An Energy Department research and development plan for selecting nuclear fuel cycles and technologies that generate energy fails to fully consider current readiness levels and input from industry or international partners, says the Government Accountability Office. As DOE investigates the possibility of reprocessing spent fuel and recycling nuclear material for energy generation, it has also failed to addressed the time and costs associated with further development.

Authors of the GAO report (.pdf), which is dated Oct. 17 but wasn't released publicly until Nov. 16, say the R&D plan details scientific methods and engineering principles for selecting and eventually demonstrating nuclear fuel cycles and technologies. It also outlines objectives and schedules for achieving technical milestones, note authors. However, the R&D plan and pilot screening process fail to assess the current readiness of the technologies being studied.

"Assessing the readiness of technology is a best practice to help control schedule and costs," says GAO. "Without this information, DOE has not made clear the magnitude of the effort necessary to develop these technologies nor the costs associated with doing so."

Report authors say DOE's R&D plan needs to include a strategy for long-term collaboration with the nuclear industry and explain how DOE will leverage international agreements. While the plan does say obtaining industry advice and developing mechanisms for cooperative international R&D are important, there is no strategy for long-term collaboration with industry or international partners, find report authors.

The report highlights the potential for overlapping efforts as well. "The office has not developed a formal mechanism for coordinating its efforts to minimize proliferation and terrorism risks with NNSA, which has lead responsibility within DOE for nonproliferation," write report authors. The R&D plan says Office of Nuclear Energy is responsible for providing technical expertise and leadership to NNSA, the State Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

But the relationship is confusing. "According to Office of Nuclear Energy and NNSA officials, R&D efforts on understanding and minimizing proliferation and terrorism risks should not be separate from and must support NNSA's work in trying to meet U.S. nonproliferation goals," write report authors. The report advises ONE and NNSA to draft a memorandum of understanding to avoid duplicative R&D.

For more:
- see GAO-12-70 (.pdf)

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