Nuclear Health and Safety: Safety and Health Oversight at DOE Defense Nuclear Facilities

GAO discussed safety and health oversight at the Department of Energy's (DOE) defense nuclear facilities. GAO noted that: (1) many DOE nuclear weapons plants have safety and health problems that must be addressed; (2) DOE faces many challenges from outdated facilities and past operations; (3) DOE needs outside, independent oversight of facility safety- and health-related matters to ensure that safety concerns are not subservient to programmatic interests; (4) DOE has taken actions to increase internal safety and health oversight at its facilities by conducting detailed appraisals of DOE nuclear facilities, establishing resident site inspectors at key DOE facilities, and restructuring DOE internal oversight programs; and (5) DOE internal and external oversight functions should be periodically reviewed to ensure that DOE weapons facilities are being operated in a safe manner.