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$9-4.5112-3 Payments under special research support agreements.

(a) Payments will be made to contractors under a special research support agreement in accordance with its provisions (see Article B-XI of $9-16.5002-1). The letter of credit procedures, as provided for in Treasury Fiscal Requirements Manual, Part VI, Section 1020, shall be used to the maximum extent feasible when the total of ERDA contracts and agreements with advance financing at an institution provides for a continuing annual level of support of $250,000 or more. When the total ERDA contracts and agreements with advance financing provides for a continuing annual level of support of less than $250,000, ERDA shall make advance payments covering the first 90 percent of the amount of the new funds as set forth in Article A-III(b) of the agreement. The field office may revise Article B-XI of $9-16. 5002-1, regarding the timing and amounts of advance payments, in accordance with the following provisions. The advance payments may be made at times and in amounts determined by the field office, provided that no single payment will exceed 45 percent of the new funds as set forth in Article A-III(b) of the agreement for the pertinent period except on the basis of a request from the contractor evidencing that a specified amount is required in connection with expenditures or commitments made under the agreement. The timing and amounts of payments should be determined on the basis of limiting the amount of advances to the extent feasible, consistent with effective and efficient administration and performance of the research, for the purpose of slowing the rate of cash withdrawals from the Treasury and thereby decreasing the financing costs to the Federal Government. In determining the timing and amounts of payments, consideration should be given to funds already available to the contractor, the expected expenditures under the agreement, any information from the contractor regarding the need for funds, and the administrative cost of additional payments.

(b) If the agreement is to be extended for an additional period of performance with additional funding, there may be paid at the time of execution of the extension the amount withheld from the expiring period which, when added to the payments already made does not exceed the new funds set forth in A-III(b) for the expiring period. The final payment under both of the procedures referred to in paragraph (a) of this section shall be made on the basis of determinations by the contracting officer that: (1) the required reports are satisfactory; (2) that the research was performed in accordance with the provisions of the agreement; (3) that an additional payment is required to reimburse for all costs chargeable to ERDA; and (4) that an appropriate patent clearance has been obtained. If necessary in making these determinations, the contracting officer should obtain advice from the technical personnel of the program office based upon their visits to and other contacts with the research project during

the agreement period as well as their technical review of the report. It is expected that the annual progress and final reports and the contractor's certified cost statements will provide an adequate basis for making the required determinations. If the determinations cannot be made on the basis of a consideration of the reports, visits to and other contacts with the research project during the agreement period, and the contractor's certified statements, the contracting officer may invoke the audit provision of the agreement. In the event the contracting officer determines that the contractor has not satisfied the contractual undertakings, appropriate steps shall be taken to protect the Government's interests.

$9-4.5112-4 Approval of deviations in performance

and other specified actions.

(a) Contractors should inform the congnizant field office as soon as possible of contemplated deviations and other proposed actions which require ERDA approval. Specific deviations and actions include the following:

(1) A change of the principal investigator, co-investigator, or other key people as might be named in the agreement or continuation of the research work for any one period in excess of three months without direction by an approved principal investigator. The principal investigator may increase or decrease the amount of effort which he devotes to the project without obtaining the contracting officer's approval; however, a representative of the institution shall consult with the appropriate Headquarters program representative if the principal investigator plans to, or becomes aware that he will, devote substantially less effort to the work than anticipated in Article A-I. The purpose of such consultation will be to determine what effect, if any, the anticipated change will have on the research work and what modification to the agreement, if any, may be appropriate.

(2) A change in the phenomenon or phenomena under study, i.e., broad category of the research under the agreement, requires the specific written approval of the contracting officer; ordinarily such changes, if approved by the contracting officer, will be accomplished through a new agreement or modification. The contractor may change the specific objectives in the research work described in the agreement, provided it gives the contracting officer prompt notification of such changes; and the contractor may continue to follow the new objectives while ERDA determines whether it wishes to continue the program under the changed approach. Significant changes in methods or procedures employed in performing the research should be reported in the first technical progress report issued subsequent to the changes.

(3) Acquisition of:

(i) an item of equipment not itemized in the agreement, the cost of which is $1,000 or more. Approval is not required if the equipment is merely a different model of an item listed in the agreement; or

(ii) an item or items of equipment the cost of which will cause the total equipment dollar level shown in Article A-II(a) of the agreement to be in excess of 125 percent thereof. (If plant and capital equipment funds are provided for the acquisition of equipment, with title to be vested in the Government, the total cost of such shall not exceed the amount provided for such equipment unless prior approval has been obtained.)

(4) Purchase of any general-purpose equipment, such as office furniture, air conditioning, etc., not specifically provided for in Appendix A of the agreement.

(5) Incurring costs for items set forth in Article A-II(a), during the pertinent contract period stated in Appendix A, in excess of 110 percent of the total estimated cost specified in Article A-III. Charges to ERDA for any such costs incurred with approval of the contracting officer shall also be subject to the limitations of Article III.

(6) Any proposed foreign travel (defined as any travel outside of Canada and the United States and its territories and possessions).

(7) Expenditures for domestic travel in excess of $500, or 125 percent of the amount shown in Article A-II(a) for such travel, whichever is greater.

(8) Acquisition of excess personal property.

(9) Such other items as in the judgment of the program office or the field office, in specific cases need to be separately identified in the agreement. (When plant and capital equipment funds are provided for the acquisition of Government property, the program offices may require, in specific cases, that such funds shall be used only for acquiring the equipment designated in the agreement unless prior approval has been obtained.)

(b) The field office will present (in any manner considered appropriate) all such requests for approval to the cognizant program office for consideration, and will issue such authorizations and modifications under the agreement as are necessary and appropriate.

(c) Contractors may be requested by the field office to provide such statements of the project's financial and program status as are believed necessary for considering requests for approval.

$9-4.5112-5 Auditing.

(a) As a part of the management of the research program accomplished through the agreements, auditing of participating contractors should be carried out by the field office administering the agreement. The purpose of this audit program is to corroborate that the participating institutions are properly using the funds and personal property provided by the agreements, and to point up any changes needed in the arrangements or in related administrative requirements in order to further the effectiveness of the agreements in accomplishing their intended programmatic research purposes. In addition to the general objectives stated above, the principal specific objectives in the audits of special research support agreements should be to determine: (1) that the amounts as submitted in the contractor's certified statement are accurate and were incurred in connection with the work: (2) that satisfactory documentary evidence is available in support of the costs incurred; (3) that ERDA approval was obtained where required; and (4) that the proportion of total cost charged to ERDA is in accordance with the percentage stipulated in the agreement.

(b) The review of special research support agreements will be made on a selective basis with the selected sample including all special research support agreements where the contracting officer requested that an audit be performed pursuant to the provisions of $9-4.5112-3(b).

(c) In the event of termination prior to the expiration date of a special research support agreement, unless the costs incurred by the contractor are relatively small or can be otherwise adequately corroborated, an audit should be made to determine the nature of the costs and other relevant data for use in arriving at a termination settlement.

(d) While audit is not a prerequisite to payment under an agreement, the contracting officer, before authorizing final payment, may request an audit to determine whether the charges to the contract are proper. If any such audits result in findings which may be of value to program offices in their determinations regarding selection and renewal of research projects, such findings should be made available to the cognizant program office.

$9-4.5112-6 Security.

As a general rule, investigators should not need access to classified information in the conduct of basic research supported or sponsored by ERDA. When, in the judgment of the principal investigator, information is developed which should be classified, he will notify the ERDA field office immediately. When, in the opinion of the

cognizant program office, the work moves into a classified area, prompt steps should be taken to notify the contractor and the appropriate field office.

$9-4.52 Reserved.

Subpart 9-4.53

Resolution of Measurement Differences Concerning
Source and Special Nuclear Material Transfers

$9-4.5300 Source and special nuclear material transfers.

This subpart describes principles regarding the resolution of measurement differences which should be used as guides in the preparation of contracts or other agreements by ERDA in which monetary payments or credits depend on the quantity and quality of source and special nuclear material.

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(a) Every such contract or agreement should contain a:

(1) description of the material to be transferred;

(2) provision specifying the method by which the quantity and quality are to be measured and reported;

(3) provision specifying the procedures to be used in resolving any differences arising as a result of such measurements;

(4) provision providing for the use of an umpire to settle unresolved differences in the analytical samples; and

(5) provision specifying in detail which party shall bear the costs of resolving a difference and what constitutes such costs.

(b) The provisions providing for resolution of measurement differences must be such that resolution is always accomplished while at the same time minimizing any advantage one party must have over the

other.

Subpart 9-4.54

$9-4.5400

Scope.

Contracts and Subcontracts Utilizing
Special Nuclear Material

This subpart sets forth policies for furnishing special nuclear material, for fabricating end items using special nuclear material, and for conversion or scrap recovery of special nuclear materials.

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