Low-Level Radioactive Wastes: Department of Energy Has Opportunities to Reduce Disposal Costs
RCED-00-64
Published: Apr 12, 2000. Publicly Released: May 15, 2000.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) management and disposal of its low-level radioactive wastes, focusing on: (1) the factors that influence DOE's decisions about the treatment, storage, and disposal of the wastes; and (2) DOE's costs to treat, store, and dispose of these wastes and the cost-effectiveness of DOE's disposal decisions.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of DOE's management and disposal of low-level and mixed wastes, the Secretary of Energy should develop criteria and guidance for DOE's waste managers to use in making decisions on the best available options within DOE and at commercial facilities for treating, storing, and disposing of their wastes. Specifically, the Secretary should develop reasonable and consistent estimates of the life-cycle costs of each of DOE's disposal facilities, including the costs to close, monitor, and maintain each facility. |
Closed – Implemented
In July 2002, DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) issued a report to Congress entitled "The Cost of Waste Disposal: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Disposal of DOE Low-Level Radioactive Wastes at Federal and Commercial Facilities." EM also distributed the report to its field offices and to field offices under the Office of Science and NNSA, within DOE, and required the field offices to develop specific mechanisms necessary to establish that their waste disposal decisions include the best estimate of full "cradle to grave" costs and analysis of alternatives. The EM report and related new requirements are responsive to GAO's recommendation, as the estimated life-cycle costs include costs for closure and long-term stewardship of each facility.
|
| Department of Energy | To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of DOE's management and disposal of low-level and mixed wastes, the Secretary of Energy should develop criteria and guidance for DOE's waste managers to use in making decisions on the best available options within DOE and at commercial facilities for treating, storing, and disposing of their wastes. Specifically, the Secretary should decide if the operators of DOE's disposal facilities should charge waste-generating sites fees for disposal services. |
Closed – Implemented
In its July 2002 report to Congress entitled "The Cost of Waste Disposal: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Disposal of DOE Low-Level Radioactive Wastes at Federal and Commercial Facilities," DOE's Office of Environmental Management concluded that comparisons of disposal alternatives must consider more than just disposal fees. The report states that DOE disposal sites should be directed to continue calculating the fee as they have done in the past. However, DOE waste generators should evaluate the full "cradle to grave" costs of managing their waste, and base disposal decisions on that full cost. DOE distributed the report to field offices with a memorandum directing those offices to develop the mechanisms necessary to establish that their LLW disposal decisions include the best estimate of full costs and analysis of alternatives. These analyses will be made available to support future reviews of disposal decisions. The report and the directed action are responsive to GAO's recommendation.
|
| Department of Energy | To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of DOE's management and disposal of low-level and mixed wastes, the Secretary of Energy should develop criteria and guidance for DOE's waste managers to use in making decisions on the best available options within DOE and at commercial facilities for treating, storing, and disposing of their wastes. Specifically, the Secretary should, if charging disposal fees is the preferred policy, provide the operators of disposal facilities with guidance on how to develop and use fees and what those fees should include. |
Closed – Implemented
In its July 2002 report to Congress entitled "The Cost of Waste Disposal: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Disposal of DOE Low-Level Radioactive Wastes at Federal and Commercial Facilities," DOE's Office of Environmental Management concluded that comparisons of disposal alternatives must consider more than just disposal fees. The report states that DOE disposal sites should be directed to continue calculating the fee as they have done in the past. However, DOE waste generators should evaluate the full "cradle to grave" costs of managing their waste, and base disposal decisions on that full cost. DOE distributed the report to field offices with a memorandum directing those offices to develop the mechanisms necessary to establish that their LLW disposal decisions include the best estimate of full costs and analysis of alternatives. These analyses will be made available to support future reviews of disposal decisions. The report and the directed action are responsive to GAO's recommendation.
|
| Department of Energy | To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of DOE's management and disposal of low-level and mixed wastes, the Secretary of Energy should develop criteria and guidance for DOE's waste managers to use in making decisions on the best available options within DOE and at commercial facilities for treating, storing, and disposing of their wastes. Specifically, the Secretary should, if charging fees is not the preferred policy, provide DOE's waste-generating sites with guidance on how to compare the costs of disposing of their wastes at each available DOE and commercial disposal facility, including consideration of the estimated life-cycle costs of those facilities. |
Closed – Implemented
In its July 2002 report to Congress entitled "The Cost of Waste Disposal: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Disposal of DOE Low-Level Radioactive Wastes at Federal and Commercial Facilities," DOE's Office of Environmental Management concluded that comparisons of disposal alternatives must consider more than just disposal fees. The report states that DOE disposal sites should be directed to continue calculating the fee as they have done in the past. However, DOE waste generators should evaluate the full "cradle to grave" costs of managing their waste, and base disposal decisions on that full cost. DOE distributed the report to field offices with a memorandum directing those offices to develop the mechanisms necessary to establish that their LLW disposal decisions include the best estimate of full costs and analysis of alternatives. These analyses will be made available to support future reviews of disposal decisions. The report and the directed action are responsive to GAO's recommendation.
|
| Department of Energy | To improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy of DOE's management and disposal of low-level and mixed wastes, the Secretary of Energy should develop criteria and guidance for DOE's waste managers to use in making decisions on the best available options within DOE and at commercial facilities for treating, storing, and disposing of their wastes. Specifically, the Secretary should assess the effects of using commercial waste disposal facilities on the costs of operating DOE's disposal facilities and develop guidance on how to compare and consider the total costs of using both types of disposal facilities in disposal decision-making. |
Closed – Implemented
In its July 2002 report to Congress entitled "The Cost of Waste Disposal: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Disposal of DOE Low-Level Radioactive Wastes at Federal and Commercial Facilities," DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) concluded that commercial facilities offer the lowest disposal cost for some DOE waste. Further, the EM disposal cost study found that both DOE and commercial disposal facilities appear to fill necessary roles in DOE's cleanup of its sites. The report states "In the same manner that DOE's disposal capabilities contribute to competitive pricing from Envirocare, so also should the economies resulting from Envirocare's streamlined waste acceptance and disposal approaches serve to remind DOE of the need to eliminate unnecessary redtape in its procedures and operations." This finding is responsive to GAO's recommendation. The department acted on the report's conclusions and finding by directing that DOE Waste Management Order 435.1 be changed to remove the requirement for an exemption to use non-DOE disposal facilities. Instead, the department directed each Field Office Manger to ensure that disposal decisions are made based on technical acceptability, schedule, and cost benefit.
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Cost controlCost effectiveness analysisEnvironmental monitoringHazardous substancesInteragency relationsLife cycle costsNuclear facilitiesNuclear waste managementNuclear waste storageRadioactive waste disposal