD’s action plans for the establishment of a unified space command, space operations forces and a space development agency.