A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the administration's National Energy Policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) is promoting nuclear energy to meet increased U.S. energy demand. In 2003, DOE began developing the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, an advanced nuclear reactor that seeks to improve upon the current generation of operating commercial nuclear power plants. DOE intends to demonstrate the plant's commercial application both for generating electricity and for using process heat from the reactor for the production of hydrogen, which then would be used in fuel cells for the transportation sector. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required plant design and construction to be completed by 2021. GAO was asked to examine (1) the progress DOE has made in meeting its schedule for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant and (2) DOE's approach to ensuring the commercial viability of the project. To meet these objectives, GAO reviewed DOE's research and development (R&D) plans for the project and the reports of two independent project reviews, observed R&D activities, and interviewed DOE, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and industry representatives."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The September 11 attacks showed that agencies must balance the need to protect and share sensitive information to prevent future attacks. Agencies classify this information or designate it sensitive but unclassified to protect and limit access to it. The National Archives' Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) assesses agencies' classification management programs, and in July 2004 and April 2005 recommended changes to correct problems at the Justice Department (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). GAO was asked to examine (1) DOJ's and FBI's progress in implementing the recommendations and (2) the management controls DOJ components have to ensure the proper use of sensitive but unclassified designations. GAO reviewed ISOO's reports and agency documentation on changes implemented and controls in place, and interviewed security program managers at DOJ, its components, and ISOO to examine these issues."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because terrorists do not operate on a 9-5 schedule, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its operational components have established information gathering and analysis centers that conduct activities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Staff at these operations centers work to help detect, deter, and prevent terrorist acts. DHS has determined that out of 25 operations centers, four require higher levels of collaboration that can only be provided by personnel from multiple DHS agencies, and other federal, and sometimes state and local, agencies. For these four multi-agency operations centers, this report (1) describes their missions, products, functions, and customers and (2) assesses the extent to which DHS efforts to promote collaboration among the multiple agencies responsible for the centers reflect key practices for enhancing and sustaining collaborative efforts. To do so, GAO visited operations centers, reviewed data and reports from the centers, and interviewed center and other DHS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) effort to modernize its tax administrative and financial systems--Business Systems Modernization (BSM)--has suffered delays and cost overruns due to a number of factors, including inadequate development and management of requirements. Recognizing these deficiencies, IRS created a Requirements Management Office (RMO) to establish policies and procedures for managing requirements. GAO's objectives were to assess (1) whether the office has established adequate requirements development and management policies and procedures and (2) whether BSM has effectively used requirements development and management practices for key systems development efforts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) issued the Mobility Capabilities Study (MCS), which was intended to identify and quantify the mobility capabilities needed to support U.S. strategic objectives into the next decade. The MCS found that projected capabilities are adequate to achieve U.S. objectives with an acceptable level of risk--that is, current U.S. inventory of aircraft, ships, prepositioned assets, and other capabilities are sufficient, in conjunction with host nation support, and assuming planned investments take place. The Senate report accompanying the bill for the fiscal year 2005 Defense Authorization Act required GAO to report on the adequacy and completeness of the MCS. GAO assessed the extent to which the MCS met generally accepted research standards that this type of study would be expected to meet to be considered sound and complete."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina demonstrated difficulties involved in evacuating communities and raised questions about how hospitals and nursing homes plan for evacuations and how the federal government assists. Due to broad-based congressional interest, GAO assessed the evacuation of hospital patients and nursing home residents. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO examined (1) the challenges hospital and nursing home administrators faced, (2) the extent to which limitations exist in the design of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) to assist with patient evacuations, and (3) the federal requirements for hospital and nursing home disaster and evacuation planning. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed federal officials, and interviewed hospital and nursing home administrators and state and local officials in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and Hurricane Charley in Florida."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Despite periodic price shocks and related energy crises, the United States is even more dependent on crude oil and natural gas than it was almost 30 years ago. And, without dramatic change, the nation will become ever more reliant on imported oil and natural gas with attendant threats to national security. The nation has also become concerned about global warming, which has been linked to carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal and oil. To address these concerns, the Department of Energy (DOE) has funded research and development (R&D) on advanced renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy technologies. GAO examined the (1) R&D funding trends and strategies for developing advanced energy technologies, (2) key barriers to developing and deploying advanced energy technologies, and (3) efforts of the states and six selected countries to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies. GAO reviewed DOE R&D budget data and strategic plans and interviewed DOE officials and scientists, U.S. industry executives, independent experts, and state and foreign government officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The judiciary pays over $900 million in rent annually to GSA for court-related space, and this amount represents a growing proportion of the judiciary's budget. The judiciary's rent payments are deposited into GSA's Federal Buildings Fund (FBF), a revolving fund used to finance GSA's real property services, including the construction and repair of federal facilities under GSA control. In December 2004, the judiciary requested a $483 million dollar permanent, annual rent exemption, which GSA denied, saying that it undermined the intent of FBF and that GSA was unlikely to obtain appropriations to replace lost FBF income. GAO identified (1) recent trends in the judiciary's rent and space occupied and (2) challenges that the judiciary faces in managing its rent costs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 required that the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DOD) implement programs referred to as the Joint Incentive Fund (JIF) and the Demonstration Site Selection (DSS) to increase health care resource sharing between the departments. The act requires GAO to report on (1) VA's and DOD's progress in implementing the programs. GAO also agreed with the committees of jurisdiction to report on (2) the actions taken by VA and DOD to strengthen resource sharing and opportunities to improve upon those actions and (3) whether VA and DOD performance measures are useful for evaluating progress toward achieving health care resource-sharing goals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Taxpayers unable to fully pay their tax liabilities may apply for an offer in compromise (OIC), an agreement with IRS to pay what they can afford. IRS writes off the rest of the liability. In 2005, IRS accepted over 14,000 offers. Because of concerns about program performance and a new category of offers based on exceptional circumstances, GAO was asked to (1) describe the trends in program's performance and their causes and (2) determine whether IRS's regulations for exceptional circumstance offers are consistent with statute. GAO examined five program objectives: timeliness, quality, accessibility, compliance, and cost."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2004, the successful launches of SpaceShipOne raised the possibility of an emerging U.S. commercial space tourism industry that would make human space travel available to the public. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has responsibility for safety and industry promotion, licenses operations of commercial space launches and launch sites. To allow the industry to grow, Congress prohibited FAA from regulating crew and passenger safety before 2012, except in response to high-risk events. GAO evaluated FAA's (1) safety oversight of commercial space launches, (2) response to emerging issues, and (3) challenges in regulating and promoting space tourism and responding to competitive issues affecting the industry. GAO reviewed FAA's applicable safety oversight processes and interviewed federal and industry officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has previously reported on the Department of Defense's (DOD) ability to track reservists deployed to the theater of operations and made recommendations. Reliable mobilization and deployment data are critical for making decisions about reserve force availability and medical surveillance. Because of broad congressional interest, GAO initiated a review under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative to determine (1) what DOD data indicate are the number of reservists mobilized and deployed in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and the selected demographic and deployment characteristics of those deployed and (2) whether DOD's reserve deployment and mobilization data and analyses are reliable. GAO analyzed data and data analyses from DOD's Contingency Tracking System (CTS) and interviewed agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates it will serve 5.4 million patients in fiscal year 2006. Medical services for these patients are funded with appropriations, after consideration by Congress of the President's budget request. VA formulates the medical programs portion of that request. VA is also responsible for budget execution--using appropriations and monitoring their use for providing care. For fiscal years 2005 and 2006, the President requested additional funding for VA medical programs, beyond what had been originally requested. GAO was asked to examine for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 (1) how the President's budget requests for VA medical programs were formulated, (2) how VA monitored and reported to Congress on its budget execution, and (3) which key factors in the budget formulation process contributed to requests for additional funding. To do this, GAO analyzed budget documents and interviewed VA and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, billions of dollars in dual-use items--items that have both commercial and military applications--as well as defense items are exported from the United States. To protect U.S. interests, the U.S. government controls the export of these items. A key function in the U.S. export control system is enforcement, which aims to prevent or deter the illegal export of controlled items. This report describes the roles, responsibilities, and authorities of export control enforcement agencies, identifies the challenges these agencies face, and determines if information on enforcement outcomes is provided to the export control agencies. GAO's findings are based on an examination of statutes, interagency agreements, and procedures; interviews with enforcement officials at selected field locations and headquarters; and an assessment of enforcement information."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies rely extensively on computerized information systems and electronic data to carry out their missions. To ensure the security of the information and information systems that support critical operations and infrastructure, federal law and policy require agencies to periodically test and evaluate the effectiveness of their information security controls at least annually. GAO was asked to evaluate the extent to which agencies have adequately designed and effectively implemented policies for testing and evaluating their information security controls. GAO surveyed 24 major federal agencies and analyzed their policies to determine whether the policies address important elements for periodic testing. GAO also examined testing documentation at 6 agencies to assess the quality and effectiveness of testing on 30 systems."