National Nuclear Security Administration: Improvements Needed for Managing Recapitalization of Fusion Facilities
Fast Facts
The National Nuclear Security Administration uses 3 fusion facilities to conduct experiments to help maintain and modernize the nuclear weapons stockpile. In 2023, the agency submitted a required plan to Congress for repairing and upgrading these facilities. The 10-year plan includes information on related activities, costs, and timelines.
The plan also includes information for proposed near-term activities, which would cost about $492 million over 6-8 years. But we found that NNSA hasn't evaluated its progress on these activities. Congress and NNSA don't know if the plan's goals are being met.
Our recommendations address this issue and more.
A person is repairing a "target viewing system"—a device that allows users to view the laser's point of impact on a target at the Omega Laser Facility, University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) January 2023 recapitalization plan for the three Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program facilities—National Ignition Facility (NIF), Z Pulsed Power Facility (Z), and Omega Laser Facility—contained sufficient information for decision-makers on sustaining the facilities in the near-term. However, NNSA’s plans for facility upgrades in the mid-term have evolved.
For the near-term, the plan outlined 110 discrete sustainment activities to be completed among the three facilities within 6 to 8 years at a total estimated cost of $492 million. These activities could help the facilities continue to support stockpile stewardship experiments with a reduced risk of catastrophic failure.
Example of a Sustainment Activity at the National Ignition Facility, Laser Amplifier to be Refurbished
For the mid-term, NNSA plans to upgrade NIF at an estimated cost of $470 million to $1 billion. For Z, NNSA’s planned approach for upgrades is no longer current; officials said they are exploring an additional upgrade option. NNSA has not documented the options under consideration, but such a step would help decision-makers, including Congress, understand the potential options, estimated costs, and relevance to mission needs. At Omega, no upgrades are planned.
GAO found the ICF program has not developed and used performance measures, such as scope, cost, and time frame baselines, to evaluate progress of the near-term sustainment activities. NNSA has generally managed the facilities’ sustainment as an annual activity rather than as a multi-year surge of work. Without developing and using such measures, NNSA management and decision-makers have incomplete information on whether NNSA is achieving its recapitalization objective to ensure the ICF facilities continue to operate at their originally designed performance levels.
Why GAO Did This Study
NNSA relies on three facilities to conduct the ICF Program’s high energy density experiments in support of nuclear stockpile stewardship and modernization: NIF, Z, and Omega. These facilities are aging and need recapitalizing to maintain experimental operations and continue supporting mission needs. In January 2023, NNSA submitted to Congress a recapiltalization plan for the three facilities.
A Senate report accompanying a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 includes a provision for GAO to assess NNSA’s plan for the facilities.
This report examines the extent to which NNSA (1) included sufficient information in the plan to support decision-making for sustaining and upgrading the three facilities in the near- and mid-term and (2) has made progress on near-term sustainment efforts included in the plan.
GAO reviewed the recapitalization plan, conducted site visits to the three facilities, and interviewed agency officials and site representatives to observe the current conditions and ongoing sustainment and upgrade activities. GAO also collected information on NNSA’s approach to following program management requirements and guidance.
Recommendations
GAO is making two recommendations: that NNSA (1) document the options under consideration for upgrades to Z and (2) develop and use performance measures, consistent with NNSA’s program management guidance, to evaluate the progress of sustainment activities for all three ICF facilities against a baseline. NNSA concurred with both recommendations and stated it would take action to address them.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| National Nuclear Security Administration | The Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration should ensure that the ICF program documents the options under consideration for upgrades to the Z Pulsed Power Facility, including potential scopes, estimated costs, and relevance to meeting mission needs, in the program plan or other document. (Recommendation 1) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| National Nuclear Security Administration | The Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration should ensure that the ICF program develops and uses performance measures, consistent with NNSA's program management guidance, to evaluate the progress of sustainment activities at all three ICF facilities against scope, cost, and schedule baselines and report on the progress in the program plan and progress reports. (Recommendation 2) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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