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Department of Energy: Progress Made Overseeing the Costs of Contractor Postretirement Benefits, but Additional Actions Could Help Address Challenges

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) relies on contractors to conduct its mission activities. DOE reimburses these contractors for allowable costs, including the costs of providing pension and other postretirement benefits, such as retiree health care plans. Since the economic downturn, DOE has had to devote significantly more funding toward reimbursing these benefit costs, in part because of a decline in int… more
Date: April 29, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Department of Energy: Further Actions Are Needed to Improve DOE's Ability to Evaluate and Implement the Loan Guarantee Program

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Department of Energy's (DOE) loan guarantee program (LGP) for innovative energy projects was established in Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, its scope has expanded both in the types of projects it can support and in the amount of loan guarantee authority available. DOE currently has loan guarantee authority estimated at about $77 billion and is seeking additional authority. As of A… more
Date: July 12, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Renewable Energy: Increased Geothermal Development Will Depend on Overcoming Many Challenges

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Act) contains provisions that address a variety of challenges that face the geothermal industry, including the high risk and uncertainty of developing geothermal power plants, lack of sufficient transmission capacity, and delays in federal leasing. Among the provisions are means to simplify federal royalties on geothermal resources while overall collecting the same level o… more
Date: May 24, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Energy: Status of DOE's Effort to Develop the Next Generation Nuclear Plant

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the administration's National Energy Policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) is promoting nuclear energy to meet increased U.S. energy demand. In 2003, DOE began developing the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, an advanced nuclear reactor that seeks to improve upon the current generation of operating commercial nuclear power plants. DOE intends to demonstrate the plant's commercial application both fo… more
Date: September 20, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Green Affordable Housing: HUD Has Made Progress in Promoting Green Building, but Expanding Efforts Could Help Reduce Energy Costs and Benefit Tenants

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Rising energy prices and concerns about the environment have fueled interest in "green building"--resource-efficient construction and maintenance practices that reduce adverse impacts on the natural environment. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), spends an estimated $5 billion on energy costs annually in its affordable housing programs and has recently taken steps to reduce its energ… more
Date: October 7, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Nonproliferation: Progress Made in Improving Security at Russian Nuclear Sites, but the Long-term Sustainability of U.S.-Funded Security Upgrades Is Uncertain

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Safeguarding nuclear warheads and materials that can be used to make nuclear weapons is a primary national security concern of the United States. Since 1993, the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Defense (DOD) have worked to improve security at sites housing weapons-usable nuclear material and warheads in Russia and other countries. In 1995, DOE established the Materials Protection, Control, and Accountin… more
Date: February 28, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Oil and Gas Bonds: Bonding Requirements and BLM Expenditures to Reclaim Orphaned Wells

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 directs the Department of the Interior (Interior) to manage lands for multiple uses while also taking any action to prevent "unnecessary or undue degradation" of the land. To do this, Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), among other things, requires oil and gas operators to reclaim the land they disturb and post a bond to help ensure they do so. … more
Date: January 27, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Modernizing the Nuclear Security Enterprise: The National Nuclear Security Administration's Proposed Acquisition Strategy Needs Further Clarification and Assessment

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)--a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy (DOE)-- proposed in March 2010 a new acquisition strategy that includes consolidating the management and operating (M&O) contracts for two of its eight sites--the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas--and consolidating all construction projects for all … more
Date: September 20, 2011
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Weapons: NNSA Needs to Establish a Cost and Schedule Baseline for Manufacturing a Critical Nuclear Weapon Component

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is responsible for manufacturing pits, a key component in a nuclear warhead. The department lost its ability to manufacture pits in 1989 with the closing of the Rocky Flats Plant. In 1996, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was directed to reestablish a pit manufacturing capability, starting with a limited number of pits f… more
Date: May 23, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Efficiency: Better Coordination among Federal Programs Needed to Allocate Testing Resources

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The three key federal energy efficiency programs--minimum energy efficiency standards led by the Department of Energy (DOE), EnergyGuide led by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Energy Star led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with support from DOE--take different approaches to the shared goal of improving the energy efficiency of selected categories of household appliances and consume… more
Date: March 28, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Safety: Construction of the Protective Shelter for the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Faces Schedule Delays, Potential Cost Increases, and Technical Uncertainties

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine destroyed the reactor building and released massive amounts of radioactive contamination. A temporary shelter was built over the damaged reactor to prevent further contamination. The United States is a major donor to an international project to build a new shelter to replace the existing one, which is badly deteriorating. GAO was aske… more
Date: July 19, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Laboratories: DOE Needs to Improve Oversight of Work Performed for Non-DOE Entities

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal years 2008 through 2012, the Department of Energy (DOE) performed about $2 billion annually of Work for Others (WFO) projects, as measured by the costs incurred. Although the amount of WFO performed has remained relatively constant over the last 5 years overall, WFO as a percentage of the total work performed at the laboratories--measured in total laboratory costs incurred--has declined from 1… more
Date: October 25, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Department of Energy: Further Actions Are Needed to Strengthen Contract Management for Major Projects

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) pays its contractors billions of dollars each year to implement its major projects--those costing more than $400 million each. Many major projects have experienced substantial cost and schedule overruns, largely because of contract management problems. GAO was asked to assess, for major departmental projects, (1) DOE's use of performance incentives to effectively control c… more
Date: March 18, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Regulation: NRC's Liability Insurance Requirements for Nuclear Power Plants Owned by Limited Liability Companies

Description: A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "An accident at one the nation's commercial nuclear power plants could result in human health and environmental damages. To ensure that funds would be available to settle liability claims in such cases, the Price-Anderson Act requires licensees for these plants to have primary insurance--currently $300 million per site. The act also requires secondary coverage in the form of retrospective premiums to be contrib… more
Date: May 28, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Propane and Heating Oil: Federal Oversight of the Propane Education and Research Council and National Oilheat Research Alliance Should Be Strengthened

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Millions of Americans use propane and oil heat for such purposes as heating and cooking. Congress authorized creation of the Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) in 1996 and the National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) in 2000 to provide research and development, safety and training, and consumer education for propane and oil heat, as the highest priority activities. Congressional deliberation… more
Date: June 30, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's Effort to Close Russia's Plutonium Production Reactors Faces Challenges, and Final Shutdown Is Uncertain

Description: A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Russia's continued operation of three plutonium production reactors poses a serious proliferation threat. The Department of Energy's (DOE) Elimination of Weapons-Grade Plutonium Production program seeks to facilitate the reactors' closure by building or refurbishing replacement fossil fuel plants. This report (1) describes DOE's efforts to manage and implement the program, (2) assesses the challenges DOE faces… more
Date: June 4, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Markets: Increasing Globalization of Petroleum Products Markets, Tightening Refining Demand and Supply Balance, and Other Trends Have Implications for U.S. Energy Supply, Prices, and Price Volatility

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To better understand how changes in domestic and international petroleum products markets have affected prices, GAO was asked to evaluate trends in (1) the international trade of petroleum products, (2) refining capacity and intensity of refining capacity use internationally and in the United States, (3) international and domestic crude oil and petroleum product inventories, and (4) domestic petroleum s… more
Date: December 20, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Markets: Estimates of the Effects of Mergers and Market Concentration on Wholesale Gasoline Prices

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2008, GAO reported that 1,088 oil industry mergers occurred between 2000 and 2007. Given the potential for price effects, GAO recommended that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency with the authority to maintain petroleum industry competition, undertake more regular retrospective reviews of past petroleum industry mergers, and FTC said it would consider this recommendation. GAO was asked to … more
Date: June 12, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Waste: DOE's Efforts to Protect the Columbia River from Contamination Could Be Further Strengthened

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford site in Washington State is one of the most contaminated nuclear waste sites in North America. The Columbia River flows through about 50 miles of the site. Radioactive and hazardous contamination from decades of producing nuclear materials for the nation's defense have migrated through the soil into the groundwater, which generally flows toward the river. In Nove… more
Date: August 28, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Managing Critical Isotopes: Stewardship of Lithium-7 Is Needed to Ensure a Stable Supply

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Little is known about lithium-7 production in China and Russia and whether their supplies can meet future domestic demand. According to industry representatives, China and Russia produce enough lithium-7 to meet demand from U.S. pressurized water reactors, a type of commercial nuclear power reactor that requires lithium-7 for safe operation. However, China's continued supply may be reduced by its own gr… more
Date: September 19, 2013
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Recovery Act: Most DOE Cleanup Projects Appear to Be Meeting Cost and Schedule Targets, but Assessing Impact of Spending Remains a Challenge

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The American Reinvestment Act of 2009 aims to stimulate the economy, including funding for environmental cleanup projects. The Department of Energy (DOE) receives annual appropriations of $6 billion to support the cleanup of radioactive and hazardous wastes resulting from decades of nuclear weapons research and production. GAO was asked to examine (1) how DOE selected projects for funding and developed … more
Date: July 29, 2010
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Motor Fuels: Stakeholder Views on Compensating for the Effects of Gasoline Temperature on Volume at the Pump

Description: A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The volume, but not the energy content, of hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, varies in response to changes in temperature. Thus, because of expansion, the energy content per gallon of 90 degree fuel is less than that of 60 degree fuel. States and localities adopt and enforce weights and measures regulations, often using the model regulatory standards published by the National Institute of … more
Date: September 25, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE Has Made Some Progress in Cleaning Up the Paducah Site, but Challenges Remain

Description: A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1988, radioactive contamination was found in the drinking water wells of residences near the federal government's uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, Kentucky. In response, the Department of Energy (DOE) began a cleanup program. In 2000, GAO reported that DOE faced significant challenges in cleaning up the site and that it was doubtful that the cleanup would be completed as scheduled by 2010 and within the… more
Date: April 1, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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