Summary: Congress and others have criticized the Department of Energy (DOE) for inadequately managing its vast nuclear weapons production complex and for allowing contractors, which now dominate agency activities, to elude management and financial oversight. DOE admits these weaknesses and, to its credit, has launched a broad range of initiatives to overcome them. Yet the management challenges facing DOE are so significant that fundamental change will come slowly. Strong leadership is needed to sustain the momentum and to build an effective management structure. Two of the most important management changes have been (1) DOE's reorganization to instill accountability and (2) procurement reforms to bolster contractor oversight. But fundamental DOE weaknesses, including poor communication with field offices and inadequate technical and administrative skills among DOE workers, are undermining the success of these initiatives. Aggressive action to overcome these shortcomings is especially important as the incoming DOE leadership begins grappling with problems plaguing DOE organizational structure and contract management.
