Administrator D'Agostino issued the following statement:

"As we continue our efforts to transform the Cold War nuclear weapons complex to a 21st Century national security enterprise, I have found that we need to better integrate our strong science and technology activities with the rest of the Department and other Federal agencies. To that end, I intend to request reestablishment of the position of Chief Scientist for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within my immediate office. I will request that Dr. David Crandall be reassigned to fill that role. Dave understands the policy issues and the underlying science and technology and he shares our vision for working with other parts of the Government to improve and extend the NNSA complex as a broader resource for science and technology supporting national security while keeping the nuclear deterrent strong.

"Bill Ostendorff (Principal Deputy Administrator) and I have outlined our expectations for Dave in this new challenging assignment and we have asked him to work through existing NNSA line management and policy support without additional staff. Given the enormity and complexity of the issues Dave will be addressing, he will need your help to make our vision a reality.

"Dr. Crandall has a broad technical background. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society cited for fundamental research on atomic collisions physics involving highly charged ions, a part of his 16 years as a research physicist at universities (PhD from Nebraska, 1970), the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has 12 years of experience formulating and guiding complex applied physics in the Department's fusion energy program and 13 years experience directing scientific and technical activities in the Stockpile Stewardship Program."

Dave can be reached at David.Crandall@nnsa.doe.gov