DOE’s Laboratory Operations Board Meets
An all-day meeting of the DOE Laboratory Operations Board (LOB) last Wednesday offered a good overview of some programs and major concerns facing DOE and its national laboratories. While there was little discussion about the Office of Energy Research, there was much conversation about the quality of DOE’s research, and real concern about the ability of DOE to fill and retain technical manager positions. About the last issue, one board member warned that “the department will go brain dead” in five years unless DOE addresses this problem.
The LOB has twenty-two members, thirteen from within DOE and nine from the outside. According to DOE, the LOB’s “fundamental goal is to help facilitate productive and cost-effective utilization of the Department of Energy’s laboratory system.” John McTague of Ford Motor Company and DOE Under Secretary Ernest Moniz co-chaired this twelfth meeting of the LOB. New Energy Secretary Bill Richardson could not attend due to a scheduling conflict; Moniz said Richardson had expressed “very strong interest” in this group.
Paul Gilman briefed his colleagues on a study of DOE’s use of merit review of research programs. It found that “such mechanisms are in broad use.” “There are no major programs or projects that escape some form of merit review,” the report concludes. Survey respondents characterized 85% of research as “excellent” or “somewhat above average.” McTague commented that this finding is counter to the general impressions of the academic community and the public. Moniz noted that while it would it helpful to produce a set of principles that would allow a comparison of, for instance, the high energy physics and fossil fuel programs, doing this would be difficult.
Al MacLachlan then discussed “the work in progress” on productivity metrics. He reported that lab directors see the importance of quantitative measures that allow them to evaluate the research being done, saying “research sells research.” MacLachlan was “fairly encouraged” by the results of their review, and will report at the next LOB meeting.
Other briefings reviewed a report on small labs, the organization and management of the nuclear weapons program, and a pilot program on reporting requirements. Each of these briefings was upbeat. In contrast, there were strong opinions expressed following a presentation on R&D technical manager positions. Forty-one percent of DOE technical managers will be eligible for retirement in 5 years; many in the Office of Energy Research could do so today. One DOE official said this was a problem that the Secretary and Congress must address; another LOB member warned that “the department will go brain dead” in five years unless managers can be retained and trained. McTague said “we are going to tackle this issue.”
Martha Krebs, Director of Energy Research, provided a brief and low-key discussion on future science facility needs. “The real issue” is budgets, she said, promising more detail in her next report to the LOB in December. The written material given to the LOB for this briefing will be summarized in a future FYI.
A DOE official briefed LOB members on the outlook for the appropriations bill. The Energy and Water Development conference committee could start this week, although the DOE bill could be rolled into a continuing resolution. The Office of Energy Research science budget numbers look fairly good, the official commented. The Interior appropriations bill, which funds other departmental programs, is very controversial. Secretary Richardson, the official stated, is “fully engaged” in the FY 1999 and the FY 2000 budget process.
The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing LOB tasks to be completed in the months ahead. Among those tasks are a strategic labs mission plan and a laboratory profile report. “It will be hectic,” Moniz said.
