Nuclear and worker safety : limited information exists on costs and reasons for work stoppages at DOE's Hanford Site : report to congressional requesters.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

United States. Government Accountability Office

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Department of Energy--Rules and practice.

United States.

United States. Department of Energy.

Radioactive waste disposal--Washington (State)--Costs.

Radioactive waste disposal.

Hanford Site (Wash.)--Waste disposal--Safety measures.

Hanford Site (Wash.).

Nuclear facilities--Washington (State)--Safety measures.

Nuclear facilities.

Construction contracts--United States--Safety measures.

Construction contracts.

Nuclear facilities--Safety measures.

Radioactive waste disposal--Costs.

Washington (State).

Washington (State)--Hanford Site.

Genre:

Rules and practice.

Rules.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ii, 29 pages) : illustrations

Other Title:

Limited information exists on costs and reasons for work stoppages at DOE's Hanford Site

Work stoppages at DOE's Hanford Site

Place of Publication:

[Washington, D.C.] : U.S. Govt. Accountability Office, [2009]

Summary:

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site in Washington State stores 56 million gallons of untreated radioactive and hazardous wastes resulting from decades of nuclear weapons production. DOE is constructing facilities at the site to treat these wastes before permanent disposal. As part of meeting health, safety, and other standards, work at the site has sometimes been suspended to address safety or construction quality issues. This report discusses (1) work stoppages from January 2000 through December 2008 and what is known about them, (2) the types of costs associated with work stoppages and who paid for them, and (3) whether more effective regulation or oversight could have prevented the work stoppages. GAO interviewed knowledgeable DOE and contractor officials about these events. When documentation was available, GAO obtained DOE and contractor accident and safety incident reports, internal DOE and independent external evaluations, and costs. GAO is recommending that the Secretary of Energy (1) establish criteria for when DOE should direct contractors to track and report reasons for and costs of work stoppages and (2) specify the types of costs to be tracked. In commenting on a draft of the report, DOE generally agreed with GAO's recommendations but plans to implement them only within Environmental Management.

Notes:

Title from cover screen (GAO, viewed June 9, 2009).

"May 2009."

Includes bibliographical references.

"GAO-09-451."

OCLC:

381052031