Department of Energy

Although the Energy Department (DOE) has spent a substantial amount of money to develop waste cleanup technology for the nation's nuclear weapons complex, little new technology has found its way into use. Even where new technology has been successfully demonstrated, agency officials have been reluctant to try new approaches, tending instead to choose conventional techniques to clean up their facilities. As a result, opportunities for more effective cleanup solutions may be missed.

GAO found that: (1) although the Department of Energy (DOE) has spent substantial funds to develop new cleanup technologies, few technologies are being utilized in DOE cleanup activities; (2) DOE field officials are reluctant to try out new approaches and often choose conventional techniques to clean up their facilities; (3) DOE may be missing opportunities for more effective cleanup because it lacks knowledge about advanced techniques and often follows contractors' recommendations; (4) DOE does not have a well-coordinated and fully integrated technology development program; (5) DOE does not prioritize its research decisions or identify and evaluate all available technological solutions; (6) DOE does not have sufficient interagency coordination to fully discuss and evaluate new and innovative technologies; (7) in January 1994, DOE approved and began implementing a restructuring plan for its technology development programs; (8) DOE needs to instruct its field officials to consider using new technologies; and (9) DOE is working with regulations to achieve greater acceptance of new and innovative technologies.

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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