Why It Matters

The network of nuclear laboratories and production sites for National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is increasingly juggling work for outside federal agencies and private partners alongside its core mission of maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the NNSA's Strategic Partnership Projects.

The agency's workload for maintaining and modernizing the nuclear arsenal has grown substantially in recent years, raising capacity concerns at a moment when the administration is planning more than $30 billion in major infrastructure projects to support that stockpile work.

The Big Picture

NNSA's eight nuclear sites conduct work for other federal agencies and nonfederal entities on a fully reimbursable basis. Sandia National Laboratories accounted for more than half of the total reimbursed costs from these projects during that period, while the Kansas City National Security Campus experienced the most growth in both project costs and the number of projects undertaken.

The Department of Defense sponsored the most Strategic Partnership Projects, and NNSA categorized most Strategic Partnership Projects as related to national security. Federal partners told GAO investigators that in many cases, NNSA sites are the only places with the specific technical capabilities required for their work. These projects can directly support NNSA's core mission, provide technical staff with opportunities to enhance their skill sets, and reduce the indirect costs NNSA must absorb for its own programs and facilities.

The backdrop for this report is a wave of investment in NNSA's nuclear weapons infrastructure that Congress authorized in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate and House both passed. That law includes an expansion of NNSA's Rapid Capabilities Program and advances other strategic initiatives including the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and Taiwan Security Cooperation funding.

The Bottom Line

NNSA plans to invest more than $30 billion in major projects to modernize the research and production infrastructure supporting the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

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