DOE nuke cleanup effort said to lack focus

The Energy Department's $50 billion effort to clean up old nuclear weapons plants has been hampered by a lack of focus and inadequate oversight, according to a private think tank study.

The report, by the nonpartisan Resources for the Future, says the public and Congress have not placed enough scrutiny on the DOE's Office of Environmental Management. And Congress' main interest has been to control funding of the cleanups and ensure that jobs are created after the plants close. Kate Probst of RFF questioned whether the DOE should be concerned with creating new jobs, a task she says is not in line with the agency's mission.

Plants that are closed, such as Colorado's Rocky Flats, seem to fare better, according to the study. "At these sites, where the local community knows that DOE no longer will be providing jobs after the cleanup is complete, the focus of local, state and DOE efforts is on getting the cleanup done as quickly as possible and moving on to life without DOE," the report says (Bill McAllister, Denver Post, Jan. 25).

The report recommends that the DOE clarify the mission of the Office of Environmental Management, separating the office's environmental and economic transition functions; Congress should require the DOE to issue annual reports documenting the contamination at each site; and Congress or the president should create an independent commission to identify ways to reform the Office of Environmental Management.