Federal Research

The Department of Energy (DOE) may have a hard time getting the foreign contributions needed to meet its $1.7 billion goal for the Superconducting Super Collider. As of the end of fiscal year 1992, DOE had received about $15 million in foreign contributions consisting of pledges and contributions of labor and materials from India, Russia, and China. This amount is close to the $20 million DOE estimated that it would receive by the end of fiscal year 1992. The Superconducting Super Collider funding profile, however, calls for DOE to obtain an additional $1.1 billion in foreign contributions through fiscal year 1996. Although most of this money will have to come from Japan, Japanese officials have said that they are still studying the merits of the project and have yet to decide whether to contribute. If the foreign contributions do not materialize, the tab for U.S. taxpayers will increase regardless of whether Congress decides to make up for the funding shortfall or let the project's schedule slip. According to DOE, a one-year slippage in the project's overall completion schedule would boost costs by about $400 million--or roughly $1 million a day.

GAO found that: (1) at the end of fiscal year (FY) 1992, DOE had received $15 billion in foreign in-kind contributions such as labor, equipment, and materials; (2) DOE pays laboratories in Russia and China about half as much as it would pay for the same work done in the United States because of lower labor costs, and considers the savings as contributions; (3) the SSC laboratory is negotiating agreements with India and Korea which will result in further contributions; (4) the SSC funding profile calls for DOE to obtain an additional $1.1 billion in foreign contributions through FY 1996; (5) Japanese officials stated that they are still studying the merits of the project and have not yet decided to contribute; (6) U.S. taxpayers' share of the SSC estimated cost will increase if foreign contributions do not materialize; (7) a 1-year slippage in the project's overall completion schedule would increase the project's cost by $400 million; and (8) procedures DOE and the SSC Laboratory followed when entering into agreements with foreign laboratories and the criteria DOE used for considering cost savings under international agreements were appropriate.

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.

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