Cleaning Up Nuclear Facilities: An Aggressive and Unified Federal Program Is Needed
EMD-82-40
Published: May 25, 1982. Publicly Released: May 25, 1982.
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Highlights
GAO conducted a review to determine the status of federal efforts and activities to correct decommissioning problems identified in a prior report. In addition to following up on the implementation of the recommendations for correcting these problems, GAO also evaluated how effectively Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decommissioning and standard-setting programs were functioning. The review was made as part of a continuing effort to identify issues in the nuclear area, which will provide public health and safety through better federal program administration.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress may wish to consider the general approach, suggested by DOE and discussed in this report, related to problems faced in cleaning up and providing funding mechanisms for future facilities. | This recommendation is valid and still needed. Congress may wish to act on this recommendation; however, GAO plans no further action. | |
| Congress, as part of its oversight and budgetary review responsibilities, may wish to closely evaluate the overall priorities of DOE and work with DOE in revising these priorities to provide a consistent flow of funding for cleaning up the inactive facilities. | Congress has provided funding continuity. | |
| Congress may wish to consider providing DOE with the authority to carry out remedial clean-up activities for 20 sites under its Formerly Utilized Sites Program. | This recommendation is still valid, but Congress does not plan to take action in the future. | |
| Congress, through its legislative and oversight committees, may wish to take an active role in ensuring that radiation standards, to guide decommissioning of nuclear facilities, are issued as soon as possible. | This recommendation is still valid, but Congress does not plan to take action in the future. | |
| Congress should designate NRC as the lead federal agency for developing and monitoring the implementation of a national policy for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and sites, ensuring that DOE and DOD provide assistance and input to NRC in developing this policy. | This recommendation is still valid, but Congress does not plan to take action in the future. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | The Chairman, NRC, should revise the NRC recordkeeping system to provide for: (1) prompt identification of licensees who have stopped operations; (2) effective monitoring of licensee control over contaminated facilities; (3) assurance that facilities are cleaned up when licenses are terminated; and (4) the development and permanent retention in a central repository of records documenting decommissioning activities. |
This recommendation was implemented by NRC.
|
| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | The Chairman, NRC, should reevaluate and, if at all possible, accelerate the NRC timetable for issuing a decommissioning policy with a view toward shortening the time required to submit a paper to the commissioners. Shortening the timetable would enable NRC to institute earlier front-end planning and funding requirements for decommissioning NRC-licensed facilities as a condition of licensing. The funding requirements should also be made applicable to currently active licensees. |
In May 1985, NRC commissioners issued a proposed rule on decommissioning, including funding requirements, for public comment. Thus, this recommendation to reevaluate and/or accelerate the policy timetable is no longer valid.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should provide DOD-wide guidance on documentation needed to identify and monitor facilities using nuclear materials and provide a permanent, centrally retained record of the radiological status of the facilities, either when operations cease, or when decommissioning is completed. |
DOD established the recommended system.
|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should establish a decommissioning program that specifies criteria for selecting tentative decommissioning methods during the facility planning phase and criteria for design features to be incorporated in facility planning. |
DOD issued instructions to the military branches concerning the recommended facility planning.
|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should establish a decommissioning program that specifies criteria for selecting tentative decommissioning methods during the facility planning phase. |
This recommendation was implemented by DOE policy.
|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should resubmit the proposed DOE legislation to provide the necessary authority, which it currently lacks, to proceed with remedial clean-up of all sites under the Formerly Utilized Sites Program. |
DOE submitted the recommended legislation.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should reevaluate the priority assigned to developing residual radioactivity standards so that this process can be started immediately. |
EPA disagreed with this recommendation and took no action.
|
| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should develop and present to responsible committees of Congress, within 6 months from the date of this report, a plan setting forth the steps that are needed to develop and issue these standards and the dates that each step will be completed. |
EPA disagreed and did not take any action within the 6-month time frame on this recommendation.
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Topics
Nuclear facility safetyNuclear radiation monitoringNuclear facility decommissioningPlanningRadioactive waste disposalRecords managementSafety standardsNuclear facilitiesRadiation standardsFederal agencies