Nuclear Health and Safety

More Attention to Health and Safety Needed at Pantex Gao ID: RCED-91-103 April 15, 1991

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined key safety and health problems at the Department of Energy's (DOE) contractor-operated Pantex Plant to determine its need for external safety oversight.

GAO found that: (1) Pantex cited a lack of personnel for its failure to complete more than half of the safety analysis reports (SAR) needed to ensure plant safety; (2) a DOE team of specialists identified several deficiencies in the plant's radiation protection program, including inadequate staffing, training, and procedures designed to protect workers and the environment from radiation; (3) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found 168 violations of worker protection regulations at Pantex that had the potential to result in death or serious physical harm; (4) radiation accidents and incomplete SAR raised questions about the adequacy of Pantex's attention to safety and health; (5) Pantex had one of the highest injury/illness and lost workday rates in the DOE weapons complex; and (6) since Pantex experienced the same types of safety and health problems as those at other DOE facilities, external oversight was needed to ensure the safety of its defense nuclear operations.

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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