NUCLEAR CLEANUP: Progress Made at Rocky Flats, but Closure by 2006 Is Unlikely, and Costs May Increase
Abstract
The Department of Energy (DOE) hopes to complete a monumental task the cleanup and closure of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site by December 2006. One of the 16 major facilities that produced the nation's nuclear weapons, the Rocky Flats site (just 16 miles northwest of downtown Denver) made plutonium triggers, or pits, for these weapons. The site s weapons production activities left high-risk radioactive and hazardous materials and wastes, severely contaminated buildings, and large areas of contaminated soil all in close proximity to the 2.5 million residents of Denver and its surrounding communities. The job at hand is huge. For example, the total amount of radioactive waste that the contractor is required to package and ship off-site is enough to fill a 19-story building the size of a football field. Initially, DOE planned to maintain and gradually clean up the site until about 2070. However, in 1995, DOE undertook a more aggressive cleanup approach and signed a contract with Kaiser Hill Company, L.L.C., 2 to begin cleaning up the site. Then, in 1997, the Secretary of Energy designated Rocky Flats, along with several other nuclear sites, as a pilot site for cleanup and closure within 10 years. Subsequently, DOE and Kaiser-Hill set the challenging goal of closing the site by December 15, 2006. If DOE and the contractor can achieve this goal or come close to it, the Department stands to save billions of dollars compared with what it would have spent to continue to
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA387661
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office