GAO-26-108193: Majority of 21 DOE EM mission need statements named specific facilities upfront

GAO examined 21 EM mission need statements and determined that most violated DOE Order 413.3B by embedding preferred solutions at the earliest stage. This practice narrowed options at Oak Ridge Outfall 200 and Idaho National Laboratory, where an existing regulatory agreement blocked a lower-cost waste treatment path that EM later suspended after years of expenditure. Project cost growth exceeded $2 billion since 2022 across EM's large capital assets.

Legal agreements and contractor participation in mission definition created path dependence. Discussion groups convened by GAO identified cases where technically viable lower-cost methods were never evaluated once a facility-based solution appeared in the mission need document. DOE's internal review gates lacked external experts, allowing these constraints to persist without challenge.

The pattern aligns with DOE acquisition management remaining on GAO's High Risk List since 1990. Premature solution selection converts regulatory milestones into fixed capital commitments rather than performance requirements, locking in higher lifecycle costs. Five additional EM sites have signaled future projects above $100 million each under the same planning process.

Independent expert review inserted before regulator agreements could reopen cost-saving pathways. Without this step, EM will continue to document mission need around predetermined infrastructure rather than risk or performance metrics.