The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued recommendations for National Nuclear Security Administration contractors.
The contractors design and manufacture explosive materials for nuclear weapons, and there are approximately 100 different nuclear- weapon components that contain explosive materials.
Each contractor’s site is responsible for certain activities, but usually, activities require collaboration with multiple sites. Last year, the agency began to centralize activities and coordinating the sites.
Agency officials and contractors identified challenges related to explosives activities. These challenges include difficulty recruiting and training qualified staff, aging and deteriorating infrastructure, and a dwindling supply of explosive materials.
The agency has a strategic plan to addresses some of the challenges, but not all the plan’s elements are fully developed.
Officials said the agency is aware of the plan’s limitations and will revise it in the next year or two.
The GAO recommendations instruct the administration’s energetic materials enterprise manager to take steps to improve the accuracy of data related to infrastructure supporting explosives activities, document challenges related to explosives activities along with any actions to address them and fully develop an effective strategic plan.
The GAO was required to review the agency’s high-explosive capabilities specific to nuclear weapons in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.