Missions and Organization of DOE

To foster a secure and reliable energy system that is environmentally and economically sustainable; to be a responsible steward of the Nation’s nuclear weapons; to clean up the department’s facilities; to lead in the physical sciences and advance the biological, environmental, and computational sciences; and to provide premier scientific instruments for the Nation’s research enterprise. Diverse Missions, Dysfunctional Structure, and Weak Culture of Accountability Are Fundamental Impediments to Improvement

The persistence of DOE management weaknesses and project problems, despite the many actions taken by the department to improve its performance, are indicative of underlying impediments that have not been addressed. We found that the department’s diverse missions, dysfunctional organizational structure, and weak culture of accountability impede fundamental improvement at DOE. Unless these underlying and interrelated impediments are addressed, DOE’s management and performance problems will likely continue. The most problematic organizational problems have involved the nuclear weapons complex. Information Technology: Department of Energy Does Not Effectively Manage Its Supercomputers (GAO/RCED-98-208, July 17, 1998).
Why GAO Did This Study

The Department of Energy (DOE) manages the nation's nuclear weapons production complex, cleans up the environmental legacy from the production of nuclear weapons, and conducts research and development into both energy and basic science. DOE launched several reforms in the 1990s to realign its organizational structure, reduce its workforce, strengthen contracting procedures by competitive awards practices, streamline oversight of activities, and delegate some responsibilities to the private sector.

What GAO Found

Despite these reforms, GAO found that management weaknesses persist because DOE's reforms were piecemeal solutions whose effect has been muted by three impediments to fundamental improvement: the department's diverse missions, dysfunctional organizational structure, and weak control of accountability. Management weaknesses and performance problems will likely continue unless DOE addresses these impediments in a comprehensive fashion.