A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Wednesday found the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has not fully assessed the workforce and programmatic resources needed to support planned investments in the scientific infrastructure underpinning U.S. stockpile stewardship.
The report recommends that NNSA conduct a comprehensive assessment of its long-term science, technology and engineering workforce and programmatic investment needs and establish a process for regularly updating its infrastructure priorities. NNSA agreed with both recommendations.
GAO found that NNSA’s 2024 Integrated Science, Technology and Engineering Plan identifies 46 facility investments needed through 2045 to support stockpile stewardship, weapons modernization, nonproliferation and counterproliferation missions. The plan prioritizes upgrades and new capabilities across the nuclear security enterprise, including facilities at Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia National Laboratories and the Nevada National Security Site.
However, while NNSA collected preliminary estimates of workforce and programmatic needs associated with those investments, GAO said the agency did not complete a comprehensive assessment and has no plans to do so. According to the report, NNSA officials said the plan focused primarily on facility investments because of deadlines associated with developing the agency’s Enterprise Blueprint.
GAO said the omission leaves NNSA without a full understanding of the long-term resources required to operate and sustain the scientific capabilities that underpin the nation’s stockpile stewardship program. The watchdog also found that the agency has not established a process for routinely updating the integrated assessment as mission requirements and priorities evolve.