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Open Recommendations (118 total)

Hanford Waste Treatment Plant: DOE Needs to Take Further Actions to Address Weaknesses in Its Quality Assurance Program

GAO-18-241
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should direct ORP to require the WTP contractor to determine the full extent to which problems exist in all WTP structures, systems, and components.
Open
DOE agreed with the recommendation. As of June 15, 2020, DOE has started to take action to implement this recommendation, but actions are not sufficient to close it yet. DOE has directed the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) construction contractor to determine the full extent to which problems exist in all WTP structures, systems, and components and plans to complete full implementation of this recommendation by February 15, 2021. However, in July 2021 DOE revised the completion date for fully implementing this recommendation to February 15, 2023, assuming future funding and project execution decisions. As of June 1, 2023, DOE has not taken sufficient action to fully implement this recommendation.

Financial Management: DOE and NNSA Have Opportunities to Improve Management of Carryover Balances

GAO-22-104541
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The DOE Chief Financial Officer, with input from other departmental elements, should periodically reassess the four target thresholds that DOE uses to identify and assess uncosted carryover balances in EM and NNSA programs to ensure that they reflect the current budgetary environment, including with respect to any assumptions made about the duration of continuing resolutions, and either revalidate or revise the thresholds. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DOE concurred with GAO's recommendation and established a working group tasked with providing the Office of the Chief Financial Officer options to address the recommendation. DOE estimated it would complete the department's response by March 2023. As of September 2023, actions proposed by the working group to address the recommendation are undergoing departmental review. When we confirm the final action taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

DOE Nuclear Cleanup: Clear Guidance on Categorizing Activities and an Assessment of Contract Cost Effectiveness Needed

GAO-23-106081
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should direct the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management to develop budget guidance that includes clear definitions for the categories of activities and avoids using the term "minimum safe" when referring to activities that are not progressing the cleanup mission to limit confusion regarding category definitions. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In a letter responding to our report, the Office of Environmental Management (EM) agreed with our recommendation and said that it will clarify definitions for categories of activities in the fiscal year 2026 EM budget guidance. The letter also stated that it will avoid using the term minimum safe when referring to activities that are not progressing the EM cleanup mission. EM estimates these actions will be completed by April 30, 2024.

Hanford Cleanup: DOE's Efforts to Close Tank Farms Would Benefit from Clearer Legal Authorities and Communication

GAO-21-73
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should direct the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Environmental Management to develop a long-term plan for DOE's waste retrieval and tank closure mission at the Hanford site. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In January 2024, EM officials told us that EM's Program Plan describes EM's tank waste mission and long-term plans for the Hanford Site. However, DOE has not fully addressed this recommendation. EM's program plan provides high-level information about tank waste treatment at Hanford but do not constitute a long-term plan that will allow DOE to anticipate and manage the many significant challenges facing the waste retrieval and tank closure mission at Hanford. By developing a long-term plan, DOE could better prepare to address technical challenges related to tank-farm closure.

Critical Infrastructure: Actions Needed to Better Secure Internet-Connected Devices

GAO-23-105327
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy, as SRMA for the energy sector, should direct the Director of the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response to include IoT and OT devices as part of the risk assessments of their sector's cyber environment. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In April 2023, Energy stated that its risk analysis work would include OT and IoT devices and systems used in the energy sector and estimated the completion date of December 1, 2023.

Nuclear Materials: DOE Plans for Savannah River Site's H-Canyon Facility

GAO-24-106494
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should direct the Senior Advisor of EM to work with the Director of NIST to enter into a written agreement for the planned use of H-Canyon to process any future shipments of domestic research reactor fuel from the NIST Center for Neutron Research program. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOE agreed with this recommendation. In its November 2023 response letter, DOE stated that EM will work with NIST to develop a written agreement describing the collaborative process that will be used to plan shipments and receipts of domestic research reactor fuel from the NIST Center for Neutron Research program. DOE estimated completing this action by December 2024.

Tribal Consultation: Additional Federal Actions Needed for Infrastructure Projects

GAO-19-22
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should document in the agency's tribal consultation policy how agency officials are to communicate with tribes about how tribal input from consultation was considered in agency decisions on infrastructure projects. (Recommendation 10)
Open
As of April 2023, the Department of Energy indicated the agency is in the process of revising and implementing a Consultation Action Plan that documents policies regarding how input from tribal consultation was considered in agency decisions on infrastructure projects, and how consultation and engagement can be improved. The agency is also working to make appropriate revisions to the Department of Energy's American Indian Tribal Government Interactions and Policy (Order 144.1) . The Department expects to complete this effort by October 2023.

Refined Coal Production Tax Credit: Coordinated Agency Review Could Help Ensure the Credit Achieves Its Intended Purpose

GAO-22-104637
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy If Congress extends the refined coal production tax credit, the Secretary of Energy should coordinate with Treasury, IRS, and EPA to review the performance of the credit in achieving its intended purpose and identify and implement, as appropriate, any improvements towards achieving that intended purpose, such as adjustments to allowable emissions testing methods. (Recommendation 4)
Open
In an April 2022 letter, the Department of Energy (DOE) concurred with our recommendation. If Congress reinstates the credit after fiscal year 2024, we will confirm what actions DOE has taken in response to our recommendation and provide updated information.

Hanford Cleanup: DOE Should Validate Its Analysis of High-Level Waste Treatment Alternatives

GAO-23-106093
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management obtains an independent review to validate the process of the analysis of high-level waste treatment alternatives at Hanford. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In October 2023, DOE reiterated that it concurs with GAO's recommendation and noted that the recommendation encompasses actions that have already occurred or are a required part of the DOE capital asset process. However, as we note in our report, we believe further action is needed (per best practices for developing an analysis of alternatives) to provide greater assurance that all viable alternatives for optimizing the tank waste treatment mission are considered. Furthermore, alternative treatment methods for low-activity have been widely studied and reviewed by independent organizations, including the Savannah River National Laboratory and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. However, the high-level waste treatment alternatives in DOE's analysis of alternatives have not been similarly studied or independently reviewed.

Department of Energy: Whistleblower Protections Need Strengthening

GAO-16-618
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Energy To improve DOE's ability to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of policies that call for all organizations, including contractors, to embrace a strong safety culture and create a work environment that encourages a questioning attitude by all employees, the Secretary of Energy should develop and implement an independent evaluation process for routinely and accurately measuring contractor employees' willingness to raise safety and other concerns without fear of retaliation. This process should ensure that an independent third party develops, conducts, and consistently applies the evaluation methodology--which should include safeguards that protect anonymity. The process should also enable DOE to oversee and ensure that appropriate corrective actions are taken in response to evaluation results.
Open
DOE concurred with the recommendation. DOE has developed a plan to analyze tools utilized by site contractors to determine the viability of using the data to monitor the influence of work environment on employees' willingness to raise safety concerns. DOE's Office of Enterprise Assessments developed a process for completing evaluations that would include information on employees' willingness to raise safety concerns. As of June 2023, we are continuing to work with DOE to better understand the process and schedule for completing evaluations.
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