Nuclear Security Enterprise: Strategic Partnership Projects Can Support Mission, Operations, and Research

TL;DR

GAO reviewed NNSA’s Strategic Partnership Projects (SPP) and found SPP activity was generally steady in fiscal years 2019–2024, with almost $15 billion in reimbursed costs (constant FY2024 dollars). Sandia National Laboratories accounted for more than half of those reimbursed costs, while Kansas City National Security Campus saw the most growth in SPP activity by cost and project count. The Department of Defense sponsored the largest share of SPP, and most SPP were categorized by NNSA as related to national security. GAO’s work highlights that SPP provide mission, operational, and research benefits to NNSA and partners, but capacity limits at some sites could force NNSA to rebalance SPP and increase indirect costs borne by NNSA programs. Immediate implication: contractors and BD teams should treat SPP as a material, monitored source of funded work and a potential area of near‑term change as NNSA evaluates capacity and mission priorities.

Key Points

• What happened: GAO reviewed NNSA’s Strategic Partnership Projects and found steady SPP activity FY2019–FY2024 (~$15B reimbursed in constant FY2024 dollars), with Sandia accounting for more than half of reimbursed costs and Kansas City showing the most growth; DOD sponsored the most SPP and most projects were national security‑related.
• Who is affected: NNSA sites and their SPP partners, plus market participants in Nuclear Security, National Security, Defense Research, Scientific Research, Nuclear Weapons, Advanced Manufacturing, National Laboratories, Research and Development, Technical Services, and Facilities Management; Segmentation lists NAICS codes 541715, 541712, 541330, 541380, 541690, 541714, 336414, 541511, 541512 and agencies DOE, NNSA, DOD, DHS (Department of Homeland Security), NASA, NRC.
• Timeline: GAO examined fiscal years 2019 through 2024; the Senate committee report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 included the GAO review provision.
• What contractors should do NOW: assess exposure and opportunity across the listed NAICS and market segments, validate compliance posture against the cited compliance surfaces, update capture plans for DOE/NNSA M&O and specific site contracts, and configure Cabrillo monitoring and proposal workflows to track solicitations, rebalance risks, and act on near‑term SPP openings.

Who Is Affected

• Affected segments: Nuclear Security; National Security; Defense Research; Scientific Research; Nuclear Weapons; Advanced Manufacturing; National Laboratories; Research and Development; Technical Services; Facilities Management.
• Specific NAICS codes, agencies, and contract vehicles pending source review. (Segmentation provided includes NAICS 541715, 541712, 541330, 541380, 541690, 541714, 336414, 541511, 541512; agencies DOE, NNSA, DOD, DHS, NASA, NRC; contract vehicles include DOE NNSA M&O Contracts, Sandia National Laboratories Contract, Kansas City National Security Campus Contract, Strategic Partnership Projects.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will NNSA reduce or rebalance SPP work as a result of workload pressures?

A: GAO identified that decreases in sites’ SPP capacity could affect missions and raise NNSA indirect costs, but the Summary does not state that NNSA has decided to reduce SPP. Pending source review for any specific rebalancing decisions.

Q: Which NNSA sites are driving SPP volume and growth?

A: GAO found Sandia National Laboratories accounted for more than half of total reimbursed SPP costs and Kansas City National Security Campus experienced the most growth in costs and number of SPP during FY2019–FY2024.

Q: How should a contractor prioritize capture and compliance effort given this report?

A: Prioritize engagements with NNSA M&O contracts and site program leads, align capture plans to the market segments listed in Segmentation, and validate compliance against the identified surfaces (e.g., NIST 800-171 (NIST Special Publication 800-171), CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification), DOE Order 471.6, classified information handling, export control, 10 CFR Part 810). Use targeted monitoring to detect SPP solicitations or changes in site capacity.

Definitions

• NNSA: National Nuclear Security Administration — a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy that manages the nation's nuclear security enterprise.
• Strategic Partnership Projects (SPP): Reimbursable projects that allow NNSA sites to perform work for other federal agencies and nonfederal entities, leveraging NNSA facilities and expertise with reimbursement required to recover full costs.

Intelligence Response

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this GAO review and delivered this briefing. We continuously monitor regulatory reporting, congressional report language, and agency reviews that affect capture strategies for DOE/NNSA and related M&O contracts.
• Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — Will automatically rescore and reprioritize opportunity pipelines where SPP capacity or funding shifts affect competitiveness or pipeline probability.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — Tracks the affected agencies, NAICS codes, and contract vehicles from Segmentation and will run saved searches and SAM.gov (System for Award Management) alerts for SPP solicitations or task releases.
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) and Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — Use Proposal OS to generate compliance matrices aligned to the cited compliance surfaces and use Workflow Tracker to enforce a 9‑gate capture cadence and produce audit‑ready documentation for any SPP pursuit.

Who to notify

• BD/Win‑Strategy Lead — immediate capture decisions and reprioritization.
• Capture Manager/Proposal Manager — prepare bid teams and compliance artifacts.
• Security & Export Control Lead — verify CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information)/classified/export handling capabilities.
• Program Manager/Technical Director — assess delivery capacity and staffing.

First 48‑hour playbook

• Hour 0–4: Cabrillo Signals War Room alert issued; BD lead and capture manager notified. Run Intelligence Hub saved searches for SPP solicitations and site task releases.
• Hour 4–12: Match Engine rescore top opportunities; capture manager briefs BD and technical leads on reprioritized pipeline.
• Hour 12–24: Security & compliance review using Proposal Studio compliance matrices; identify gaps against NIST 800-171, CMMC, DOE Order 471.6, classified handling, ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations)/EAR, 10 CFR Part 810.
• Hour 24–48: Launch Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker gate 1 kickoff for highest‑priority pursuits; schedule stakeholder outreach with target NNSA site M&O contacts.

Reference material and guides: consult the Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts) and the related guides on CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide) and CUI-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide) for capture and compliance templates aligned to DOE/NNSA engagements.