Predicting technology operational availability using technical maturity assessment

A technical maturity assessment method was performed by systems engineers in collaboration with a senior advisory panel composed of team members from different Department of Energy sites and from different engineering and science disciplines. Various stabilization technologies were assessed annually as to their relative maturity and availability for use in stabilizing nuclear materials. After 3 years of assessments, several of the technologies are now components of operational systems. A regression analysis of the historical assessments was performed, and it was concluded that the numerical technical maturity score produced by a team of experts provides a powerful predictor of the time remaining until the operational application of technologies. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Syst Eng 2: 198–211, 1999