Office of Inspector General audit of alternatives to testing at the Tonopah Test Range Page: 3 of 20
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Department of Energy
Washington. DC 20585
March 13, 1998
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY
FROM Gfego H Friedman
Principal Deputy Inspector General
SUBJECT INFORMATION: Report on "Audit of Alternatives to
Testing at the Tonopah Test Range"
BACKGROUND:
The Office of Inspector General has issued several recent reports concerning ways in
which the Department could reduce the size of the complex to reflect current and future
operating strategies. One report identified land that we believe the Department could
dispose of allowing it to focus on the mission of the Department rather than land
management (DOE/IG-0399). Another report identified leased administrative facilities, a
significant amount of which were vacant (DOEIIG-0402). Finally, we analyzed operations
at Mound and concluded that the remaining functions could be transferred to another
operational facility with significant cost savings (DOEiIG-0408). We began an audit of
operations at the Tonopah Test Range to determine if there were cost effective
alternatives to continued operations.
The Atomic Energy Commission established the Tonopah Test Range (Tonopah) in 1957
for weapons program testing. During the 1980s, about 150 tests were done annually at
Tonopah. Beginning in the 1990s, DOE's testing at Tonopah declined dramatically. Some
types of tests were moved to other ranges. By 1996, only 19 tests were done at Tonopah,
3 of which were work-for-others. Therefore, the objective of this audit was to determine if
there were viable, cost effective alternatives to testing at Tonopah.
DISCUSSION:
During the early 1990s, DOE's Albuquerque Operations Office (Albuquerque) and
Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia), which operate Tonopah for DOE, explored the
alternative of testing elsewhere. Some of the data gathered by Albuquerque and Sandia
provided indications that testing at other ranges would be practical and economical.
Our audit followed up on the Albuquerque/Sandia studies and also indicated that testing
could be done elsewhere, at a potential cost savings of several million dollars annually.
Therefore, we recommended that Albuquerque conduct a comprehensive study-of all
testing alternatives. We also recommended that, if the study found that it was not feasible
or economical to move the testing elsewhere, Albuquerque reduce the cost at Tonopah to
the minimum level necessary to support testing requirements.
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Friedman, G.H. Office of Inspector General audit of alternatives to testing at the Tonopah Test Range, report, March 13, 1998; United States. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc698727/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.