Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE Needs to Better Coordinate and Prioritize Its Research and Development Efforts
Fast Facts
Research and development has been essential in the Department of Energy's efforts to clean up significant contamination from decades of nuclear weapons production, but over time DOE has reduced funding designated for cleanup R&D.
We could not determine how much DOE actually spends on cleanup R&D because the agency does not track such spending (or the associated research), nor evaluate the outcomes of the research.
In addition, because DOE does not have a comprehensive approach to prioritizing cleanup R&D, individual cleanup sites have had to develop their own approaches, which may not address the needs of all cleanup sites or long-term needs.
Sandia National Laboratories Gemini-Scout Mine Rescue Robot
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) identifies cleanup-related research and development (R&D) needs across the EM complex—EM headquarters and sites and DOE's national laboratories—in various ways. For example, DOE officials and contractors at EM sites work closely with national laboratories to identify project-specific R&D needs, including those encountered during the course of cleanup activities, such as managing vapors in nuclear waste storage areas. EM headquarters may identify complex-wide needs (e.g., ways to improve worker safety, such as using robotics, see figure) or work with other DOE offices, including the Office of Nuclear Energy, to identify R&D needs that span DOE missions, such as spent nuclear fuel storage.
Robotic Technologies Potentially Applicable to Department of Energy Nuclear Cleanup Efforts
EM uses both formal and informal mechanisms to coordinate R&D across the EM complex, including the national laboratory network and working groups. EM's coordination of R&D efforts fully aligns with four of GAO's seven leading practices for collaboration, such as clarifying roles and responsibilities and including relevant participants. However, EM does not fully follow other leading practices, which affects its ability to evaluate the effectiveness of R&D efforts. For example, EM officials told GAO that it does not have a formal system to collect information on R&D activities across the complex, which would enable it to monitor and evaluate the activities' outcomes. Collecting such information could help EM determine whether to encourage or discourage investments in certain areas.
EM also does not take a comprehensive approach to prioritizing R&D. Individual EM sites and national laboratories have their own decision-making processes for prioritizing R&D, but these may not address long-term or complex-wide needs. GAO has found that risk-informed decision-making can help agencies weigh numerous factors and consider tradeoffs, and that doing so would help EM set cleanup priorities within and across its sites. By developing a comprehensive approach to prioritizing R&D that follows a risk-informed decision-making framework, EM would be better positioned to provide sites with guidance for R&D spending beyond their immediate operational needs and direct its limited R&D resources to its highest priorities.
Why GAO Did This Study
R&D has played an essential role in EM's efforts to clean up massive amounts of contamination from decades of nuclear weapons production and energy research. Such R&D has led to safer, more efficient, and more effective cleanup approaches. Prior studies have found that investments in R&D could reduce the future costs of EM's cleanup efforts, which have increased by nearly $250 billion in the last 10 years. However, funding designated for nuclear cleanup R&D has declined since 2000.
GAO was asked to review EM's R&D efforts. This report examines (1) how EM identifies cleanup-related R&D needs, (2) how and the extent to which EM coordinates R&D across the EM complex, and (3) the extent to which EM prioritizes cleanup-related R&D efforts. GAO reviewed DOE and EM documents and interviewed EM site and headquarters officials and national laboratory representatives. In addition, GAO compared EM's coordination of R&D to leading practices for collaboration and compared EM's efforts to prioritize R&D with GAO's risk-informed decision-making framework.
Recommendations
GAO is making four recommendations, including that DOE (1) develop a system to collect R&D information across the complex to enable monitoring and evaluation of outcomes and (2) develop a comprehensive approach to prioritizing R&D across the EM complex that follows a risk-informed decision-making framework. DOE concurred with the recommendations made in this report.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | The Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management should develop and disseminate a common definition of R&D throughout the EM complex. (Recommendation 1) |
As of February 2024, EM has partially implemented this recommendation. In September 2022, EM's Senior Advisor distributed a memo to EM site managers providing a definition of technology development. While this is a positive step for the EM Senior Advisor to acknowledge the need for a common definition and to distribute the information to site managers, this memo included the same definition of technology development that EM had previously distributed in a November 2020 memo. We found in our October 2021 report that EM sites had interpreted the definition of R&D differently. By developing and distributing a more specific and detailed common definition of R&D, EM can build on its effort and will have better assurance that it collects the quality information it needs to systematically track R&D efforts across the complex and to ensure that its R&D stakeholders are maximizing their collaborative efforts. We will continue to monitor EM's implementation of this recommendation.
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| Department of Energy | The Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management should systematically and comprehensively track R&D funding throughout the EM complex. (Recommendation 2) |
As of February 2024, EM has taken additional steps to implement this recommendation. In February 2024, EM stated and provided documentary evidence that it has deployed an online dashboard to help facilitate coordination in R&D efforts, together with a corresponding module in EM's Integrated Planning, Accountability, and Budgeting System Information System (IPABS-IS). EM utilizes the RT&D Dashboard to account for research and technology development activities and projects managed by Headquarters and those activities managed by the various EM field sites and project offices. The RT&D Dashboard provides information on budget, status, and performance.
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| Department of Energy | The Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management should deploy a system to collect comprehensive data on R&D efforts to enable EM to monitor and evaluate outcomes throughout the EM complex. (Recommendation 3) |
As of February 2024, EM has taken additional steps to implement this recommendation. In February 2024, EM stated and provided documentary evidence that it developed a dashboard to collect comprehensive data throughout the EM complex, together with a corresponding module in EM's Integrated Planning, Accountability, and Budgeting System Information System (IPABS-IS). EM utilizes the RT&D Dashboard to account for research and technology development activities and projects managed by Headquarters and those activities managed by the various EM field sites and project offices. The RT&D Dashboard provides information on budget, status, and performance.
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| Department of Energy | The Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management should develop a comprehensive approach to prioritizing R&D investments across the EM complex that follows a risk-informed decision-making framework. (Recommendation 4) |
As February 2024, EM has not implemented this recommendation. In February 2024, EM provided a lengthy narrative describing the purpose of its R&D program, but did not describe any steps toward developing a comprehensive, risk-based informed approach to prioritizing its R&D investments. Previously, In February 2023, EM had told us that EM takes a comprehensive approach to prioritizing all clean-up work across the EM complex, including R&D. EM provided this same information about its prioritization efforts during the course of our audit. However, as we found in October 2021, this was not a comprehensive approach to prioritizing R&D efforts, and therefore EM lacks assurance that it is directing its limited R&D resources to its highest priorities. In response to our recommendation, EM did not provide information on its R&D priorities, noting only that its process includes "continual evaluation of R&D opportunities for innovative cleanup options, using established cleanup prioritization criteria." By establishing a comprehensive approach to prioritizing R&D across the EM complex through a risk-informed decision-making framework, EM would be better positioned to provide sites with guidance for R&D spending beyond their immediate operational needs and would be better positioned to direct its limited R&D resources to its highest priorities. We will continue to monitor EM's implementation of this recommendation.
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