Calendar Year 2020

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore), a major component of the Department of Energy's
national laboratory system, has an annual Research and Development (R&D) budget of about $1 billion. The
Department established a set of processes and procedures to ensure that Livermore's R&D efforts are
authorized by responsible Federal Officers and are consistent with the Department's mission. The objective
of our audit was to determine whether Livermore was performing R&D that was not authorized by the
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The Department of Energy (Department) is responsible for the world's largest environmental
remediation program resulting from the legacy of this Nation's nuclear weapons program and
government-sponsored nuclear energy research activities. About $6 billion, or one-third of the
Department's annual budget, is devoted to this critical mission component.
To support its mission, the Department's Office of Environmental Management (EM) developed
a corporate-level project management system known as the Integrated Planning, Accountability,
and Budgeting System - Information System (IPABS-IS). This system, coupled with the EM
Corporate Database, was to provide a centralized means to collect, store, and report program
information. Through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2000, EM had spent about $6 million for
development and operation of the system.
The objective of our audit was to determine whether IPABS-IS satisfied information technology
(IT) architecture requirements and was meeting users' information needs and Department goals.

The Department of Energy's (Department) management and operating contractor at the Savannah River Site, Westinghouse Savannah River Company (Westinghouse), is responsible for managing the majority of the Department's missions and associated stocked inventory at the site. As of March 2001, Westinghouse maintained about 4.1 million items in its stocked inventory. These items have an acquisition value of about $64 million. Westinghouse estimated the cost directly related to storing these items to be about $700,000 annually. The objective of this audit was to evaluate Westinghouse's management of the stocked inventory at the Savannah River Site.

In 1996, Congress passed the Clinger-Cohen Act (Act) to enhance the management and control of information technology. The Act requires Federal Agencies to appoint a Chief Information Officer and to employ a performance-and-results-based approach to managing information technology investments. Congress also has placed significant emphasis on improving efficiencies by better leveraging information technology investments across the Government. The effective use of such resources holds the promise of significant advances in efficiency and reduced cost of operations. In Fiscal Year 2001, the Department estimated that it would expend about $1.4 billion for
information technology investments, a significant portion of which supports advanced and scientific supercomputing initiatives. Under these circumstances, it is essential that the Department develop and implement an effective information technology management, investment and control process. The purpose of this report is to highlight problems that have been identified and reported over time with the Department's implementation of Clinger-Cohen requirements. The report is based on a recap of major information technology related audit reports and a review of the Department's implementation initiatives.

The purpose of this report is to make you aware of issues that came to our attention during recent Office of Inspector General (OIG) inspection activity at the Ashtabula Environmental Management Project (Ashtabula). Inspectors visited Ashtabula during the week of April 30, 2001, and we concluded that certain conditions at Ashtabula may require immediate management attention. During our visit, OIG Inspectors provided daily briefings to the Department’s Ashtabula Site Manager to allow for immediate corrective actions as deemed necessary by the Site Manager. The Office of Inspector General is continuing its work at the Ashtabula site. During our visit to Ashtabula, we physically inspected buildings and equipment owned by the Department and located on property owned by Earthline Technologies (Earthline). We also physically inspected Earthline-owned buildings, known as “Plant 2,” where the Department leases storage space. Our inspection found conditions that indicated questionable contract implementation and administration by both Earthline and Department officials. As a result, there are serious concerns about
worker safety and health, and conservation of Government equipment and resources.