Surface Oxidation of National Defense Stockpile Cobalt Does Not Adversely Affect Its Use

GAO was asked to examine the basis of a statement made by a former commissioner of the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Property Resources Service concerning oxidation of cobalt which was purchased in 1981 for the National Defense Stockpile. He stated that the cobalt met the purchase specifications in manufacture, but oxidized by the time it arrived in the United States, implying that the cobalt no longer met the purchase specifications.