- Author
-
U.S. General Accounting Office
- Title
- Opportunities and Constraints for Expanding Use of Research Facilities at the National Bureau of Standards.
- Coporate
- General Accounting Office, Washington, DC
- Report
-
GAO/RCED-85-55
March 1, 1985
78 p.
- Keywords
-
research facilities
- Abstract
- The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) operates a large, expensive, and diverse assortment of facilities to support its mission. Used predominantly by NBS personnel during normal business hours, these research facilities have distinct purposes, different assemblies of equipment, and separate user communities and serve a variety of research programs. This report shows that decisions to expand use of NBS research facilities must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and on the basis of the programs each facility serves. While there are opportunities for expanding use of some facilities, there are also some common constraints to increasing the hours of operation and fostering increased non-NBS use of other facilities. Details on current use, comparability with other facilities, and the outlook for expanding use are presented for 14 NBS research facilities, ranging from an intensely used research reactor to an idle plumbing system and drainage research facility.