Alissa Tabirian
NS&D Monitor
10/9/2015
The Department of Energy (DOE) is questioning $526,562 in “questioned and unresolved” subcontract costs from fiscal 2013 with the company that manages and operates the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), according to a DOE Inspector General’s Office (IG) report released this week. Los Alamos National Security (LANS), which has operated LANL since 2006, conducted internal reviews of subcontractors “when costs incurred were a factor in determining the amount payable to the subcontractor,” the report says. It gives the example of a subcontractor failing to submit supporting documentation for almost $424,000 in costs incurred over several years, a figure that falls under the total questioned and unresolved amount. The audit also found $85,241 in unresolved questioned subcontract costs from fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2012. Costs may be questioned for a variety of reasons, including lack of documentation or proper approval, and may be deemed unresolved due to lack of audit coverage.
The IG expressed concern that LANS had not reviewed insurance cost allowability, particularly since LANS could not “determine the accurate or complete universe of insurance expenses.” The IG noted the contractor “does not have an expense type for insurance payments” and instead relies on a keyword search of its accounts payable records to identify these payments. The report recommends that the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Los Alamos Field Office manager determine the allowability of questioned costs, recover unallowable amounts that do not fall within the terms of the contract, and ensure LANS can accurately identify its insurance expenses. The NNSA concurred with the findings and said it would resolve the issues by July 2016, a response that was reiterated by LANL spokesman Kevin Roark when asked for comment.
