Environmental, Safety, and Health Oversight of the Department of Energy's Operations

Gao ID: T-RCED-87-12 March 25, 1987

GAO discussed the Department of Energy's (DOE) oversight of environmental safety and health (ES&H) programs. In the past several years, GAO has addressed several issues concerning the need for internal ES&H oversight programs and outside independent assessments of safety analysis reports and waste disposal practices. GAO found that: (1) some DOE facilities were irreversibly contaminated and required long-term institutional care; (2) as a result of earlier recommendations, DOE established initiatives aimed at revising the conduct of ES&H activities and safety appraisals at DOE sites; (3) some DOE safety reviews provided little or no comparison with design criteria or used different approaches to analyze serious accidents; and (4) DOE reluctance to allow for outside independent reviews facilitated a conflict between production goals and safety functions. GAO believes that the solution to existing environmental problems depends on the development of a groundwater and soil protection strategy and a comprehensive plan for bringing DOE facilities into full compliance with environmental laws.



The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.