The Department of Energy (DOE) established the Mixed Waste Characterization, Treatment, and Disposal Focus Area (MWFA) to develop technologies required to meet the Department's commitments for treatment of mixed low-level and transuranic wastes. Waste treatment includes all necessary steps from generation through disposal. Systems engineering was employed to reduce programmatic risk, that is, risk of failure to meet technical commitments within cost and schedule. Customer needs (technology deficiencies) are identified from Site Treatment Plans, Consent Orders, ten year plans, Site Technical Coordinating Groups, Stakeholders, and Site Visits. The Technical Baseline, a prioritized list of technology deficiencies, forms the basis for determining which technology development activities will be supported by the MWFA. Technology Development Requirements Documents are prepared for each technology selected for development. After technologies have been successfully developed and demonstrated, they are documented in a Technology Performance Report. The Technology Performance Reports are available to any of the customers or potential users of the technology, thus closing the loop between problem identification and product development. This systematic approach to technology development and its effectiveness after 3 years is discussed in this paper.

The Office of Environmental Management's (EM) technical reports bibliography is an annual publication that contains information on scientific and technical reports sponsored by the Office of Environmental Management added to the Energy Science and Technology Database from July 1, 1994 through June 30, 1995. This information is divided into the following categories: Focus Areas, Cross-Cutting Programs, and Support Programs. In addition, a category for general information is included. EM's Office of Science and Technology sponsors this bibliography.

The Department of Energy's Environmental Management Program (DOEEM) is one of the largest environmental clean up efforts in world history. The EM division charged with developing or finding technologies to accomplish this massive task, its Office of Science and Technology (OST), has been reviewed extensively, including six reports from committees of the National Research Council's (NRC's) Board on Radioactive Waste Management (BRWM) that have been released since December 1998. These committees examined different components of OST's technology development program, including its decision-making and peer review processes and its efforts to develop technologies in the areas of decontamination and decommissioning, waste forms for mixed waste, tank waste, and subsurface contamination. Gerald Boyd, head of OST, asked the Board on Radioactive Waste Management (BRWM) to summarize the major findings and recommendations of the six reports and synthesize any common issues into a number of overarching recommendations.