Nuclear arms life-extension program (LEP) schedule and scope changes drove the largest increase in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) budget estimates from fiscal 2015 to 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Friday.
In its fiscal 2016 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, the NNSA’s weapons activities budget estimate over 25 years of $297.6 billion was up from $293.4 billion in 2015 due to the shift of two counterterrorism programs from Weapons Activities to the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation budget, the report said. The largest increase was in the stockpile program area due to production schedule and scope changes, it said. The 2016 budget included $49.8 billion to support life-extension programs over 25 years, an increase of 19.6 percent from the 2015 estimate.
The NNSA’s 2016 budget estimates the W88 Alteration 270 program would cost $2 billion over 25 years, up from the $1.2 billion estimated in 2015, the report said. The reason, it said, was a shift in planned spending from another program to the W88 to address the inclusion of a conventional high explosive replacement to the project. In another case, the report said the 2016 estimate for the B61-13 LEP worth $1.2 billion, meant to replace the B61-12 LEP, was not a part of the 2015 plan. Additionally, estimates for the IW – 1, 2, and 3 interoperable warhead LEPs increased $5.6 billion compared to the 2015 estimate due to an updated estimate methodology. In a response to the GAO report, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said “we will continue to enhance information on the potential effects of funding levels in budget supporting materials.”
