Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman and urge that he give special attention to the following GAO recommendation: DOE's accelerated cleanup initiative should mark the beginning, not the end, of DOE's efforts to identify other opportunities to improve the program by accomplishing the work more quickly, more effectively, or at less cost. As DOE continues to pursue other management improvements, it should reassess certain aspects of its current management approach, including the quality of the analysis underlying key decisions, the adequacy of its approach to incorporating new technologies into projects, and the merits of a fast-track approach to designing and building complex nuclear facilities. Although the challenges are great, the opportunities for program improvements are even greater. Therefore, DOE must continue its efforts to clean up its high-level waste while demonstrating tangible, measurable program improvements. This recommendation underscores my view that DOE should continue to develop and test new technologies, which may have the potential to provide price and schedule savings. Since 1996, our committee has recommended that DOE investigate alternative melting technologies, including the advanced vitrification system, to back-up the baseline system. These recommendations came from the National Academy of Sciences and from DOE's own sponsored studies. Pursuing backup systems has always made sense.”