Hanford site contract audit: Taxpayers possibly overcharged

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — An audit by the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General has found that the Hanford site’s occupational medicine contractor submitted inappropriate bills to the Department of Energy. The Tri-City Herald reported Tuesday the audit found that DOE reimbursed contractor HPM Corp. for work without reasonable assurance that the costs met reimbursement requirements. The Department of Energy has already resolved $1.3 million of what was called “misallocated costs” after increasing oversight starting in 2016. HPMC made no comment on the audit report. The Hanford site in Eastern Washington was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce most of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.