Cleanup Technology: DOE's Management of Environmental Cleanup Technology

GAO discussed the Department of Energy's (DOE) management of its programs to develop environmental clean-up technology. GAO noted that DOE: (1) faces a difficult task in the cleanup of its nuclear weapons complex; (2) began the technology development program and started funding eight integrated clean-up projects to address such problems as contaminated soil and groundwater, buried waste, and underground storage tanks; (3) focused on setting up programs, but not on their future management; (4) needs to develop management tools to measure performance, cost, and major decision points; and (5) will have difficulty in measuring the technology development program's progress, informing Congress about investments being made and level of funding needed, and weeding out poor-performing projects.