The United States lacks a reliable system for tracking the progress of construction of a chemical weapons disposal facility being built in Russia with U.S. funds, the Government Accountability Office said in a reported released yesterday (see GSN, May 5).
The Defense Department in two years has made “visible progress” on construction of the weapons processor at Shchuchye, the report states. However, the Pentagon faces a number of problems that could place the project behind schedule and over budget.
Troubles with Russian subcontractors have delayed completion of key buildings at the complex. “Such delays have been costing DOD more than $3 million per month since October 2005 and will continue until the award of a crucial subcontract, possibly in June 2006,” according to the report.
Other concerns include questionable Russian construction, regulatory demands by Moscow, and facility testing and other technical matters.
The Pentagon needs a sound earned-value management system to “record, predict and monitor the project’s progress,” the report states. The Pentagon paid $6.7 million for development of a new system to replace an existing system that contains “flawed and unreliable data” for assessing the schedule and cost for the project, auditors said (U.S. Government Accountability Office report, June 1).