The next is the Dec. 17, 2024, Nationwide Nuclear Safety Administration: Assessments of Nuclear Weapon Acquisitions.
From the report
What GAO Discovered
The Nationwide Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) makes use of a number of processes to handle its nuclear weapon acquisition applications. These processes embody the Section X and Section 6.X processes, which offer a framework to coordinate NNSA’s actions with these of the Division of Protection (DOD). NNSA additionally makes use of an inner course of—known as the product realization course of—whereby an NNSA program workplace leads every program whereas a number of contractor groups of specialists from NNSA’s laboratories and manufacturing websites handle technical work.
NNSA’s acquisition processes could be organized into three phases: (1) initiation, which explores choices and early designs; (2) improvement, which covers the design, testing, and analysis of applied sciences and the maturing of manufacturing processes; and (3) manufacturing. Inside these phases, NNSA has established quite a few necessities that its applications should observe relating to, amongst different issues, the institution of price and schedule baselines and the evaluation of expertise readiness. Nonetheless, NNSA has not documented, in a proper or complete method, the method that its applications should observe to determine which applied sciences are crucial applied sciences—that’s, applied sciences crucial to assembly a system’s operational necessities which might be new or novel or are utilized in a brand new or novel means. By extra formally and comprehensively documenting its course of, NNSA might assist be sure that its nuclear weapon applications don’t waste beneficial funding and schedule sources.
NNSA applications face a number of challenges in managing nuclear weapons acquisitions, together with in maturing applied sciences, producing or procuring elements, and overseeing contractors. For instance, in accordance with NNSA officers, it’s tough to estimate how lengthy it’s going to take to mature applied sciences to a manufacturing-ready state. Consequently, NNSA’s applications have had issue reaching expertise readiness milestones. Particularly, of the applied sciences tracked by NNSA’s Workplace of Price Estimating and Program Analysis within the two NNSA applications for which knowledge have been obtainable and which had reached the event section, a majority had not reached NNSA’s minimal required readiness stage for crucial applied sciences by the beginning of that section.
Partly to handle this problem, NNSA established an workplace in 2019 to carry out early stage analysis and improvement actions to advance applied sciences to a better stage of readiness earlier than passing them on to nuclear weapon acquisition applications for additional improvement.
Why GAO Did This Examine
The US is investing tens of billions of {dollars} in nuclear weapon acquisition applications to modernize getting older nuclear weapons. NNSA is at the moment managing seven such applications, in coordination with DOD.
Two Senate Armed Companies Committee studies embody provisions for GAO to overview NNSA’s administration of its nuclear weapon acquisition applications, in addition to the standing of those applications biennially. This report assesses (1) the processes NNSA makes use of for managing these applications and (2) the challenges NNSA faces. The report additionally consists of particular person assessments of the 5 NNSA nuclear weapon acquisition applications below means in the beginning of GAO’s overview.
GAO reviewed NNSA documentation and directives on company processes, program price and schedule baselines, and design and expertise points. GAO assessed efficiency in these areas utilizing standards in NNSA directives, in addition to standards from GAO’s Expertise Readiness Evaluation Information. GAO additionally visited NNSA websites and interviewed company officers and contractors about challenges.
What GAO Recommends
GAO recommends that NNSA doc, in a proper and complete method, the method its nuclear weapon acquisition applications should observe to determine which applied sciences are crucial applied sciences. NNSA agreed with GAO’s advice.
Obtain the doc right here.
