Modernizing the nuclear security enterprise : observations on NNSA's options for meeting its plutonium research needs : report to the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

United States. Government Accountability Office, issuing body.

Contributor:

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services, sponsoring body.

Standardized Title:

Modernizing the nuclear security enterprise (2013 September)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. National Nuclear Security Administration--Planning--Evaluation.

United States.

United States. National Nuclear Security Administration.

Plutonium--Research--United States.

Plutonium.

Nuclear facilities--United States--Design and construction--Planning.

Nuclear facilities.

Research institutes--United States--Planning.

Research institutes.

Planning--Evaluation.

Plutonium--Research.

Research institutes--Planning.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ii, 24 pages) : color map

Other Title:

Observations on NNSA's options for meeting its plutonium research needs

Place of Publication:

[Washington, D.C.] : United States Government Accountability Office, 2013.

Summary:

Nuclear weapons are an essential part of the nation's defense strategy. NNSA manages the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile and carries out research to help extend the life of existing weapons. The core of a nuclear weapon requires plutonium, a man-made radioactive element, to create a nuclear explosion. NNSA's LANL in New Mexico houses key plutonium facilities needed for research for nuclear weapons life extension programs and other missions. In 2005, NNSA approved construction of CMRR to replace the aging facility being used. In February 2012, NNSA announced it had decided to defer CMRR nuclear facility construction for at least 5 years, creating a potential gap in plutonium research capabilities from 2019 to the late-2020s. NNSA requested LANL to study options to address this gap. The study was completed in April 2012. The Senate Armed Services Committee Report accompanying the 2013 defense authorization directed GAO to review the study. GAO examined (1) the options identified in the study for meeting NNSA's plutonium research needs, including costs and health risks, if any and (2) the potential impacts of those options on NNSA's plutonium research for the nuclear weapons stockpile and other plutonium research missions. GAO is recommending that NNSA continue efforts to assess how plutonium research and capability needs and stockpile requirements have changed, if at all since 2008, and develop a plan for both near- and longer-term needs.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed Dec. 23, 2013).

"September 2013."

Includes bibliographical references.

"GAO-13-533."

OCLC:

871540504