Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

During the past two decades, there have been over fifty reports by commissions, panels, advisory boards, and government auditors reviewing the Department of Energy Laboratories. But have any of these myriad studies had a positive impact? The fact that there is an average of two to three studies a year suggests that the answer is no. This paper will provide an overview of the studies from the past two decades, noting any that led to clear changes. Then we will focus on the government’s response to the two most recent comprehensive external reviews, the Nuclear Security Enterprise Governance Panel
 (Augustine/Mies Panel) and the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (Cohon/Glauthier Commission). After discussing the reasons behind the limited impact of many of the past studies, we make suggestions for how to maximize impact of the current set of recommendations.