Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE's Paducah Plan Faces Uncertainties and Excludes Costly Cleanup Activities
RCED-00-96
Published: Apr 28, 2000. Publicly Released: May 03, 2000.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) Paducah plant cleanup plan, focusing on: (1) the planned activities, cost, and schedule DOE has for cleaning up the site; (2) the challenges that exist in accomplishing the current cleanup plan; and (3) whether the cleanup plan includes all areas at the site requiring cleanup.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | To ensure that priorities are established on a comprehensive, sitewide basis to clean up and dispose of materials that are potential health hazards and that a more comprehensive picture of cleanup is presented to Congress, the Secretary of Energy should transfer the responsibility for the material storage areas and the unused structures from its Office of Nuclear Energy to its Office of Environmental Management. |
Closed – Implemented
At the beginning of fiscal year 2001, responsibility for all cleanup at Paducah was transferred to the Office of Environmental Management.
|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should direct the Office of Environmental Management to address in the cleanup plan, regardless of the current organizational responsibility, any and all materials at the site that are potential health hazards and to reexamine the sitewide contamination risks and cleanup priorities, costs, and schedules. |
Closed – Implemented
At the beginning of fiscal year 2001, the Office of Environmental Management redid its cleanup plan (the baseline) to incorporate and prioritize the cleanup of all materials at the site, including the depleted uranium hexafluoride.
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Topics
Industrial facilitiesNuclear waste managementObsolete facilitiesOccupational safetyRadioactive pollutionRadioactive waste disposalStrategic planningUraniumWater pollution controlGroundwater