Come Again?! DOE Makes Astounding Claim that it Aims to Complete Major Capital Projects on Budget & Schedule
In a September 17, 2014 email, DOE finally admits a huge “baseline” cost increase in the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at SRS. The cost of the facility, which will process liquid high-level waste from the aging tanks (and disposes of much of the volume on site) has risen dramatically, from $1.3 billion to $2.3 billion. Based on DOE’s usual track record, the cost is likely to rise yet again and with more schedule delays. But DOE claims it’s good at project managment and states the following, with a straight face:
“The Department places significant emphasis on completing major capital projects within established baselines for scope, cost, and schedule by aligning contract incentives with taxpayer interests, and improving the structure and management of the Department’s contracts by ensuring contractors are held accountable for their actions. This revised baseline aligns with those principles.”
Ooops, besides overlooking problems they just admitted with the SWPF, they just happened to forget that the MOX boondoggle is more than a decade late and 1000% over the initial cost of construction of the plant. There has been absolutely no attempt whatsoever to control the costs or schedule of the project so any claim that DOE is efficient management of costly capital projects is not supported by the facts.
see SRS email here