The 1990s are a period of substantial change for the Department of Energy's (DOE) nine multi-program National Laboratories, particularly the Department's three nuclear weapons laboratories. Sweeping geopolitical changes, limitations on nuclear weapons testing, increased attention to economic competitiveness, and the continuing demands of energy development and environmental quality -- all within the context of tight federal budgets -- are but a few of the factors that confront the DOE laboratories with challenges and opportunities for the future.
The purpose for establishing the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Task Force on Alternative Futures for the DOE Laboratories was to carefully examine options for change within these Laboratories, and also the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and to propose specific alternatives for directing the scientific and engineering resources of these institutions toward the economic, environmental, defense, scientific, and energy needs of the nation. The Task Force, headed by Robert Galvin, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Motorola Inc., presented its Final Report at an open meeting of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board on February 1, 1995. The Secretary has provided her initial comments on the report and welcomes public comment on the report.