The Uranium Mill Tailings Cleanup

The Department of Energy (DOE) proposed legislation that would allow it to enter into cooperative agreements with various states to clean up residual radioactive materials, called uranium mill tailings, at 22 inactive uranium mills. About 25 million tons of mill tailings have accumulated at these sites since the 1940's. Under the proposed legislation, the federal government would pay up to 75 percent of the cost of the joint program and the states would contribute the rest.

Advantages of the proposed program include: (1) reducing a public health hazard; (2) taking a step toward resolving problems of radioactive waste disposal; and (3) improving the depressed value of land on or near which the tailings are located. Disadvantages include: (1) its estimated cost of up to $126 million; (2) the precedent for the federal government to pay for cleaning up other nuclear facilities; and (3) the lack of full development of needed technology. The proposed legislation could accomplish its objectives, but the following areas require clarification: (1) the legislation does not put a time limit on states' participation; (2) it excludes some sites from the clean-up program; (3) some sites do not have to be owned by the state or federal government and this could result in a future health hazard; (4) the allocation of costs among governments is not clearly defined; (5) there are no requirements for DOE progress reports to Congress nor for GAO access to all pertinent documents; and (6) unlimited federal funding is authorized. In an existing clean-up program at Grand Junction, Colorado, only half of the project is finished after 6 years, and problems may prevent effective completion of the rest.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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