[Short entry] FY 2013 Appropriations Committee Reports: National Nuclear Security Administration

The American Institute of Physics reports in its useful FYI report that the Senate Appropriations Committee

is concerned about recent findings in a February 2012 National Research Council study that concluded that the overall management relationship between NNSA and its national security laboratories is dysfunctional. The Committee recommends that NNSA and the laboratories identify and eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic functions that affect the quality of science and engineering at the labs and detract from primary mission goals. The elimination of these functions shall not undermine operational goals related to safety, security, environmental responsibility and fiscal integrity.

This echoes sentiment expressed in a recent paper by George Mason University's Hugh Gusterson (professor of anthropology and sociology) titled "The assault on Los Alamos National Laboratory: A drama in three acts". [Here for comments on slashdot.] Gusterson's point is that poor management is destroying the academic and creative environment at Los Alamos National Lab.
Interestingly, Foreign Affairs carried an article this month on a related topic. Hymans argues there that we shouldn't get our shorts in a bunch over Iran because, paraphrasing, they're likely to fail anyway, being as they are a dictatorial regime that pushes on scientists too hard.