IPP seeks to employ weapons scientists in several countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia and some of its nuclear cities. Note 2: Travel includes travel of U.S. personnel within the United States and Russia. The Congress and DOE have set goals for increasing the amount of NCI program funds spent in Russia. (See app. It also poses a daunting challenge. The nuclear cities are geographically and economically isolated, access is restricted for security reasons, and weapons scientists are not accustomed to working for commercial businesses. Thus, Western businesses are reluctant to invest in the nuclear cities. Recommendations for Executive Action

We recommend that the Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration, improve efforts targeted at the nuclear cities by   evaluating all of the ongoing NCI projects, particularly those that focus on community development activities, and eliminate those that do not support DOE’s stated objectives of creating jobs in the nuclear cities and downsizing the Russian nuclear weapons complex;   establishing quantifiable goals and milestones for jobs creation and downsizing the weapons complex that will more clearly gauge progress in the nuclear cities and use this information to help assess future program expansion plans and potential costs; and   strengthening efforts to reduce national laboratories’ costs to implement the program in an effort to place more NCI funds in Russia.
Why GAO Did This Study

TThe United States and Russia began an ambitious nonproliferation program, the Nuclear Cities Initiative (NCI), to create sustainable job opportunities for weapons scientists in Russia's closed nuclear cities and to help Russia accelerate the downsizing of its nuclear weapons complex in in 1998. The program, however, poses a daunting challenge. The nuclear cities are geographically and economically isolated, access is restricted for security reasons, and weapons scientists are not accustomed to working for commercial businesses. Thus, Western businesses are reluctant to invest in the nuclear cities. This report reviews (1) the costs to implement NCI, including the amount of program funds spent in the United States and Russia, as well as planned expenditures; (2) the impact of NCI projects; and (3) the status of the European Nuclear Cities Initiative.

What GAO Found

GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's Efforts to Secure Nuclear Material and Employ Weapons Scientists in Russia, by Gary L. Jones, Director Natural Resources and Environment, before the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Senate Committee on Armed Services. GAO-01-726T , May 15 (10 pages).