Nuclear Safety

Safety Analysis Reviews for DOE's Defense Facilities Can Be Improved Gao ID: RCED-86-175 June 16, 1986

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the adequacy of the Department of Energy's (DOE) safety analysis reviews (SAR) for its existing nuclear defense facilities. GAO examined eight facilities to determine the effectiveness of DOE efforts to protect workers and the environment.

GAO found that: (1) DOE did not approve the reviews for three of the eight facilities, each of which had the potential for significant on-site or off-site releases of radioactive material in a major accident; (2) the reviews' safety design criteria varied considerably between the facilities; (3) the reviews used different approaches to identify and analyze potential accidents at DOE facilities, with some approaches being more comprehensive than others; and (4) DOE approved the reviews internally, which precluded an independent review process.

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.

Director: Team: Phone:


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.