Open AccessAudit of the management of the cooperative agreement with Texas to fund the Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium
Publication year - 1996
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/375911
Subject(s) - plutonium , fissile material , mox fuel , national laboratory , stockpile , nuclear weapon , waste management , environmental science , transuranium element , savannah river site , spent nuclear fuel , nuclear engineering , plutonium 240 , enriched uranium , radioactive waste , engineering , plutonium 239 , radiochemistry , uranium , chemistry , nuclear physics , physics , neutron , engineering physics , fission
To address disposition of special nuclear material taken from dismantled nuclear weapons, DOE in Nov. 1994 agreed to provide financial assistance to the State of Texas to establish the Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium. The Center sponsored research on storage, disposition, potential utilization, and transportation of Pu, high explosives, and other materials generated from nuclear weapons disassembly. Objective of the audit was to determine if DOE provided adequate management, direction, and control to ensure that the Center`s activities are beneficial to DOE and do not duplicate the work at DOE`s national laboratories. DOE has had limited involvement in the Center. The Center`s projects identified by the Office of Fissile Materials Disposition as supporting Defense Programs activities have not been reviewed. Review revealed that DOE funded about $1.8 million during the first two years of Center`s operation for research which duplicated research conducted by DOE`s national laboratories. This duplication occurred because responsibility for technical review was assigned at a level without authority to fully coordinate review of the Center`s research projects with DOE`s national laboratories. Recommendations are given