TOPAZ II Space Nuclear Power Program

Management, Funding, and Contracting Problems Gao ID: OSI-98-3R December 1, 1997

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO investigated questionable management practices and possible wrongdoing in the TOPAZ II space nuclear power program, focusing on the program's management, funding, and acquisition practices from 1990 through 1995.

GAO noted that: (1) the TOPAZ II program was unable to achieve either its original goal of technology transfer or the later goal of defense conversion; (2) achievement of the technology transfer goal was inhibited in large part by concerns over the Russians' unwillingness to allow full access to the TOPAZ II technology, while the defense conversion goal was impeded by the lack of a process for monitoring whether the funds expended were actually being used in the defense conversion effort; and (3) GAO identified an Antideficiency Act violation and a procedural violation of the Competition in Contracting Act.

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: Team: Phone:


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.