The Government Accountability Office last week recommended the National Nuclear Security Administration formalize plans for transitioning responsibilities for radiological safety in Ukraine to Ukrainian partner organizations.
“While NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration] took steps to manage fraud risk at the individual contract level, it did not conduct a program-level fraud risk assessment tailored to its nuclear and radiological security and safety efforts in Ukraine,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said in its highlights.
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Congress appropriated $113 billion in supplemental funding which included $161.3 million for NNSA’s response, GAO said in the report. The invasion complicated the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, making it easier for radioactive materials to get in the wrong hands for “dirty bombs,” or an improvised nuclear weapon made by combining conventional explosives and radioactive nuclear waste material.
While the U.S. and Department of Energy included radiation detectors and emergency power systems to increase safety at Ukrainian nuclear plants, routine fraud prevention measures, such as verifying equipment was delivered and working, is difficult within the war zone surrounding the plants, GAO said.
“Combined with NNSA’s reliance on contractors and its history of lax contractor oversight, and Ukraine’s history of corruption, these factors raise concerns about fraud risk management,” the report said.
Teresa Robbins, acting administrator of NNSA, agreed to the recommendation and estimated completion by Sept. 30, 2025. Robbins also agreed to the recommendation that DOE update its risk management guidance “for programs that experience a structural change, changed operating environment, or add new services,” and require timely fraud risk assessments for such programs, by March 31, 2026.
