More Resources

In January 1997, Westinghouse Savannah River Company, the management and operating contractor at the Savannah River Site, submitted a privatization proposal requesting approval to form a "spin-off" company to perform safety management services. The new company, Westinghouse Safety Management Solutions, Incorporated (WSMS), would be a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse and would be largely comprised of Westinghouse personnel already performing safety management services at the site. To justify the spin-off, the management and operating contractor prepared a make-or-buy analysis indicating that by using WSMS the Department would save at least $11.5 million over 5 years. The Department approved the proposal and allowed Westinghouse to enter into a sole-source, cost-reimbursable agreement with WSMS beginning in Fiscal Year 1998. The objective of this audit was to determine whether the privatization of safety management services at the Savannah River Site has reduced the Department's cost.

Privatization of Safety Management Services at the Savannah River Site

Issued to BWXT Idaho, LLC, related to Work Process Violations and Quality Issues at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex and Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

BPA proposes to fund a portion of the cost of a conservation easement on 56,400 acres of land along the Fisher River to preclude development and protect riparian habitat. The land is owned by the Plum Creek Timber Company, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MFWP) will own and monitor the perpetual easement. The goal of the project is to protect approximately 142,000 acres owned by Plum Creek Timber Company: 56,400 in the Fisher River valley and 86,000 in the Thompson River valley. The total cost for the easement over 142,000 acres is estimated at around $30 million. BPA will contribute $500,000 toward the smaller parcel in the Fisher River valley, for each of fiscal years 2002, 2003, and 2004, for a total of $1.5 million. A number of other public and private entities will fund the remainder of the easement, with MFWP contributing the majority.

Wildlife Mitigation Program

DOE's objective in participating in the cooperative agreement is to support demonstration of technoloy potentially capable of substantially reducing particulate emissions, particularly emissions of fine particulate, from coal-fired power plants. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes to result from the proposed action would occur in the following areas: air emissions, construction impacts, and solid waste disposal.

Otter Tail Power Company Advanced Hybrid Particulate Collector Big Stone City, Grant County, SD

Integrated Power Generation System for Coal Mine Waste Methane Utilization Federal No. 2 Mine Parrish Shaftsite, Monongalia County, West Virginia

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes, through a cooperative agreement with Northwest Fuel Development, Incorporated, to provide funds for the construction of a facility to demonstrate an integrated system which would use coal mine waste methane, commonly referred to as "gob gas", for the production of electrical power. The facility woudl be located at the Parrish Shaft site of the Federal Number 2 Mine near the unincoporated town of Crossroads in western Monogalia County, West Virginia. If approved DOE would provide approximately 35% ($600,000) of the funding required for the project.

From 1952 through 1988, RMI Titanium Company (RMI), a private company, performed work for the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies as well as for various commercial customers. RMI's commercial work involved processing uranium and non-radioactive metals, such as copper and copper alloys. Historically, the Federal Government has not reimbursed private companies for clean-up activities related to their commercial operations. However, in March 1993, the Department awarded RMI a 10-year, cost-reimbursable contract to clean up the RMI site in its entirety and adjacent grounds to a level that permits release of the site for unrestricted use. The site remediation, now referred to as the Ashtabula Environmental Management Project, is projected to cost approximately $300 million. Through Fiscal Year 2001, the Department has spent about $103 million on this effort. We conducted this audit to determine whether RMI should pay a portion of the remediation cost of Ashtabula.