NNSA: Nuclear Weapon Reports Need to Be More Detailed and Comprehensive

Abstract

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy (DOE), spends more than $5.5 billion a year to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapon stockpile through an effort known as the Stockpile Stewardship Program. Because the United States is no longer designing and building new nuclear weapons, extending the life of each of the nine weapon types in the current stockpile is a key component of this program. To accomplish this task, NNSA will have to (1) determine which components will need refurbishing to extend each weapon's life; (2) design and produce the necessary refurbished components; (3) install the components in the weapons; and (4) certify that the changes do not adversely affect the safety and reliability of the stockpile. Life extension efforts for each weapon type can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take many years to complete.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 03, 2002
Accession Number
ADA403673

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accounting
  • Acquisition
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Cost Estimates
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Government Procurement
  • House Of Representatives
  • Military Acquisition
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Procurement
  • Production Engineering
  • United States
  • Weapon Systems
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Systems Analysis and Design