Recent accomplishments emanating from the Department's system of laboratories include: Nobel prizes recently awarded to DOEsponsored scientists for pioneering work in atmospheric ozone chemistry and carbon chemistry (discovery of buckeyballs);

• Discovery, by DOE scientists, of the Top Quark, the most massive elementary particle ever seen and an important confirmation of predictions of the Standard Model of High Energy Physics;

Development of the world's fastest computer (1 trillion operations per second), based on large-scale parallel linkages of a common computer chip:

• In partnership with industry, achievement of world-record efficiency in photovoltaic power modules using new DOE-developed thin-film technology; and

Offices

Site Offices

A Power

Administrations

Laboratories

Special Purpose

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Project Office

The Department has extended its basic science with a new emphasis on applied research and partnering with industry. This is best exemplified by the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, a cooperative research and development agreement, negotiated with General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford to develop efficient, clean vehicles that are practical and affordable. Other examples include the sulphur light that produces four times the light at one-third the energy cost of mercury lamps; and the development of the "UV Waterworks," a technological advance that helps developing nations to quickly and inexpensively purify drinking water.

rity of energy-related pipeline systems and bridges throughout the Nation.

In 1997, the Department's laboratories won 36 of R&D Magazine's "R&D 100 Awards" given annually for the most important inventions. This brought DOE's cumulative total to 453, twice as many as all other Federal government agencies combined.

The DOE Mission

The Department of Energy mission is: To foster a secure and reliable energy system that is environmentally and economically sustainable, to be a responsible steward of the Nation's nuclear weapons, to clean up our own facilities, and to support continued United States leadership in science and technology.

The DOE Vision

We aspire to achieve the following vision:

The Department of Energy, through its leadership in science and technology, will continue to advance U.S. energy, environmental, economic, and national security by being:

• A key contributor to ensure that the United States has a flexible, clean, efficient, and equitable system of energy supply and enduse with minimal vulnerability to disruption;

• A vital contributor to reducing the global nuclear danger through its national security.

U.S. Department of Energy

nuclear safety, and nonproliferation activities;

• A world leader in environmental restoration, nuclear materials stabilization, waste management, facilities decommissioning, and pollution prevention;

• A major partner in world class science and technology through its National Laboratories, research centers,university research. and its educational and information dissemination programs; and

• A safe and rewarding workplace that is recognized for business excellence, nurtures creativity, is trusted, and delivers results.

Our Core Values

The Department will succeed only through the efforts of its people. How well we perform individually and collectively is a function of the beliefs and values that motivate our behavior. The Department of Energy has chosen the following core values to serve as guide-posts and our conscience in fulfilling our mission and achieving our vision.

1. We are customer-oriented.

2. We value public safety and respect the environment.

3. We believe people are our most important

resource.

4. We value creativity and innovation.

5. We are committed to excellence.

6. We work as a team and advocate teamwork.

7. We recognize that leadership, empowerment, and accountability are essential.

8. We pursue the highest standards of ethical behavior.

An amplification of these core values appears on the inside of the back cover.

Key Customer
and

Stakeholder
Considerations

DOE will fulfill its mission through the successful delivery of its products and services to its customers and stakeholders. DOE's customers and stakeholders include the U.S. taxpayers; the energy consumers, the energy producers, the energy regulators, and the energy investors; citizens who live near DOE facilities; the businesses who work with DOE laboratories, or who are affected by their products; the family of DOE employees, laboratories, universities, contractors, and suppliers; the general science community: Federal agencies including the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Commerce, State, and Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, National Science Foundation, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration; State and local governments and Tribal Nations; the Congress; the President and the Administration; foreign governments; and the news media and interest groups.

Our most important customers are the future generations, to whom we wish to leave a more prosperous and secure world.

Our customers and stakeholders have a number of concerns:

• The public demands more openness and accountability in government actions and spending. They expect more results at lower

cost.

Strategic Plan

• There is concern whether the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile can remain safe and reliable without nuclear testing.

• There is widespread national and international concern about the management and disposition of excess nuclear weapons and their components following the end of the Cold War.

• The interim storage and permanent disposal of civilian and defense radioactive waste will require more meaningful and innovative stakeholder participation than in the past.

• The public is concerned about siting new energy-related facilities close to residential

areas.

. While there has been consistent public support for activities that promote environmental benefits, the public and business communities are increasingly concerned about how to reconcile economic growth and job creation with environmental goals.

Since the release of its first strategic plan in April 1994, DOE has, on an ongoing basis, greatly increased the involvement of its customers and stakeholders in its planning. budgeting, and evaluation activities. As an example, Site Specific Advisory Boards have been established at each of DOE's major cleanup sites. These boards are composed of members of environmental organizations and interest groups, the local government and business community, academic institutions, community and civic organizations, and ex officio members from DOE and other Federal and State agencies. The boards provide informed advice to the Department on environmental management issues, and have played a key role in the development of longrange cleanup plans.

For this strategic plan, DOE has participated in an extensive interactive, consultative process

with the Office of Management and Budget and the Congress. In addition, the Department sent a draft plan for review to hundreds of other stakeholders including Federal, State and local government agencies, contractors, special interest groups, and industry organizations, and made the plan available to the general public on DOE's World Wide Web home page. All of the comments received were given consideration, and as a result, our plan has been significantly improved.

DOE's Four
Businesses

Through our strategic planning efforts, we identified four business lines that most effectively utilize and integrate our unique scientific and technological assets, engineering expertise, and facilities to achieve our mission and to benefit the Nation. These business lines which directly affect the security and the quality of life of every American citizen, are:

Energy Resources - How we will assure adequate supplies of clean energy, reduce U.S. vulnerability to supply disruptions, encourage efficiency and advance alternative and renewable energy technologies, and increase energy choices for all consumers.

• National Security - How we will effectively support and maintain a safe, secure, and reliable enduring stockpile without nuclear testing, safely dismantle and dispose of excess nuclear weapons, provide technical leadership for national and global nonproliferation and nuclear safety activities, and develop and support nuclear reactor plants for naval propulsion.

• Environmental Quality - How we will reduce the environmental, safety, and health risks and threats from DOE facilities and materials, safely and permanently dispose of

U.S. Department of Energy

civilian spent nuclear fuel and defense related radioactive waste, and develop the technologies and institutions required for solving domestic and international environmental problems.

• Science and Technology - How we will use the unique resources of the Department's laboratories and the country's universities to maintain leadership in basic research and to advance scientific knowledge, focus applied research and technology development in support of the Department's other business lines, contribute to the Nation's science and mathematics education, and deliver relevant scientific and technical information.

Corporate
Management

Working together, we recognized that for our business lines to produce results for the American people, our organizational systems needed realignment and integration. Under Corporate Management we have identified the following three areas critical to the success of our business lines:

• Environment, Safety, and Health - How we will ensure the safety and health of workers and the public, and protect and restore the environment.

• Communication and Trust - How we will communicate information and build trust within the organization and with our stakeholders and customers.

• Management Practices - How we will manage our workforce; allocate, spend, and account for resources; procure, produce, and contract for goods and services; streamline and continuously improve our operations

and facilities; and manage our information technology systems-the tools we use to get it all done.

DOE's Strategic Goals

Working with its customers and stakeholders, the Department identified a strategic goal for each of its four business lines and one for corporate management. Each strategic goal is supported by objectives that are, in turn, supported by strategies and illustrative measures indicating progress toward accomplishing the strategies. While the goals and objectives may extend over a time horizon to the year 2010, the strategies are targeted for the next five years, and the illustrative measures are focused on FY 1998, FY 1999, and FY 2000. A comprehensive set of measures supporting the goals and objectives in this plan will be provided each year in the Department's annual performance plan and performance-based budget.

The programs that carry out the Department's goals and objectives are all within the purview of Federal Statutes, Executive Orders, and Treaties. The authorities for these programs are provided in Appendix B and are shown by business line, for each of DOE's objectives.

The following sections describe the Department's plans for each of its business lines and for its corporate management activities.