October 16, 1998

The U.S. Department of Energy's X-Change 1997: The Global D&D Marketplace Conference

The Department of Energy and Florida International University (FIU) cosponsored the "X-Change 1997: The Global D&D Marketplace" conference. The conference included speeches and workshops on decontamination and decommissioning topics, as well as exhibits of technologies presented by industry. It also included special events such as receptions and dinners that conference organizers intended to be paid for through corporate conference sponsors. The Department paid for the conference costs, but expected to recover the costs through registration and exhibit fees charged to conference attendees. The audit was performed in response to a request from the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management. Our audit objectives were to determine whether FIU had controls in place to ensure that public funds were used appropriately, and whether fiscal practices associated with the conference were consistent with Government requirements and Departmental policy.