Decision making in technology development for radioactive waste management and cleanup

Summary form only given. This paper summarizes a recent National Research Council committee study of the prioritization and decision-making processes of the Office of Science and Technology (OST) within the US Department of Energy (DOE). The OST funds research and development (R&D) projects to develop technologies to be applied to activities of the DOE Environmental Management (EM) program. These activities are the management of radioactive wastes, the long-term disposition and dismantlement of nuclear facilities with no further mission, and the clean-up of environmental contamination resulting from Cold War-era activities (such as nuclear weapons production) at DOE sites. The objective of this report summary is to identify the key decision points that challenge OST program management and to discuss the report´s findings and recommendations for improvement