Mediation in the context of resolving contract disputes is somewhat different from the uses of mediation in other applications in the nuclear waste industry. Instead of facilitating policy decision-making, such as with the case of a multi-party rulemaking, the use of mediation in an attempt to resolve a DOE contract dispute is generally a highly focused and somewhat more structured undertaking. Based on the author's (1) experience, it appears that most factually complex and high-dollar value contract disputes that have arisen in recent years in the DOE Weapons Complex proceed first to mediation before resort (if at all) to a formal dispute-resolution mechanism, such as litigation or arbitration. It is because of this emergence in recent years of mediation as a preferred dispute-resolution device in the DOE Weapons Complex that this topic is accorded separate treatment here.
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