Audit of construction of protective force training facilities at the Pantex Plant

A goal of the Department of Energy project management system is to ensure that projects are necessary to fulfill mission needs and are cost effective. This requires that the Department justify each project and explore competitive alternatives. The objective of this audit was to assess the need to construct protective force training facilities at the Department`s Pantex Plant. Our audit disclosed that (1) construction of a physical training facility was not necessary to fulfill mission needs, and (2) the Department did not consider all viable alternatives to constructing a weapons tactics and training facility. These conditions occurred, in part, because a Justification for New Start was never prepared and approved for the Security Enhancements Major System Acquisition, which included these two projects. We recommended that the Manager, Albuquerque Operations Office, cancel construction of the physical training facility, make needed repairs and upgrades to the existing facilities, and reduce the cost of the Security Enhancements Major System Acquisition accordingly. Implementation of this recommendation will save about $1.7 million. We also recommended that the Manager direct Mason & Hanger to perform economic analyses of all viable alternatives to constructing a weapons tactics and training facility before proceeding with construction. Such analyses could lead to cancellation or rescoping of the proposed facility and result in savings to the Department. Albuquerque management did not agree to cancel construction of the physical training facility, but did agree to perform economic analyses of all viable alternatives to the proposed weapons tactics and training facility before proceeding with construction