GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE CRITICAL OF DOE ISOTOPE PROGRAM

摘要

The Department of Energy's Isotope Program could be leaving money on the table, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last week that suggests the program has been lax in analyzing how it sets prices for the more than 300 different isotopes it supplies, including 10 provided by the National Nuclear Security Administration. The program sets prices for commercial markets to at least recover full costs, but the GAO said that the program has not assessed the value of isotopes to customers or defined the factors it should consider when setting the prices for commercial isotopes. Isotope prices for research efforts are priced differently. "As a result, the program does not know if its full-cost-recovery prices are set at appropriate levels so as not to distort the market, and it may be forgoing revenue that could further support its mission," the GAO wrote.