FY 2000 Report to Congress of the Panel to Assess the Reliability, Safety, and Security of the United States Nuclear Stockpile

[2], iii, [1], ES-ii, 31, [1], [4] pages. Footnotes. Boxes. The Panel consisted of John S. Foster, Jr. (Chairman), and Harold M. Agnew, Sydell P. Gold, Stephen J. Guidice, and James R. Schlesinger. From the Executive Summary: Congress established this Panel in 1999 to examine whether the United States can expect to sustain confidence in its nuclear deterrent while complying with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This year we reviewed the national capability to perform the high priority, day-to-day work of stockpile stewardship - surveillance, assessments, refurbishment, annual certification, and production. We find a disturbing gap between the nation's declaratory policy that maintenance of a safe and reliable nuclear stockpile is a supreme national interest and the actions taken to support this policy. We [the Panel] are particularly concerned about the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons production complex. (cont.) Internal and independent reviews, including ours, find that after more than a decade of under-investment in the weapons complex, it is at unacceptably high risk to perform currently agreed upon weapon refurbishments, and it remains unready to fix nuclear component problems that may arise in years ahead. Throughout the broader complex the trends point downward because of the aging of facilities and the workforce. Morale is low, especially in the laboratories. Parts of the weapon complex infrastructure are defective; the production capabilities that remain are fragile. The Panel sees a growing need for a coherent vision, comprehensive plan, and programmatic commitment to reverse this situation. The panel issued recommendations on the production complex; design, production, and certification; surveillance; assessment tools and methods; annual certification process; DoD's roles; and test readiness.…