Case Study 7: From Nuclear Proliferation, GAO-10-378, March 26, 2010

The end of the Cold War left the United States with a surplus of weapons-grade plutonium that posed proliferation and safety risks. Much of this material was to be found in a key nuclear weapon component known as a pit. The Department of Energy (DOE) planned to dispose of at least 34 metric tons of plutonium by fabricating it into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for domestic nuclear reactors. To do so, DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was constructing two facilities—a MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) and a Waste Solidification Building (WSB)—at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. GAO was asked to assess the (1) cost and schedule status of the MFFF and WSB construction projects, (2) status of NNSA’s plans for pit disassembly and conversion, (3) status of NNSA’s plans to obtain customers for MOX fuel from the MFFF, and (4) actions that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and DOE had taken to provide independent nuclear safety oversight.

To develop its analysis, GAO reviewed NNSA documents and project data, toured DOE facilities, and interviewed officials from DOE, NRC, and nuclear utilities. The analysts found that the MFFF project was subjected to schedule delays stemming, in part, from the delivery of reinforcing bars that did not meet nuclear quality standards.