The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence (NSDD) program cannot adequately measure its progress because of shortcomings in its program plan involving the articulation of goals and performance measures, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a report released Friday.
The NSDD program installs large-scale radiation detectors at border crossings, seaports, airports, and other locations worldwide, and offers partner countries mobile detection system equipment and training to address the threat of nuclear and radiological material smuggling. The GAO noted that 2,700 cases of illicit nuclear and radiological material trafficking were confirmed as of Dec. 31, 2014, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency database.
The GAO said NSDD made a program plan in 2014 with several five-year goals, which include deploying fixed radiation portal monitors to an additional 100 sites in countries bordering Russia; installing equipment at additional seaports; supporting partner countries’ law enforcement by deploying radiation detection equipment; and preparing countries for the transition by which they would become fully responsible for the radiation detection equipment.
However, the program cannot measure its progress in achieving these goals “because not all of the goals are measurable and outcome-oriented,” the GAO found. Only the first goal of installing equipment at 100 sites near Russia is measurable, while the other three goals “describe actions rather than outcomes, and they do not include quantifiable or measurable end results,” the report said.
The GAO recommended the NNSA administrator develop a more detailed program plan to address these ambiguities. NNSA said in response that the NSDD is expected to complete development of a comprehensive program plan with measurable program goals by the end of fiscal 2016.
The NSDD program has partnered with 59 countries as of last October, and spent about $1 billion from fiscal 2011 to 2015, the GAO noted. The report said NNSA plans to spend $809 million from fiscal 2017 to 2021 for the program, according to the agency’s fiscal 2017 budget request.
