Integrated Planning: Why is it so hard?

In this paper, the Manager of Planning integration at DOE-Richland and the Program Manager for Hanford Mission Planning at Pacific Northwest Laboratory and Westinghouse Hanford Company describe some of the reasons why integrated planning is so hard and what can be done to correct the situation. The authors use experiences from the last three years at Hanford to illustrate some of the difficulties in site integrated planning. The authors argue that integrated planning was not a major part of the previous diverse Site missions, but the change of mission has not resulted in a corresponding change of attitude about the need for such planning. Moreover, the DOE-RL staff is not structured or manned for planning, and a site perspective is the exception, rather than the norm. Contributing to this situation is the compartmentalization of funding and decision making and the diffusion of responsibility. The decision-making process at DOE sites is often not clear because of the evolving role of stakeholders, and agencies outside the DOE, especially regulators, are co-decision makers. The regulatory process and the requirements of environmental impact statements contribute to the diffusion of authority