Environmental Problems at the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex

GAO discussed the environmental issues facing the Department of Energy (DOE) in cleaning up its nuclear weapons complex. GAO found that: (1) DOE needed to clean up existing contamination in soil and groundwater and bring its facilities' operations into full compliance with environmental laws; (2) the estimated costs for cleaning up existing contamination would total between $35 billion and $65 billion; (3) DOE would need new technologies and specialized equipment and techniques to clean up some sites and protect workers involved in the cleanup; (4) some areas could be irreversibly contaminated and might require long-term institutional care; and (5) to bring DOE into full compliance would cost an additional $3 billion to $9 billion. In addition, GAO found that: (1) although a recent DOE modernization plan called for additional spending of $81 billion over the next 21 years, it did not have a detailed plan for resolving environmental problems; (2) recently proposed legislation to establish a national commission on DOE environmental remediation activities could assist DOE in developing long-range plans; (3) $1.1 billion of the $9.4-billion DOE budget request was to correct environmental problems and represented a 57-percent increase over 1989 funding levels; and (4) DOE was still studying the extent of contamination. GAO believes that establishment of a national commission on DOE environmental remediation activities would help clarify cleanup issues and help form a comprehensive approach to addressing DOE environmental problems.