The National Nuclear Security Administration has released its fiscal 2025 Performance Evaluation Reports, with contractors across the nuclear security enterprise largely earning “Excellent” or “Very Good” ratings and award fees near or above 90%.
The evaluations highlight strong execution of stockpile stewardship and modernization programs, while continuing to flag risks related to aging infrastructure, workforce challenges and project management performance.
Below is Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor’s digest of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) performance evaluation summaries: the agency’s report cards for its big contracts, which explain how much management and operations entities earned for their performance.
NNSA grades performance on both “subjective” and “objective” criteria, with the latter involving clearly-defined milestones. For example, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions of Savannah River Site won about $13 million of a potential $32 million fee for its performance-based incentives.
The Monitor has provided links to NNSA source documents. The Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor’s digest on the timeline for each of the contracts can be found here.
Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Consolidated Nuclear Security.
Consolidated Nuclear Security earned an overall “Excellent” rating and approximately 92% of available fee for its management and operation of Y-12.
NNSA credited the contractor with meeting key uranium processing and stockpile sustainment milestones, such as completing the B61-12 last production unit and completing the B61-13 canned subassembly and W80-4 cased canned subassembly early. The report addresses the 3.47 attrition rate as evidence of the contractor’s efforts to attract and retain workforce.
The agency noted ongoing challenges associated with aging facilities, including Building 9204‑02 technical issues.
Pantex Plant at Amarillo, Texas, and PanTeXas Deterrence.
PanTeXas Deterrence received an “Excellent” rating and 92% of its award fee.
NNSA highlighted effective execution of warhead assembly and disassembly operations and continued support for life extension programs, and said PanTeXas “met all scheduled shipments and met stockpile deliverables with 107 percent completion overall of the production plan.” Some notable achievements listed in the report include the completion of the last production unit for the B61-12 and the first production unit for the B61-13.
The report noted the increasing workload and infrastructure demands tied to modernization efforts, and said there were some challenges in meeting financial management deliverables for the agency.
Kansas City National Security Campus at Kansas City, Mo., and Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies.
Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies earned an “Excellent” rating and about 92% of available fee.
NNSA cited reliable production of non-nuclear components and support for multiple weapons programs, including meeting below the cost baselines for “the majority of programs” and enabling the first production unit of the B61-13 a year early by prioritizing and delivering the production hardware for it. NNSA did identify cost and schedule management as areas requiring continued attention, and said there were some cost increases and reporting delays in some minor construction projects.
Savannah River Site at Aiken, S.C., and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions received an overall “Very Good” rating. The percentage of the award fee is not listed.
The report highlighted strong performance in tritium operations and continued progress on plutonium-related missions, and said project leadership changes led to “some improvements.” However, NNSA said the contractor “underperformed” in project execution for the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility for fiscal 2025. NNSA raised concerns with project execution, particularly for such large capital efforts, and emphasized the importance of improving cost and schedule discipline.
The request for proposals is out for interested bidders to take over the management and operations at Savannah River in 2027.
Los Alamos National Laboratory at Los Alamos, N.M., and Triad National Security.
Triad National Security earned an “Very Good” rating and 89% of available fee.
NNSA said Triad “exceeded performance expectations for most of its assigned work,” including meeting delivery schedules, reducing production risk, improving supply chain and managing costs. NNSA also pointed to significant progress in plutonium pit production and strong performance in weapons design and simulation, with the first production unit of the W80-4 pellet can assembly and “continued production of plutonium pits for the W87-1” serving as examples.
The agency noted cost and schedule overruns for construction projects, with “some requiring additional funding for completion,” and said Triad encountered issues with conduct of operations.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at Livermore, Calif., and Lawrence Livermore National Security.
Lawrence Livermore National Security received an “Excellent” rating, with award fee around 91%.
NNSA cited transitioning the El Capitan supercomputer to a classified network as an example of high-quality science, including advances in high-energy density physics and modeling, as well as strong support for stockpile stewardship programs. The agency also noted the contractor provided expertise on nuclear safety regulations to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
As with other sites, infrastructure and workforce pressures remain areas of focus.
Sandia National Laboratories at Albuquerque, N.M. and Livermore, Calif., and National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia.
National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia earned an “Excellent” rating and 92% of award fee.
The report highlighted executing plutonium experiments on the Z-Machine as an example of “strong mission performance.”
Nevada National Security Site at Mercury, Nev. and Mission Support and Test Services.
Mission Support and Test Services received an “Excellent” rating and 92% of available fee.
NNSA emphasized consistent execution of, and support for, three subcritical experiments series simultaneously. The agency praised Mission Support’s contribution to stockpile assessment activities like pit certification for the W87-1 Modification Program and hardware development support for the W87-1, W88 Alternation 370 and the B61. NNSA also said Mission Support “provided excellent support” developing an alternate strategy for fire protection at the PULSE underground testbed, saving the project $20 million and keeping the U1a Complex Enhancement Project on schedule to meet Critical Decision 4.
The quality of “safety basis submittals” and schedule delays with one of its projects remains a challenge, the report said.
