About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-18-122R 1 (2017-11-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaalhy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 November 15, 2017 Congressional Committees Plutonium Disposition: Observations on DOE and Army Corps Assessments of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility Contract Plutonium-a man-made, radioactive element produced by irradiating uranium in nuclear reactors-poses a risk of proliferation and risks to human health and the environment if not managed safely. In 1997, the Department of Energy (DOE) established the Plutonium Disposition program to address the disposition of weapons-grade plutonium. As part of the program, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) began constructing the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX facility) in 2007 at DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina.1 MOX fuel is a mixture of plutonium and uranium oxides that can be used in modified commercial nuclear reactors. If MOX fuel is used in a reactor, the plutonium in the fuel is transformed into radioactive spent fuel similar to the spent fuel produced in commercial reactors, which prevents it from being reused in a nuclear weapon. In 2007, DOE formally approved a cost estimate of $4.8 billion for construction of the MOX facility, with a scheduled completion date of September 2016. By 2012, NNSA had spent about $3.4 billion on the facility, and the contractor estimated that it needed approximately $4 billion more to complete construction by 2019. In August 2016, in response to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016,2 DOE developed a revised cost estimate of approximately $17.2 billion to complete construction of the MOX facility by 2048. We reported in September 2017 that the DOE construction cost estimate did not fully meet all of the best practices in the GAO cost-estimating guide, but it substantially met all four characteristics of a high-quality, reliable cost estimate (comprehensive, well documented, accurate, and credible) and therefore could be considered reliable.3 Starting with its fiscal year 2014 budget request-submitted in April 2013-DOE proposed slowing down work on the MOX facility while it assessed alternative approaches for plutonium disposition. In April 2014, DOE completed an analysis of plutonium disposition options that identified an alternative dilute and dispose approach that DOE believes could significantly reduce the life-cycle cost of the Plutonium Disposition program.4 Under this approach, plutonium 1NNSA is a separately organized agency within DOE that is responsible for the management and security of the nation's nuclear weapons programs. 2pub. L. No. 114-92, § 3119, 129 Stat. 726, 1197 (2015). 3A cost estimate is considered reliable if the overall assessment ratings for each of the four characteristics are substantially or fully met. GAO, Plutonium Disposition: Proposed Dilute and Dispose Approach Highlights Need for More Work at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, GAO-1 7-390 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 5, 2017). 4A life-cycle cost estimate provides an exhaustive and structured accounting of all resources and associated cost elements required to develop, produce, deploy, and sustain a particular program, and it encompasses all past (or sunk), present, and future costs for every aspect of the program, regardless of funding source. GAO-18-122R Plutonium Disposition Page 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most