Nuclear agency back on federal ‘high-risk’ list
[link to www.abqjournal.com]

[snip]

The report highlighted the agency’s Los Alamos difficulties: NNSA’s project to design and construct a new plutonium facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory had experienced a nearly six fold increase to between $3.7 billion and $5.8 billion before being deferred for at least 5 years.

Meg Kinnard with the Associated Press in South Carolina highlighted another trouble spot found by the GAO: The price tag for a South Carolina project intended to turn weapons grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors has gone up by $2 billion, according to a report released Thursday.

The assertion by the General Accountability Office means that the overall cost for the National Nuclear Security Administration project is now estimated at just under $7 billion, with still several more years to go before the facility is expected to open.