DOE's Foreign Visitor Program Has Major Weaknesses

GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) foreign visitor controls at its weapons laboratories. GAO found that DOE: (1) headquarters, field offices, and laboratories did not obtain required background data on most foreign visitors; (2) inadequately identified potentially sensitive subjects, which resulted in possible information leaks to communist or other sensitive nations; (3) did not have effective controls to approve, monitor, and report on foreign visits; and (4) did not have an integrated system to obtain and disseminate foreign visitor information to its field offices.