Decision Making in the U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Management Office of Science and Technology -- Copyright -- Acknowledgments -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF REVIEWERS -- Preface -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THIS REPORT -- APPROPRIATENESS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF OST DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES -- Process Element 1: Identification of High-Priority DOE-EM Site Technology Needs -- Process Element 2: Program Planning -- Process Element 3: Assessments of Technology Development Proposals and Projects -- Process Element 4: Headquarters Oversight -- APPROPRIATE TECHNICAL FACTORS AND THE ADEQUACY WITH WHICH THEY CAN BE MEASURED -- RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT -- Application of Practices in Private-Sector RD&D Decision Making -- ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE REVIEWS -- PROGRAM CHALLENGES AND MEASURES OF SUCCESS -- Deployment of OST Technologies -- CONCLUDING PERSPECTIVE -- 1 Introduction -- PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT -- DOE-EM AND OST -- OST PROGRAM UNITS FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION -- Expansion of OST's Role in Deployment -- Tracking the Benefits of OST Technology Development Activities -- IMPORTANCE OF BUY-IN BY TECHNOLOGY USERS -- REPORT SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION -- DECISION MAKING AS A DISCIPLINE -- Development and Growth of Decision Disciplines -- Risk Aspects of RD&D Decisions -- 2 Historical Evolution of OST Decision Making -- BACKGROUND OF DOE-EM AND OST -- Early Years -- Integrated Demonstrations and Integrated Programs -- New Headquarters Priorities and New OST Program Units, 1993-1994 -- Implementation of the New Approach -- Sharpening the OST Focus on User Needs -- 1996-1997 Changes in Top-Level DOE-EM Goals -- THE DEPLOYMENT BARRIER -- Accelerated Site Technology Deployment -- Top-Level Efforts to Promote Deployment -- CHAPTER SUMMARY -- 3 RD&D Decision-Making Practices in Other Organizations.

BENEFITS OF A HIGH-QUALITY DECISION PROCESS -- LESSONS FROM INDUSTRIAL RD&D ORGANIZATIONS -- INSIGHTS FROM THE BENCHMARKING STUDY -- INSIGHTS FROM INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS -- Practices for Environmental Technology Development Decision Making and Management -- INSIGHTS FROM VISITS TO DUPONT, EPRI, AND GRI -- Institutional Structure -- Effective Top-Level Strategic Goals to Define the Suite of Technology Projects -- Measure and Evaluate to Guide Resource Allocation via Return-on-Investment Evaluations -- Customer Buy-In -- PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGIES TO SUPPORT GOOD DECISION MAKING -- Utility and Limitations of Quantitative Evaluations -- CHAPTER SUMMARY -- 4 Decision Making in Research, Development, and Demonstration for the DOE-EM Program -- MAJOR DECISIONS AT A FUNCTIONAL LEVEL -- RD&D PROGRAM ENVIRONMENT -- MODEL PROCESS STEPS FOR DECISION MAKING IN A CENTRALIZED FEDERAL RD&D PROGRAM -- External Constraints -- Functional Steps -- Allocation of the Budget among User and Provider Program Units -- Planning Activity Involving Technology Decisions -- Process Steps Internal to the Provider Program -- Deployment -- Necessary Interactions and Feedback -- IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MODEL PROCESS -- User Program Funding (Boxes 1 and 2) -- Provider Program Funding (Box 3) -- User or Site Program Planning (Box 5) -- Identification and Prioritization of Technology Needs (Box 6) -- Aggregation and Prioritization of Technology Needs for Each OST Program (Box 7) -- Funding Decisions on Technology Needs and Projects (Boxes 4 and 8) -- Allocations among User Program Units (Box 4) -- OST Headquarters Prioritization Process -- Allocations of Funds to Specific Technology Needs and Projects (Box 8) -- Solicitation of RD&D Proposals and Select Providers (Box 9) -- Performance of Technology Development Projects (Box 10).

Project Monitoring and Evaluation (Box 11) -- Technology Deployment (Box 12) -- CHAPTER SUMMARY: MAJOR DECISION PROCESS STEPS AND HOW THEY WERE DONE WITHIN OST DURING FY97-98 -- 5 Application of Good Practices in Prioritization and Decision-Making Processes Relevant to OST -- AGREE ON CLEAR AND MEASURABLE GOALS -- UNDERSTAND AND FOCUS ON CUSTOMER NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS -- COMMUNICATE ACROSS ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES -- THINK STRATEGICALLY: HEDGE AGAINST TECHNICAL UNCERTAINTY AND INSIST ON ALTERNATIVES -- Application: Balance Innovation and Incremental RD&D -- CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THE RD&D MANAGEMENT PROCESS -- Application: Document Bases for Retrospective Analysis, Especially in Headquarters' Discretionary Allocations -- MEASURE AND EVALUATE TO GUIDE RESOURCE ALLOCATION -- Application: Return-on-Investment (ROI) Evaluations for OST -- Application: Measures to Capture Technical, "Market", and Cost Information -- Application: Review Resource Allocations and Inputs -- External, Independent Review at the Policy Level of the Allocation of Funds -- Peer Review of Baseline Processes and Technology Needs Identified by the Sites -- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS-GENERAL ISSUES -- USE OF A FORMAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: EVALUATIONS OF DOE-EM'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROCESS STEPS OF FIGURE 4.1 -- User Program Funding (Boxes 1 and 2) -- Funding for the Technology Provider Program (Box 3) -- Funding Allocations to OST Program Units (Box 4) -- Evaluation of the OST Headquarters Prioritization Process -- User or Site Program Planning (Box 5) -- Identification and Prioritization of Technology Needs (Box 6) -- Identifying Technology Needs by Characterizing Problem Boundaries and Opportunities -- Aggregation and Prioritization of Technology Needs for Each OST Program (Box 7).

Funding Decisions (Box 8), Soliciting RD&D Proposals (Box 9), and Performing Technology Development Projects (Box 10) -- Pragmatic Aspects of Funding Decisions Based on Prioritized Needs (Box 8) -- Pragmatic Aspects of Proposal Solicitation and Provider Selection (Boxes 9 and 10) -- Project Monitoring and Evaluation (Box 11) -- Deployment (Box 12) -- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS-SPECIFIC ISSUES -- 6 Findings and Recommendations -- GENERAL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS -- Importance of a Central RD&D Function -- Deployment of Technologies -- Balancing Research with Development and Demonstration -- Site Baseline Remediation Functional Flowsheets -- Technical Alternatives to Baseline Remediation Functional Flowsheets -- Independent, External Reviews -- Reviews of Technology Development Projects -- Reviews of Program Budget Targets and Their Rationales -- OST Involvement in Reviews of Site Remediation Functional Flowsheets -- SPECIFIC FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS -- OST's Institutional Environment Affects Customer Interactions, Relevance to Site Needs, and Deployment -- Top-Level Strategic Planning and Goals -- Use of a Structured Decision-Making Process -- Industrial RD&D Decision-Making Practices Applicable to OST -- Specific Methodologies -- Summary -- Project Selection and Evaluation Criteria -- Procurement of Externally Demonstrated Technologies -- Project Monitoring -- Cost Estimates -- Exploratory Development -- CONCLUDING PERSPECTIVE -- RESPONSES TO ISSUES IN STATEMENT OF TASK -- Cited References -- Appendix A Summary of Past NRC Reports on Decision Making in DOE-EM and OST -- NRC REPORTS PERTINENT TO DOE-EM BUT NOT ADDRESSED TO OST IN PARTICULAR -- On the Decision-Making Process -- On Exchange of Information within the Complex -- On Independent Technical Advice -- On Setting Standards and Priorities across the Complex.

On Characterization of Contaminated Sites -- NRC REPORTS PREPARED FOR OST -- Appendix B Site Technology Coordination Groups at Three Major DOE-EM Sites -- SAVANNAH RIVER STCG -- Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) STCG -- Structure and Composition -- Decision Process -- Resources Available to the STCG -- EM Integrated Site Priority List -- Development of Analytical Weighting Factors -- Output of the Process -- STCG Contributions -- HANFORD STCG -- STCG Membership, Mission, and Function -- STCG Interactions with Other OST Program Offices -- STCG Activities of Service to the Site -- STCG Prioritization and Decision-Making Processes -- STCG Tanks Subgroup -- Attributes of Hanford STCG Process -- COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS -- Appendix C Focus Areas -- SUBSURFACE CONTAMINANTS FOCUS AREA -- Status in December 1996 -- Process Description -- From Aggregated Needs to Prioritized Work Packages -- Input from Non-DOE Sources -- Communication Plans -- The Development of SCFA Prioritization Criteria -- Portfolio Management Decision Processes -- Peer and Gate Reviews -- Technical Project Reviews -- Responsibility for SCFA Decision Making -- Funding -- Committee Observations -- MIXED WASTE FOCUS AREA -- Structure and Composition -- Process for Technology Development Decision Making -- Inputs to the Process: Statements of Needs -- Systems Engineering Approach to Establishing a Technical Baseline -- Contracting for Technology Development Work -- Monitoring Progress of Ongoing Projects -- The End Point of MWFA Efforts -- Committee Observations -- DECONTAMINATION AND DECOMMISSIONING FOCUS AREA -- Structure and Composition -- Decision Processes -- Needs Assessment Activities -- Funding Technology Development Activities -- Large-Scale Demonstration Projects -- Committee Observations -- TANKS FOCUS AREA -- Structure and Composition.

Process Description.