- GAO has released a report on NNSA’s Integrated ST&E Plan
- NNSA identified 46 ST&E facility investments enterprisewide
- NNSA has not updated its ST&E facility investment assessment
The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the National Nuclear Security Administration complete a comprehensive analysis of the workforce and programmatic investments needed to implement its science, technology and engineering facilities and capabilities.
In a report published Wednesday, GAO also called on NNSA to regularly update its integrated assessment of ST&E facility investment needs to reflect changing priorities.
What Did GAO Find About NNSA’s ST&E Facility & Workforce Planning?
According to GAO, NNSA issued an internal Integrated ST&E Plan in July 2024 that outlined 46 facility investments needed across the nuclear security enterprise to support the nuclear stockpile and other agency missions. NNSA ranked these projects by how critical they were to its mission and by how soon they would be needed, with the list spanning everything from upkeep of current facilities to entirely new construction.
GAO noted that NNSA also gathered preliminary figures on the workforce and other programmatic costs tied to those investments over a 20-year period, but stopped short of turning that into a full assessment and currently has no plans to do so. NNSA attributed the gap to a deadline for feeding facility data into its Enterprise Blueprint.
The congressional watchdog also noted that NNSA has yet to update its overall investment assessment, even as its facility priorities have shifted and could continue to shift in response to congressional direction or advances in tech areas, such as artificial intelligence and high energy density physics.
How Did GAO Conduct the Study?
GAO based its findings on a review of agency records and documentation from national security laboratory contractors related to the Integrated ST&E Plan, as well as relevant budget documents. Investigators also traveled to NNSA’s Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and interviewed lab contractors and NNSA officials.
The review was conducted in response to a provision in a Senate report accompanying the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which directs GAO to examine NNSA’s plans for ST&E capabilities.
What Other Facility and Modernization Efforts Has NNSA Pursued?
NNSA has pursued several facility and modernization initiatives alongside its ST&E planning work. In May, the agency completed a new High Explosives Science and Engineering facility at the Pantex Plant designed to enhance nuclear weapons maintenance and high-explosives research operations. Around the same time, NNSA also manufactured its first production unit of the Mark 4B advanced reentry body for the W76 nuclear warhead, completing the milestone three months ahead of schedule.
Beyond facility and production work, NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams has recently urged the federal government to accelerate technology procurement and expand commercial partnerships in order to keep pace with advances in AI under DOE’s Genesis Mission.
