Update on the Impact of Federal R&D Funding on Three Mile Island Cleanup Costs

GAO was requested to: (1) update a prior report on the impact of federal research and development funding on the Three Mile Island (TMI) cleanup costs; and (2) answer new questions raised in response to events that have transpired since that report.

The TMI-2 cleanup cost and completion schedule has slipped steadily since the initial estimate was developed in mid-1979. This trend is continuing. The work schedule planned for 1982 cleanup activities has been revised, since it was determined that the TMI-1 unit restart would be delayed for a least 6 months and the TMI-2 budget would be reduced. Some work tasks are proceeding as planned. In late 1981, the General Public Utilities Corporation budgeted $66.4 million to maintain TMI-2 in safe condition and to proceed with some cleanup activities. This has since been decreased by $6 million. The Department of Energy's (DOE) 1982 budget for TMI-2 activities is $32.75 million. About $8 million of this is budgeted for capital expenditures, primarily for the waste immobilization work at DOE laboratories; the remaining money is for operational costs. At the end of February, about 13 percent of the capital costs and about 89 percent of the operating funds had been released or committed.