**GAO-08-73**                      Published: Oct 31, 2007. Publicly Released: Nov 28, 2007.                  

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## Highlights

Federal officials, Congress, and the public have long voiced concerns about safety at the nation's nuclear weapons laboratories: Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia. The laboratories are overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), while contractors carry out the majority of the work. A recent change to oversight policy would result in NNSA's relying more on contractors' own management controls, including those for assuring safety. This report discusses (1) the recent history of safety problems at the laboratories and contributing factors, (2) steps taken to improve safety, and (3) challenges that remain to effective management and oversight of safety. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed almost 100 reports and investigations and interviewed key federal and laboratory officials.

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## Topics

Employment

Accident preventionAccidentsEmployeesLaboratoriesNuclear facilitiesNuclear facility safetyNuclear weaponsNuclear weapons plant safetyOccupational safetyPerformance measuresProgram managementSafety standardsStrategic planningCorrective actionGovernment agency oversight