Procurement of Depleted Uranium Penetrators for the Air Force

A study on using the Feed Materials Production Center, Fernald, Ohio, as a potential producer of depleted uranium penetrators for the Air Force was reviewed to determine the possible government savings of the production.

The study shows that several million dollars can be saved by combining production of Department of Energy (DOE) items with production of the Air Force penetrators at the Fernald facility. These savings are possible because the production of the penetrators can be integrated with current DOE production without proportionate increases in overhead and labor costs, and with no increase in the contractor's fee. The savings could be even greater if the Department of the Army also obtained its penetrators from the Fernald facility. However, the Air Force recommends that the penetrators continue to be purchased from the private sector, contending that the National Lead prices would be higher than those of commercial competitors if full-cost reimbursement were required. The position of DOE for charging the Air Force the full cost is based on its not wishing to be a party to unfair competition with private industry. In the opinion of GAO, the penetrators should be produced at the Fernald facility at reduced costs to the government, and be made available for purchase by the Department of the Army. Furthermore, DOE is not restricted to charging only out-of-pocket costs if it can demonstrate some recognizable goal or policy which supports a greater recovery.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: No director on record Team: No team on record Phone: No phone on record