United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-03-14 monographic deposited born digital 95 p. GA 1.13:RCED-97-63 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63 P0b002ee180395272 f:rc97063 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63 RCED-97-63 Radioactive waste disposal Cost overruns Project monitoring Contract monitoring Contractor performance Radiation safety Health hazards Financial management DOE Environmental Management Program Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the extent to which the Department of Energy (DOE) is providing effective management and oversight of two key cleanup projects at its Fernald site, the vitrification pilot plant project and the uranyl nitrate hexahydrate project, that were reported on in the Cincinnati Enquirer, focusing on: (1) DOE's oversight of safety and health activities at the site; (2) the contractor's compliance with certain performance and financial system procedures; and (3) DOE's overall contracting and management initiatives and how they may resolve any problems identified at Fernald.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) DOE has not exercised adequate management and oversight of the vitrification and uranyl projects or of the contractor's safety and health activities; (2) in addition, the contractor has not complied with some required procedures in maintaining its major performance and financial systems; (3) as a result of these weaknesses, costs have increased, schedules have slipped, and safety and health risks exist; (4) for example, DOE provided limited oversight during the early stages of the two projects and did not prepare many of the required project management documents for the uranyl project; (5) these and other DOE oversight weaknesses contributed to a total of $65 million in estimated cost overruns and almost 6 years of schedule slippages for the two projects; (6) from 1993 to 1995, serious safety and health concerns were raised about DOE's ability to ensure the contractor's compliance with safety and health requirements; (7) for example, DOE did not have adequate plans to supervise the contractor's activities and was not conducting the required safety and health assessments; (8) some of the contractor's practices for maintaining the performance and financial systems make it difficult for DOE and the contractor to exercise effective control and oversight of the contractor's costs and activities; (9) DOE has made some improvements in these areas; (10) for example, in project management, DOE has increased the frequency with which it meets with the contractor to discuss the status of its most important projects; (11) in the safety and health area, DOE has increased the number of assessments and is making other changes that are not far enough along to evaluate; (12) finally, DOE has directed the contractor to make changes to address weaknesses identified in recent reviews of the contractor's financial and performance management, but it is too early to assess their impact; (13) these actions address some of the weaknesses GAO identified; (14) DOE recognizes that contracting and management problems exist throughout the Department and is implementing major reforms to change the way it does business at Fernald and other sites; (15) it is too soon to assess the overall effectiveness of these reforms; and (16) their implementation at Fernald will be a real test of DOE's reforms. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63.pdf GAO/RCED-97-63 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-63 Letter Report GAO/RCED-97-63; Department of Energy: Management and Oversight of Cleanup Activities at Fernald; Radioactive waste disposal Cost overruns Project monitoring Contract monitoring Contractor performance Radiation safety Health hazards Financial management DOE Environmental Management Program