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CLEANING UP
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S
NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX
 
 
May 1994
 
 
NOTES

Unless otherwise indicated, all years referred to in this report are fiscal years.

Numbers in the text and tables may not add to totals because of rounding.

Cover photo shows drums of low-level radioactive waste stored on an asphalt pad in a trench at the Hanford nuclear facility in Richland, Washington. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy.)
 
 
Preface

The Department of Energy faces daunting challenges as it attempts to correct the environmental problems that exist throughout its nuclear complex. As DOE's budget for its Environmental Restoration and Waste Management program has grown, so has Congressional concern about how DOE intends to carry out its cleanup plan. This study, which was requested by the Chairman of the Department of Energy Defense Nuclear Facilities Panel of the House Committee on Armed Services (now known as the Military Application of Nuclear Energy Panel), examines the key issues that bear on the potential costs of DOE's cleanup program. In keeping with the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) mandate to provide objective analysis, this study makes no recommendations.

Elizabeth Pinkston of CBO's Natural Resources and Commerce Division and Frances M. Lussier of the National Security Division wrote the study under the general supervision of Robert Hale, Jan Paul Acton, Neil Singer, and Roger Hitchner. Elizabeth Pinkston was the primary author of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 and Appendixes A and B. Frances Lussier was the primary author of Chapter 4 and Appendixes C and D.

The authors would like to thank Perry Beider, Wayne Glass, Elizabeth Chambers, Douglas Elmendorf, and Kim Cawley of CBO for their valuable assistance. The study also benefited from the contributions of many people outside CBO. Paul Portney, Jonathan Gledhill, Mark Holt, Peter Johnson, and John Morrall made helpful comments on the draft. Though space constraints do not permit naming all of the DOE staff and contractors who responded to numerous requests for information, the authors would especially like to thank Eli Bronstein, Robert Muller, and Beverly Heffernan, who provided many updates to budgetary data. (The assistance of external participants implies no responsibility for the final product, which rests solely with CBO.)

Sherry Snyder edited the report, and Christian Spoor provided editorial assistance. Judith Cromwell, Gwen Coleman, and Donna Wood typed numerous drafts. Kathryn Quattrone, with the assistance of Regina Washington and Martina Wojak-Piotrow, prepared the study for publication.
 

Robert D. Reischauer
Director
May 1994
 
 

Contents
 

SUMMARY

ONE - OVERVIEW OF DOE'S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

TWO - DOE'S CLEANUP PROGRAM

THREE - STRATEGIC POLICY ISSUES FOR DOE'S CLEANUP PROGRAM

FOUR - ISSUES RELATED TO DOE'S CLEANUP PROGRAM

APPENDIXES

A - Profile of Major Facilities and Remedial Action Programs
B - Estimating the Costs of Cleaning Up DOE Sites
C - Description of Specific Integrated Demonstrations and Estimates of Savings
D - The Acquisition Process for a Major Weapon System
 
TABLES
 
1.  Appropriations for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, 1989-1994
2.  Spending Targets for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, 1995-2000
3.  Implicit Costs per Life Saved of Selected Regulations
4.  Costs and Cancer Fatalities Under Three Alternatives for Decommissioning Reactors at Hanford
5.  Individual Initiatives in DOE's Research, Development, Demonstration, Testing, and Evaluation Program, by Key Problem Area
6.  Summary of Funding for the Office of Technology Development, 1992-1995
7.  Schedule for Records of Decision in Selected Technology Areas
A-1.  Environmental Cleanup Budgets for DOE's Facilities and Remedial Action Programs, 1994 and 1995
A-2.  Funding by Facility, 1990-1995
 
FIGURES
 
1.  Department of Energy's Weapons Complex
2.  Department of Energy's 1994 Budget for Environmental Management, by Program
3.  Funding for Technology Development Within the Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management
4.  Cost of Treating, Storing, and Disposing of Low-Level and Transuranic Waste, With and Without Minimization of Waste
5.  Portion of Environmental Management Funds Devoted to Administrative and Support Activities
6.  Comparison of DOE's Environmental Restoration Costs with Those of Other Sectors
 
BOXES
 
1.  Risk Assessment and Risk Management
2.  EPA's Analysis of Hazardous Waste Cleanup

This document is available in its entirety in PDF.