Government Releases 2021 “Performance Evaluation Reports” for its Contractor Managed Nuclear Weapons Complex Sites, Including Livermore and Los Alamos National Labs
Livermore Lab, like other U.S. nuclear weapons complex sites, is managed by private contractors. These contractors, in Livermore’s case Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, are evaluated by the National Nuclear Security Administration every year and reports are drafted, called the Performance Evaluation Reports (PERs). These PERs, which used to be released publicly on the NNSA website, detail where the contractors have meet contract expectations and “milestones,” and where contractors are failing to meet safety, performance and milestone goals. The contractors get bonuses based on these reviews and in some cases, when performance has been poor or milestones missed, they do not get these bonuses. The reports have been a significant source of material of interest to the public on how the huge sums of tax payer dollars are being spent by these contractors (For example, at LLNL over $2B per year!) and when there have been previously undisclosed safety and performance problems.
Tri-Valley CAREs sent a FOIA request to the NNSA on February 24, 2022 for “Full FY2021 Performance Evaluation Reports for all sites reviewed, including but not limited to: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Nevada National Security Site, Kansas City National Security Campus, NNSA Production Office, Sandia National Laboratories (NM and CA), and Savannah River Site.”
After receiving no responsive documents to this (and seven other) Tri- Valley CAREs filed litigation in November 2022 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Finally, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has released the requested PERs.
The following PERs were received with some redactions. (Note: Tri-Valley CAREs is making them available in their current form. After review of the redactions, some may be challenged as part of the continuing litigation. If redactions are overturned, Tri-Valley CAREs will repost the amended version of the document.)
- 2021 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory PERs
- 2021 Los Alamos National Laboratory PERs
- 2021 Savanah River Site PERs
- 2021 Sandia National Laboratory PERs
- 2021 Pantex and Y-12 PERs
- 2021 Kansas City National Security Campus PERs
- 2021 Nevada National Security Site PERs
