Nuclear Energy

Environmental Issues at DOE's Nuclear Defense Facilities Gao ID: RCED-86-192 September 8, 1986

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) identified key environmental issues at nine Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear defense facilities; and (2) evaluated the status of DOE efforts to strengthen its environmental, safety, and health oversight programs.

GAO found that: (1) eight facilities have groundwater contaminated with radioactive or hazardous substances at levels higher than the proposed standards; (2) although six facilities have soil contamination in unexpected areas, including off-site locations, DOE sees a potential public health threat at only one of the facilities; (3) four facilities are not in full compliance with the Clean Water Act; (4) to obtain permits under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), all nine facilities are significantly changing their waste disposal practices by closing existing disposal facilities or building new treatment facilities; and (5) it may cost over $1 billion to bring the facilities into full compliance with environmental laws and obtain the necessary permits.

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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