United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-05-03 monographic deposited born digital 58 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-429 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429 P0b002ee1803a22f7 f:d01429 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429 GAO-01-429 Nuclear proliferation Nuclear weapons plant security Foreign aid programs Program evaluation Fund audits Audit oversight DOE Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention Program DOE Nuclear Cities Initiative European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy U.S. Agency for International Development U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation Other Written Product A00982

In September 1998, the United States and Russia launched 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. This report reviews NCI's activities, which are being implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) and its national laboratories, to determine their impact on meeting the program's goals and objectives. GAO discusses the (1) costs to implement NCI, including the amount of program funds spent in the United States and Russia, as well as planned expenditures; (2) impact of DOE's NCI projects; and (3) status of the European Nuclear Cities Initiative (ENCI). GAO found that expenditures for NCI totaled about $15.9 million for fiscal year 1999 through December 2000. Of that amount, about 70 percent had been spent in the United States and about 30 percent in Russia. DOE has developed neither a plan that addresses future program costs nor a time frame with quantifiable performance measures to determine how effectively the program is meeting its goals and when and if the program should expand beyond the three nuclear cities. NCI has had limited success in meeting the program's principal objectives. During its first two years, NCI has funded 26 projects that employ 370 people, including many weapons scientists who are working primarily part-time on research projects sponsored by the U.S. national laboratories. Most of the scientists receiving program funds, however, continue to work on Russia's weapons of mass destruction program and are also receiving a salary paid for by the Russian government. ENCI is a proposed program supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is expected to be smaller in scope than the U.S. NCI and would try to use weapons scientists' skills to help develop environmental energy-efficiency-related technologies that can be used by European communities. The funding for ENCI has not yet been determined, but Italian officials estimate that $50 million would be needed over the next five years to implement the program. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429.pdf GAO-01-429 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-429 Other Written Product GAO-01-429; Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's Efforts to Assist Weapons Scientists in Russia's Nuclear Cities Face Challenges; Nuclear proliferation Nuclear weapons plant security Foreign aid programs Program evaluation Fund audits Audit oversight DOE Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention Program DOE Nuclear Cities Initiative European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy U.S. Agency for International Development U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation Title 42 Section 5813 Title 42 Section 5817 Title 42 Section 7112 42 U.S.C. 5813 42 U.S.C. 5817 42 U.S.C. 7112