Weapons of Mass Destruction: Status of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
NSIAD-96-222
Published: Sep 27, 1996. Publicly Released: Sep 27, 1996.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) draft 1996 multiyear Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program plan, focusing on its: (1) estimated costs; and (2) potential impacts on helping control nuclear weapons and materials, and eliminating strategic delivery vehicles.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
Matter | Status | Comments |
---|---|---|
Congress may wish to consider linking DOD authority to obligate some or all of the funds that it may provide for constructing a fissile material storage facility in Russia to completion of a transparency agreement regarding the facility's use. | Congress incorporated such language in section 1407 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1998 (Public Law 105-85). |
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
---|---|---|
Department of Defense | To help clarify the presentation of programmatic and cost issues, the Secretary of Defense should direct that the annual CTR multiyear program plan submitted to Congress identify and explain: (1) significant cost, schedule, or scope changes from the preceding year's plan; and (2) known uncertainties affecting project cost estimates and schedules. |
The plan transmitted to Congress in 1997 included improved explanations of changes in cost estimates.
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Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should refrain from obligating any CTR funds for constructing a chemical weapons destruction facility in Russia until DOD has completed a construction cost estimate based on a one-third completed design and specified the U.S. share of the estimated costs. |
Congress included similar language, based on GAO's work, in sections 1405 and 1406 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1998 (Public Law 105-85).
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Topics
Ballistic missilesChemical warfareChemical weaponsConstruction costsFacility constructionFederal aid to foreign countriesFuture budget projectionsInternational cooperationNuclear proliferationNuclear weaponsProperty disposalWeapons of mass destruction