Nuclear Cleanup
Preliminary Results of the Review of the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Projects Gao ID: GAO-05-1044R September 22, 2005For about 40 years, the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats site, near Denver, served as a production facility that made plutonium triggers, or "pits," for nuclear weapons. That role resulted in radiological and chemical contamination of many of the site's buildings and its soil and water. Cleanup of the site, which commenced in 1996, has been a monumental undertaking. The cleanup is being conducted under the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement, which is the legally binding agreement that provides the framework for the cleanup effort. The cleanup agreement specifies the roles of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the two regulatory agencies for the site: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (Colorado). In February 2001, when GAO last reported on DOE's project to clean up and close the Rocky Flats site, the project was slightly over cost and behind schedule. The vast amount of work remaining to be done at that time, along with various major challenges facing the cleanup contractor, made it doubtful that the contractor could achieve its December 2006 closure goal. But now the contractor hired by DOE (Kaiser-Hill Company, L.L.C.) plans to complete the physical cleanup portion of the work early and under budget. The regulatory agencies' final decision on the adequacy of the cleanup will take another year or so after completion of the physical cleanup, and the majority of the planned wildlife refuge will not open to the public for at least 5 years. In this context, Congress asked us to determine (1) the key factors that contributed to the progress of the Rocky Flats cleanup; (2) when the Rocky Flats cleanup is scheduled to be completed, and at what total cost, including long-term stewardship costs; and (3) what measures DOE and the regulatory agencies are taking to determine that the cleanup will achieve a level of protection of public health and environment consistent with the cleanup agreement.
According to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory agencies, four key factors contributed to the cleanup's progress to date. These key factors are as follows: (1) The cost-plus-incentive-fee contract provided Kaiser-Hill with strong profit incentives to complete the work quickly and safely; (2) EPA's Superfund accelerated cleanup process allowed cleanup actions to proceed much more quickly and collaboratively than would have happened under the traditional Superfund process; (3) A confluence of site-specific events--climatic, geologic, chemical, and structural--aided the cleanup effort by confining both its scope and its complexity; and (4) The major challenges facing the contractor at the time of our last report have been resolved, except for safety, which has since improved but nonetheless will remain a concern as long as work goes on at the site. The contractor plans to finish the physical completion portion of the cleanup at Rocky Flats in late October 2005. "Physical completion" means that the contractor has met all contractual requirements, which include, for example, removing all buildings, waste, vehicles, and signage from the site and remediating contamination to the appropriate levels. After the contractor finishes its cleanup work, a number of regulatory and land-transfer events must occur before the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge will open to the public. The cleanup project will cost about $7 billion (since 1995), according to DOE, which includes an approximately $510 million incentive fee to the contractor. DOE estimates additional long-term surveillance and maintenance costs of at least $7 million per year; this estimate is for fiscal years 2007 through 2011, although some of these costs may continue indefinitely. For contractor employees at Rocky Flats, DOE's pension and postretirement benefits liability in fiscal year 2004 amounted to nearly $100 million. DOE expects to continue paying between $64 million and $110 million per year for such benefits; the actual amount paid will fluctuate within this range depending on market and actuarial conditions and is expected to decrease after about 25 years. This estimate of benefit costs does not include up to an additional $15 million expected to be funded to cover additional payments for contractor employees whose benefits would be affected by the cleanup's physical completion a year ahead of schedule. Additional costs associated with Rocky Flats include pending legislation that proposes authorizing up to $10 million to purchase some privately held mineral rights at Rocky Flats, and a growing number of claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 for harmful beryllium exposure at the site. Numerous measures have been and are being taken to provide assurance to DOE and the regulatory agencies that the cleanup will achieve a level of protection of public health and the environment consistent with the cleanup agreement. These measures include EPA's and Colorado's regulatory approvals of interim and final cleanup actions, DOE-initiated cleanup verification reviews, and independent reviews by scientific organizations and contractors.
GAO-05-1044R, Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Projects
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September 22, 2005:
The Honorable Jeff Sessions:
Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Wayne Allard:
United States Senate:
Subject: Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the
Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Project:
For about 40 years, the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats site, near
Denver, served as a production facility that made plutonium triggers,
or "pits," for nuclear weapons. That role resulted in radiological and
chemical contamination of many of the site's buildings and its soil and
water. Cleanup of the site, which commenced in 1996, has been a
monumental undertaking. The cleanup is being conducted under the Rocky
Flats Cleanup Agreement, which is the legally binding agreement that
provides the framework for the cleanup effort.[Footnote 1] The cleanup
agreement specifies the roles of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the
two regulatory agencies for the site: the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment (Colorado). In February 2001, when GAO last reported on
DOE's project to clean up and close the Rocky Flats site,[Footnote 2]
the project was slightly over cost and behind schedule. The vast amount
of work remaining to be done at that time, along with various major
challenges facing the cleanup contractor, made it doubtful that the
contractor could achieve its December 2006 closure goal. But now the
contractor hired by DOE (Kaiser-Hill Company, L.L.C.) plans to complete
the physical cleanup portion of the work early and under budget. The
regulatory agencies' final decision on the adequacy of the cleanup will
take another year or so after completion of the physical cleanup, and
the majority of the planned wildlife refuge will not open to the public
for at least 5 years.
In this context, you asked us to determine (1) the key factors that
contributed to the progress of the Rocky Flats cleanup; (2) when the
Rocky Flats cleanup is scheduled to be completed, and at what total
cost, including long-term stewardship costs; and (3) what measures DOE
and the regulatory agencies are taking to determine that the cleanup
will achieve a level of protection of public health and environment
consistent with the cleanup agreement.
To address these objectives, we reviewed and analyzed project activity
reports; decontamination and demolition accomplishments; financial
documents; and scientific analyses, such as a study of how
actinides[Footnote 3] migrate through soil and water and an assessment
of the public health risk posed by contaminants remaining at the site.
We reviewed the general content of these analyses but did not review
the science underlying them. We also visited the site and observed
cleanup activities, and we interviewed officials of DOE's Office of
Environmental Management, Kaiser-Hill, EPA, Colorado, the Department of
the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, and other entities. Further,
we attended monthly meetings of the Rocky Flats Coalition of Local
Governments and the Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board. We briefed you
and your staff on the preliminary results of our review. This report
summarizes our briefing, and the enclosure contains the briefing slides
presented. We reviewed the data used to prepare this report and
determined that they were sufficiently reliable for the purposes of the
report. We conducted the work for this report from March through
September 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government
auditing standards. Our work is continuing, and we expect to issue a
final report on the Rocky Flats cleanup project in March 2006.
Key Factors that Contributed to the Cleanup's Progress:
According to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory agencies, four key
factors contributed to the cleanup's progress to date. These key
factors are as follows:
* The cost-plus-incentive-fee contract provided Kaiser-Hill with strong
profit incentives to complete the work quickly and safely. These profit
incentives drove site workers to look for innovative and creative
cleanup solutions because, for example, workers could receive bonuses
for cost-saving suggestions. The incentives also led to a continuing
focus on safety, as one significant safety infraction could shut down
work in a building or throughout the site.
* EPA's Superfund accelerated cleanup process allowed cleanup actions
to proceed much more quickly and collaboratively than would have
happened under the traditional Superfund process. As the cleanup
progressed, DOE, Kaiser-Hill, EPA, and Colorado staff often worked side
by side in the field, participating in or observing soil removal
actions and confirmatory sampling procedures.
* A confluence of site-specific events--climatic, geologic, chemical,
and structural--aided the cleanup effort by confining both its scope
and its complexity. For example, the dry Colorado climate and the
alluvial fan[Footnote 4] on which the site is situated help to minimize
erosion, thereby inhibiting offsite migration of contaminants. Also,
the thick shale and clay stone that underlies the site prevents
contaminants from seeping into the deep drinking-water aquifer. The
chemical nature of key contaminants of concern at the site, plutonium
and americium, also inhibit their migration, according to a study
undertaken in the late 1990s. That is, these contaminants are
relatively insoluble in water and tend to adhere to soil. Further, the
robust construction of the plutonium production buildings at the site
resulted in under-building contamination that was both less severe and
less extensive than feared.
* The major challenges facing the contractor at the time of our last
report have been resolved, except for safety, which has since improved
but nonetheless will remain a concern as long as work goes on at the
site. Some of the challenges identified in our 2001 report were
overcome through innovation, as workers constantly sought ways to
complete their tasks more quickly and at less cost. Innovative
techniques, such as the use of cerium nitrate to decontaminate
gloveboxes so they could be shipped whole rather than cut into pieces,
enabled the contractor to proceed with cleanup much faster and at less
expense than anticipated. Other challenges--such as uncertainties about
the end use of the site--were overcome through congressional action,
such as passage of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Act of
2001. Resolution of the end use question led to resolution of the
uncertainty about what cleanup levels were appropriate; this
uncertainty was resolved through collaboration with the community and
the regulatory agencies. Challenges posed by a balky plutonium
packaging system were also overcome, as were challenges posed by
insufficient numbers of available transportation casks and inadequate
loading capability for certain wastes.
Cleanup Schedule and Cost:
The contractor plans to finish the physical completion portion of the
cleanup at Rocky Flats in late October 2005. "Physical completion"
means that the contractor has met all contractual requirements, which
include, for example, removing all buildings, waste, vehicles, and
signage from the site and remediating contamination to the appropriate
levels.[Footnote 5] After the contractor finishes its cleanup work, a
number of regulatory and land-transfer events must occur before the
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge will open to the public. The
estimated dates of some significant events include the following:
* December 2005 --DOE determines that the contractor has completed
physical cleanup.
* June 2006 --DOE issues draft decision documents for public comment.
* November 2006 - DOE, EPA, and Colorado issue final decision documents
specifying the final remedy.
* December 2006 - EPA certifies completion of the cleanup and removes
portions of the site from Superfund's national list of cleanup sites.
* Early 2007 --DOE transfers portions of the site to the Fish and
Wildlife Service.
* 2011 through 2016 --Fish and Wildlife Service opens public access
trails and facilities in the wildlife refuge.
The cleanup project will cost about $7 billion (since 1995), according
to DOE, which includes an approximately $510 million incentive fee to
the contractor.[Footnote 6] DOE estimates additional long-term
surveillance and maintenance costs of at least $7 million per year;
this estimate is for fiscal years 2007 through 2011, although some of
these costs may continue indefinitely. For contractor employees at
Rocky Flats, DOE's pension and postretirement benefits liability in
fiscal year 2004 amounted to nearly $100 million. DOE expects to
continue paying between $64 million and $110 million per year for such
benefits; the actual amount paid will fluctuate within this range
depending on market and actuarial conditions and is expected to
decrease after about 25 years. This estimate of benefit costs does not
include up to an additional $15 million expected to be funded to cover
additional payments for contractor employees whose benefits would be
affected by the cleanup's physical completion a year ahead of schedule.
Additional costs associated with Rocky Flats include pending
legislation that proposes authorizing up to $10 million to purchase
some privately held mineral rights at Rocky Flats, and a growing number
of claims under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation
Program Act of 2000 for harmful beryllium exposure at the
site.[Footnote 7]
Measures Taken to Determine Cleanup's Adequacy:
Numerous measures have been and are being taken to provide assurance to
DOE and the regulatory agencies that the cleanup will achieve a level
of protection of public health and the environment consistent with the
cleanup agreement. These measures include EPA's and Colorado's
regulatory approvals of interim and final cleanup actions, DOE-
initiated cleanup verification reviews, and independent reviews by
scientific organizations and contractors. The primary cleanup assurance
measure to date consists of regulatory approval of interim cleanup
actions completed at individual hazardous substance sites. As of mid-
September 2005, the regulatory agencies had approved the cleanup of 337
of the 360 individual sites. Another 21 sites were awaiting regulatory
approval, and cleanup work at the 2 remaining sites had been completed,
but the closeout report had not been finalized and sent to the
regulators. Regulatory approval of these individual sites' cleanup,
along with other regulatory documents, will provide support for the
final regulatory approval, which EPA estimates will occur in late 2006.
A second cleanup assurance measure consists of three DOE-initiated
actions to verify that the radiological surface soil contaminants have
been sufficiently remediated. These actions, which began in the summer
of 2005, consist of an aerial scan of the site, targeted ground-based
scans of previously remediated areas, and the Oak Ridge Institute of
Science and Education's (ORISE) independent verification of portions of
the surface soil cleanup. The preliminary results of these actions
indicate the existence of some additional areas of contamination; DOE
has remediated some of these already and plans to remediate the others.
ORISE has not yet completed its planned verification work, pending
ongoing discussions with DOE. Ironically, although these verification
activities were undertaken to increase public confidence in the
cleanup, the preliminary results have sparked additional questions from
the public about the cleanup. Furthermore, outside cleanup reviews have
also served as a cleanup assurance measure. For example, the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry completed a public health
assessment of Rocky Flats in May 2005. This assessment concluded that,
owing to the lack of exposure pathways, residual contamination at Rocky
Flats posed no adverse health risk to the local population. Other
reviews include studies by independent consultants hired by local
communities to review cleanup actions associated with the original
landfill and surface and groundwater issues. Recommendations from these
studies have been shared with DOE, which is now in the process of
responding to them. Finally, the Fish and Wildlife Service plans to
take surface soil samples in areas corresponding with proposed trails
in the future refuge.
Preliminary Observations:
The cleanup effort at Rocky Flats has been a massive and challenging
undertaking, but it is not yet complete. Although the contractor plans
to complete its work in late October 2005, regulatory activities will
continue, as will any additional remediation required as a result of
their conclusions. The final decision about the cleanup's adequacy is
EPA's to make and will take at least another year. Even then,
monitoring and maintenance activities will go on for decades.
Throughout the cleanup effort, DOE, the contractor, the regulatory
agencies, and the Fish and Wildlife Service garnered valuable lessons.
Some of these lessons, such as innovative cleanup techniques, may be
useful to other DOE sites undergoing or planning cleanup. Other
lessons, however, may not be transferable. For example, knowledge
gained about the migration of plutonium and americium through soil at
Rocky Flats may not be helpful to cleanup efforts at sites located in
wet climates, where migration of other types of contaminants is
extensive.
We provided the contents of this report to DOE's Office of
Environmental Management, Legacy Management, and Rocky Flats Project
Office; Kaiser-Hill; the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment; EPA; and the Fish and Wildlife Service. We obtained views
on the report contents from officials of these offices who were
involved in or knowledgeable about the Rocky Flats cleanup. These
officials generally agreed with the content of this report. In
addition, the officials offered technical clarifications that we
incorporated as appropriate.
As agreed with your offices, we will make copies of this report
available to others upon request. This report will also be available at
no charge on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-3841 or aloisee@gao.gov. Contact points for our
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on
the last page of this report. Major contributors to this report include
Daniel Feehan, Assistant Director; Claire Cyrnak; Glenn C. Fischer; Pam
Tumler; and Keith Rhodes, GAO's Chief Technologist.
Signed by:
Gene Aloise:
Director, Natural Resources and Environment:
Enclosure:
Briefing Slides:
Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the Department of
Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Project:
Briefing for Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
and:
The Honorable Wayne Allard:
United States Senate:
September 22, 2005:
Background:
* For nearly 40 years, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky Flats
site served as a nuclear weapons production facility manufacturing
plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons.
* Most of the production work occurred in the 385-acre industrial zone
and resulted in the radiological or chemical contamination of about 200
of the site's more than 800 structures and its soil and water. The
remainder of the 6,300-acre site served as a buffer zone.
* DOE is responsible for cleaning up Rocky Flats and awarded Kaiser-
Hill Company, L.L.C., a contract to decontaminate and remove structures
and remediate environmental contamination at the site.
* The Rock Flats Cleanup Agreement is legally binding and provides the
framework guiding the of fort. The regulatory agencies are the
Environmental Protection Agency EPA) and the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment Colorado).
Research Objectives:
(1) What key factors have contributed to the cleanup's progress at
Rocky Flats?
(2) When is the Rocky Flats cleanup scheduled to be completed, and at
what total cost, including long-term stewardship costs?
(3) What measures are DOE and the regulatory agencies taking to
determine that the cleanup will achieve a level of protection of public
health and environment consistent with the cleanup agreement?
Scope and Methodology:
To answer the objectives, we:
* reviewed and analyzed scientific analyses and project planning and
budgetary documents;
* visited the Rocky Flats site and observed the cleanup work; and:
* interviewed officials of DOE; Kaiser-Hill; EPA; Colorado; Interior's
Fish and Wildlife Service; and various community stakeholder groups,
scientific organizations, and consultants.
Summary:
* According to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory agencies, four
key factors contributed to the cleanup's progress at Rocky Flats.
* The contractor's physical cleanup work is scheduled for completion in
late October 2005, but key steps remain before the planned wildlife
refuge will open to the public. The total cleanup cost will approach $7
billion (since 1995), plus between $64 million and $110 million a year
in pension liabilities (this cost will decrease after about 25 years),
plus stewardship costs of about $7 million a year that will continue
indefinitely.
* DOE, the regulatory agencies, and others are taking numerous measures
(e.g., surveys, samples, monitoring, and independent reviews) to
determine that the cleanup will meet the terms of the cleanup
agreement.
Key Factors in Cleanup Progress:
Four key factors, according to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory
agencies, have contributed to the cleanup's progress at Rocky Flats:
1. the cost-plus-incentive-fee contract structure, which encouraged the
contractor to finish early and safely;
2. EPA's Superfund accelerated cleanup process, and the collaboration
that this process encouraged among DOE, the contractor, and the
regulatory agencies;
3. site-specific characteristics that confined the cleanup's scope and
complexity, including climatic, geologic, structural, and chemical
characteristics; and:
4. overcoming the challenges we identified in 2001, such as completing
the buildings' cleanup and demolition; getting all the waste packaged
and sipped; and working safely, which has improved but remains a
concern.
Schedule and Cost:
* The contractor plans to complete its physical cleanup work in October
2005, but the regulatory agencies' final decision on the adequacy of
the cleanup will take another year or so, and the majority of the
planned wildlife refuge will not open to the public for at least 5
years.
* Total cost of the cleanup project, from 1995 to present, will be
nearly $7 billion.
* DOE estimates additional long-term surveillance and maintenance costs
of at least $7 million per year, and some of these costs may continue
indefinitely.
* DOE will likely pay between $64 million and $110 million per year for
up to 25 years, with costs decreasing thereafter, for contractor
pensions and medical and life insurance benefits.
* Up to $10 million may be authorized to purchase some privately held
mineral rights at Rocky Flats.
Estimated Schedule and Cost Timeline:
Estimated Dates of Significant Events at Rocky Flats:
The contractor completes physical cleanup: October 2005;
DOE agrees that the contractor has completed physical cleanup: December
2005;
DOE issues draft decision documents: June 2006;
DOE, EPA, Colorado issue final decision documents: November 2006;
EPA certifies completion of cleanup and removes portions of the site
from Superfund list: December 2006;
DOE transfers portions of the site to Fish and Wildlife Service: Early
2007;
Fish and Wildlife Service opens public access trails and facilities in
wildlife refuge: 2011-2016.
Sources: GAO, DOE, Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife
Service, and Kaiser-Hill.
[End of figure]
Cleanup Assurance Measures:
DOE and others are taking numerous measures to determine that the
cleanup will achieve a level of protection of public health and
environment consistent with the cleanup agreement.
Key scientific studies supporting cleanup actions.
Interim and final regulatory approvals by EPA and Colorado DOE-
initiated verification of surface soil cleanup:
* Aerial scan;
* Targeted ground-based scans;
* Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education's verification of
portions of the surface soil cleanup.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's final public health
assessment.
Reviews by outside consultants.
Fish and Wildlife Service's future property review.
Preliminary Observations:
A confluence of events defined the cleanup's parameters and contributed
to DOE's and regulatory agencies confidence in the cleanup. But the
cleanup is not finished. Regulatory activities are continuing, and they
may result in the need for additional remediation. The finar decision
about the cleanup's adequacy is EPA's to make and will take at least
another year.
The Rocky Flats cleanup has been a massive and challenging undertaking
through which many lessons have been learned by ,all parties. Many of
these lessons may be applicable to DOE s cleanup efforts at other
sites; others may no be. What worked at Rocky Flats may not necessarily
work at a site whose geology, climate, and contaminants render the
cleanup effort more extensive.
[End of section]
(360626):
FOOTNOTES
[1] In addition, the cleanup must be conducted in accordance with all
applicable statutes, including the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, also
known as Superfund; and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of
1976, as amended.
[2] GAO, Nuclear Cleanup: Progress Made at Rocky Flats, but Closure by
2006 Is Unlikely, and Costs May Increase, GAO-01-284 (Washington, D.C.:
Feb. 28, 2001).
[3] Actinides are a series of radioactive chemical elements with atomic
numbers 89 (actinium) through 105 (hafnium).
[4] An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped wedge of sediment that typically
accumulates in arid or semi-arid climates on land where a stream
emerges from a steep canyon onto a flat area.
[5] Should any problems arise following physical completion, such as
additional contamination that the contractor should have remediated,
under the terms of the contract, Kaiser-Hill would be responsible for
coming back to the site and resolving the problems, according to DOE
and Kaiser-Hill officials.
[6] Unless otherwise specified, all values are DOE estimates as of
2005, in current dollars.
[7] The act required implementation of a program to provide
compensation to employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, and its
contractors and subcontractors involved in nuclear weapons production
and testing programs.
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