Nuclear Health and Safety

Savannah River's Unusual Occurrence Reporting Program Has Been Ineffective Gao ID: RCED-90-53 December 20, 1989

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) Unusual Occurrence Reporting (UOR) program at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

GAO found that Savannah River Site personnel reported to DOE headquarters only 39 percent of significant reactor-related events under UOR requirements, because: (1) DOE oversight of contractor activities was inadequate; (2) DOE had not developed written procedures for evaluating the contractor's internal reporting system to ensure its compatibility with UOR requirements; (3) contractor personnel did not report under UOR events which they personally judged to be insignificant or of no interest to other DOE sites; and (4) the UOR implementation plan lacked specific guidelines for UOR determinations.

Recommendations

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