Inspection of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Credit Card Usage and Property Management Concerns
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore) conducts Federally-funded research
and development in support of national defense programs and other areas of scientific inquiry in
the national interest. To facilitate accomplishment of this work, Livermore spent about
$66 million in over 70,000 transactions in Fiscal Year 1999, for the purchase of supplies or
services made via credit cards. Recognizing that credit card procurements represent a significant
procurement method, the Office of Inspector General included Livermore’s credit card
procurement program as an area of interest regarding contract administration controls in the
Fiscal Year 2000 Inspector General Annual Performance Plan. ÿ
and development in support of national defense programs and other areas of scientific inquiry in
the national interest. To facilitate accomplishment of this work, Livermore spent about
$66 million in over 70,000 transactions in Fiscal Year 1999, for the purchase of supplies or
services made via credit cards. Recognizing that credit card procurements represent a significant
procurement method, the Office of Inspector General included Livermore’s credit card
procurement program as an area of interest regarding contract administration controls in the
Fiscal Year 2000 Inspector General Annual Performance Plan. ÿ
Report on the Department of Energy's Consolidated Financial Statements
The U.S. Department of Energy's Corporate Human Resource Information System
The Department of Energy maintains integrated human resource (HR) information systems that serve about
13,000 Federal employees and 22 personnel offices. In 1994, the Department determined that its legacy HR
information system no longer met its business information needs and embarked on a project to update and/
or replace the system. The Department initiated action to replace its legacy system with the Corporate
Human Resources Information System (CHRIS) in 1996.
13,000 Federal employees and 22 personnel offices. In 1994, the Department determined that its legacy HR
information system no longer met its business information needs and embarked on a project to update and/
or replace the system. The Department initiated action to replace its legacy system with the Corporate
Human Resources Information System (CHRIS) in 1996.
The Need for the Atlas Pulsed Power Experimental Facility
In 1993, the Department of Energy proposed developing the Atlas Pulsed Power Experimental Facility
(Atlas) as part of its effort to assure the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile after the moratorium on
below-ground nuclear weapons testing.
The $49 million facility was intended to produce more than 30 million amperes of electric current for
weapon-physics experiments to allow validation of certain elements of nuclear weapons computer codes.
Once authorized, Atlas was assembled within budget and on time. The assembled facility is currently
undergoing acceptance testing and in December, 2000, Atlas discharged 28.7 million amperes of current,
duplicating the world record for current produced by a capacitor bank with only 75 percent of the facility's
design voltage used. According to the Director of Physics at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, given
the success of its operation to date, the Atlas facility was expected to become a valuable tool for stockpile
stewardship experimentation.
The objective of the audit was to evaluate issues that have been raised relating to the need for Atlas.
(Atlas) as part of its effort to assure the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile after the moratorium on
below-ground nuclear weapons testing.
The $49 million facility was intended to produce more than 30 million amperes of electric current for
weapon-physics experiments to allow validation of certain elements of nuclear weapons computer codes.
Once authorized, Atlas was assembled within budget and on time. The assembled facility is currently
undergoing acceptance testing and in December, 2000, Atlas discharged 28.7 million amperes of current,
duplicating the world record for current produced by a capacitor bank with only 75 percent of the facility's
design voltage used. According to the Director of Physics at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, given
the success of its operation to date, the Atlas facility was expected to become a valuable tool for stockpile
stewardship experimentation.
The objective of the audit was to evaluate issues that have been raised relating to the need for Atlas.
Internet Privacy
Recently enacted appropriations law required agency Inspectors General to report within 60 days on the
collection of information about individuals accessing agency web sites. With limited exceptions, the
Department of Energy is prohibited from collecting personal information from individuals accessing its
public web sites, and must post conspicuous privacy notices containing clear and unambiguous explanations
of any permissible data collection activities and their purpose. The most prominent example of an
impermissible collection method is through the use of "persistent cookies." Persistent cookies are small
files containing unique identifiers that a web server places on a site visitor's computer that can be used to
retrieve information about the user. These files remain embedded in a user's hard drive and can facilitate
information collection until they expire or are removed.
The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Department's method of collecting data from its
public web site visitors was consistent with applicable Federal regulations.
collection of information about individuals accessing agency web sites. With limited exceptions, the
Department of Energy is prohibited from collecting personal information from individuals accessing its
public web sites, and must post conspicuous privacy notices containing clear and unambiguous explanations
of any permissible data collection activities and their purpose. The most prominent example of an
impermissible collection method is through the use of "persistent cookies." Persistent cookies are small
files containing unique identifiers that a web server places on a site visitor's computer that can be used to
retrieve information about the user. These files remain embedded in a user's hard drive and can facilitate
information collection until they expire or are removed.
The objective of our audit was to determine whether the Department's method of collecting data from its
public web site visitors was consistent with applicable Federal regulations.
Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act Audit Report