All DOE classifiers and declassifiers not only receive training tailored to their individual needs, but they must pass rigorous examinations when initially appointed and also every 3 years or they lose their authority to classify and declassify. We must make the document review process much more efficient. The declassification challenge is much larger than the resources available to meet it. Armies of reviewers would be necessary to declassify the mountains of classified documents that the Government has accumulated over the years. Such reviewer armies will never exist.
Automation is the only way to increase the efficiency of the limited number of reviewers available.
It will do this by automatically identifying potentially classified information. Reviewers will then be able to focus their efforts on these sections and not be diverted reviewing the sections that are unlikely to be classified. The DOE has the Declassification Productivity Initiative underway to try to develop advanced equipment and software to automatically assist the review process. This automation initiative, if successful, should reduce the cost of document reviews, speed up delivery to our customers, and better protect the national security. While the Atomic Energy Act has served us well over the last decades, it is not the perfect model for a Government-wide classification and declassification program.