*HomeU.S. Government Accountability Office*
Menu

      close


          
          
                          	
				
				
	
	
					Reports & Testimonies
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Reports & Testimonies
													
																												
																						
							
																Recommendations Database
							
																												
																						
							
																Month in Review
							
																												
																						
							
																Order Copies
							
																												
																						
							
																Restricted Reports
							
																												
																						
							
																View Topics
							
																												
																						
							
																View Agencies
							
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
													
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests
							
																												
																						
							
																Appropriations Law
							
																												
																						
							
																Federal Vacancies Reform Act
							
																												
																						
							
																Other Legal
							
																												
																						
							
																About
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								About
													
																												
																						
							
																What GAO Does
							
																												
																						
							
																U.S. Comptroller General
							
																												
																						
							
																Careers
							
																												
																						
							
																Contact UsFor Congress
                                
                          
        
                Press Center
                                
                          
        
                Careers
                                
                          
        
                BlogSearch Breadcrumb
        Home
                            Nuclear Weapons and Forces Sustainment and Modernization
    Nuclear Weapons and Forces Sustainment and Modernization Jump To:
    Jump ToElder Abuse
          Services for Older Adults
          State and Local-Level Drivers and Trends
          State and Local Fiscal Projections
          Federal Borrowing
          Managing the Debt
          Summary of Funding Provisions
          Auditing the Government's Books
          Unpacking the Financial Report
          Highlights
          Recommendations
          Background
          About This Work
          About This Work
          Trends
          About the Center
          Why It's High Risk
          What Remains To Be Done
          Key Reports
          Newest COVID-Related Reports
          AI Use Cases
          Flood Insurance
          Past Pandemic-Related Reports
          CARES Act Oversight Reports
          All COVID-19 Reports
          Report Suspected Fraud
          Subjects
          How to Get Notified
          Past Reports
          Public Health Threats
          Explore the FY 2022 and 2023 Funds
          Lessons Learned
          Agency Reports
          Recent Reports
          Recommendations
          Supplemental Material
          Full Report
          Additional Data
          View Decision
          Downloads
          Previously Identified Actions
          Related Pages
          Associated Agencies
          Tough Choices and Opportunities Ahead
          Americas Fiscal Future Key Areas
          Retirement Security Key Areas
          Current List
          About The High Risk List
          Area Ratings
          Previous High Risk Products
          Search Federal Vacancies
          Past Federal Vacancies
          Violation Letters
          About the Yellow Book
          Advisory Council
          Related Resources
          Comment Letters
          Related Publications
          Contacts and Resources
          Major Issues Facing the Nation
          Meeting Strategic Challenges
          Additional Resources
          Resources
          GAO Contacts
          Mission Teams
          Operations and Staff Offices
          Organization Chart
          Why a Career at GAO?
          Am I Qualified?
          Company Culture
          Reasonable Accommodations
          Video Gallery
          Paid Internships
          Student Volunteers
          Professional Development Program
          Advancement
          Executive Candidate Program
          Summer Associates
          Externships
          Benefits
          Contacts
                    Issue Summary
    The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are working to modernize virtually all U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities, most of which are from the Cold War era. DOD manages the systems and platforms that deliver nuclear warheads and bombs—such as submarines, nuclear-capable aircraft, and missile systems—as well as nuclear command, control, and communications systems. NNSA manages the actual nuclear warheads and bombs, as well as the infrastructure and capabilities needed to produce and maintain these weapons.

However,DOD and NNSA have both faced challenges with their nuclear modernization programs, including some issues that are priority open recommendations.

For instance:

There are three kinds of delivery systems that comprise the U.S. nuclear triad: nuclear-capable heavy bombers (known as the "air leg"), intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs (the "ground leg"), and ballistic missile submarines (the "sea leg"). But most of these systems are nearing or past their planned end-of-life dates.
	DOD is also struggling to develop, innovative new nuclear weapons on budget and on schedule for all three legs of the triad.  For example, the Air Force’s Sentinel, a new ICBM program, is behind schedule.**LGM-35A Sentinel**

Image
              LGM-35A SentinelThe Navy also faces construction challenges for its nuclear-powered Columbia class ballistic missile submarine, and has not conducted analyses to better understand risks to the first submarine’s planned delivery in 2027.
	DOD has conducted several reviews of its nuclear forces, and has developed recommendations to address problems with leadership, organization, investment, morale, policy, and procedures (among other things). DOD has implemented some recommendations but has not identified a method for monitoring long-standing issues.
	The Department of Energy has several programs to ensure proper access to and handling of the nation's nuclear weapons and related information. For example, it started a program in 2014 to further protect against insider threats from employees, contractors, and trusted visitors—but it hasn't fully implemented this program. Additionally, NNSA's efforts to identify, assess, and mitigate cyber security risks to specific nuclear weapons or manufacturing equipment are still in the early stages of development.
	NNSA is also facing delays in its attempt to replace the W78—an older type of nuclear warhead used in ICBMs. Similarly, it may also face delays in its development of a modernized nuclear warhead, the W80-4.
	NNSA hasn’t developed basic program management tools to clearly define the scope, schedule, and estimated cost of its efforts to produce plutonium pits, depleted uranium components and materials, lithium components and materials,  tritium, high explosives, and microelectronics. Because NNSA has not developed these basic program management tools, the agency can provide little assurance that it can meet its modernization commitments.
	NNSA plans to invest over $30 billion to construct 30 new facilities to modernize the research and production infrastructure supporting the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile. However, as of March 2023, these new facilities collectively exceeded their cost estimates by over $2 billion and surpassed their collective schedules by almost 10 years.
	NNSA uses high performance computing and complex computer models (as well as experimental facilities) to assess the performance, safety, and reliability of nuclear weapons without nuclear explosive testing.  However, NNSA’s most recent $600 million computing acquisition did not fully follow best practices for acquisitions. In addition, a portion of NNSA’s $2.5 billion effort to modernize an experimental facility did not follow rigorous program and risk management practices—and this resulted in a 2-year delay and increased costs.

  Recent Reports
          National Nuclear Security Administration: Assessments of Major ProjectsGAO-23-104402
      
	Published:  Aug 17, 2023


	Publicly Released: Aug 17, 2023
                        Nuclear Weapons Cybersecurity: Status of NNSA's Inventory and Risk Assessment Efforts for Certain SystemsGAO-23-106309
      
	Published:  Jun 12, 2023


	Publicly Released: Jun 12, 2023
                        Weapon Systems Annual Assessment: Programs Are Not Consistently Implementing Practices That Can Help Accelerate AcquisitionsGAO-23-106059
      
	Published:  Jun 08, 2023


	Publicly Released: Jun 08, 2023
                        Science & Tech Spotlight: Directed Energy WeaponsGAO-23-106717
      
	Published:  May 25, 2023


	Publicly Released: May 25, 2023
                        Nuclear Security: DOE Should Take Actions to Fully Implement Insider Threat ProgramGAO-23-105576
      
	Published:  May 24, 2023


	Publicly Released: May 24, 2023
                        Columbia Class Submarine: Program Lacks Essential Schedule Insight amid Continuing Construction ChallengesGAO-23-106292
      
	Published:  Jan 24, 2023


	Publicly Released: Jan 24, 2023
                        Nuclear Weapons: NNSA Does Not Have a Comprehensive Schedule or Cost Estimate for Pit Production CapabilityGAO-23-104661
      
	Published:  Jan 12, 2023


	Publicly Released: Jan 12, 2023
                        Nuclear Weapons Cybersecurity: NNSA Should Fully Implement Foundational Cybersecurity Risk Management PracticesGAO-22-104195
      
	Published:  Sep 22, 2022


	Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2022
                        Nuclear Enterprise: DOD and NNSA Could Further Enhance How They Manage Risk and Prioritize EffortsGAO-22-104061
      
	Published:  Jan 20, 2022


	Publicly Released: Jan 20, 2022
                        Defense Nuclear Enterprise: DOD Can Improve Processes for Monitoring Long-Standing IssuesGAO-21-486
      
	Published:  Aug 18, 2021


	Publicly Released: Aug 18, 2021
                        Nuclear Weapons: Actions Needed to Improve Management of NNSA's Lithium ActivitiesGAO-21-244
      
	Published:  Aug 12, 2021


	Publicly Released: Aug 12, 2021
                        Nuclear Triad: DOD and DOE Face Challenges Mitigating Risks to U.S. Deterrence EffortsGAO-21-210
      
	Published:  May 06, 2021


	Publicly Released: May 06, 2021
Load All
  Related Pages
          RelatedNuclear Nonproliferation
          RelatedNuclear Waste Disposal
          RelatedFederal Financial Accountability
          RelatedHuman Capital Management
GAO Contacts
    
      Allison Bawden
      
              Allison Bawden
            
            Director
      
            bawdena@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-3841
    Joe Kirschbaum
      
              Joe Kirschbaum
            
            Director
      
            kirschbaumj@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-9971
    Shelby S. Oakley
      
              Shelby S. Oakley
            
            Director
      
            oakleys@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-4841
    Sterling Thomas Staff Portrait
      
              Sterling Thomas
            
            Chief Scientist
      
            thomass@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-6888
                                                      MultimediaVideo
    
      Flight Test of a B61-12 Nuclear Bomb
      
        
        Flight Test of a B61-12 Nuclear Bomb
          Thursday, May 31, 2018Transcript
Podcasts
    
      Nuclear Weapons Cybersecurity
    Monday, June 12, 2023
      
            Transcript
          Columbia Class Submarines
    Monday, April 08, 2019
      
            Transcript
          Warhead Plans Could Be U.S.'s Most Expensive Nuclear Replacement Effort
    Wednesday, September 23, 2020
      
            Transcript
Blog Image
          Blog Post
              Creating Explosives for Nuclear Weapons
            Thursday, October 31, 2019
      
            Those yellow pebbles pictured on the left? While they might look a lot like Halloween candy, they...
          GAO Watchblog
          Blog Post
              Nuclear Weapons and the U.S. Strategic Triad
            Tuesday, September 27, 2016
      
            When the United States first developed nuclear weapons, no one anticipated that the country would...
          A photo showing a glovebox used in a plutonium facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory
          Blog Post
              Over Budget and Delayed—What’s Next for U.S. Nuclear Weapons Research and Production Projects?
            Thursday, August 17, 2023
      
            The United States’ nuclear weapon stockpile depends on facilities that are, on average, about 50...
 Receive GAO Updates
  Stay informed as we add new reports & testimonies.

    GAO Logo
      U.S. Government Accountability Office


                                   Column 1
                            Press Center
                              Contact Us
                              Inspector General
                              Restricted Reports
                              Column 2
                            Copyright & Terms of Use
                              Privacy Policy
                              Accessibility
                              Sitemap
                              Column 3
                            FOIA Requests
                              Scam Alerts
                              No FEAR Act Data
                              Health Care Advisory Committees