Department of Energy

Congress and others have criticized the Department of Energy (DOE) for inadequately managing its vast nuclear weapons production complex and for allowing contractors, which now dominate agency activities, to elude management and financial oversight. DOE admits these weaknesses and, to its credit, has launched a broad range of initiatives to overcome them. Yet the management challenges facing DOE are so significant that fundamental change will come slowly. Strong leadership is needed to sustain the momentum and to build an effective management structure. Two of the most important management changes have been (1) DOE's reorganization to instill accountability and (2) procurement reforms to bolster contractor oversight. But fundamental DOE weaknesses, including poor communication with field offices and inadequate technical and administrative skills among DOE workers, are undermining the success of these initiatives. Aggressive action to overcome these shortcomings is especially important as the incoming DOE leadership begins grappling with problems plaguing DOE organizational structure and contract management.

GAO found that: (1) DOE has significant management problems that include unsafe procedures, noncompliance with environmental laws, weak internal controls, accountability and oversight, and unsatisfactory contract and financial management; (2) DOE has reorganized its headquarters structure and strengthened contract management to address management weaknesses; (3) barriers to successful management at DOE include serious communication and coordination problems, deficient staffing, and inadequate management support systems; (4) DOE contract management reforms are imperiled by inadequate management support systems that do not provide adequate information on contractors' activities; and (5) DOE has approved a 5-year plan to improve its workforce through better recruitment, training, and professional development, but it still lacks a comprehensive strategy to identify opportunities for improvement and set priorities.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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