Cleaning up nuclear waste.

Cleaning up the hazardous and radioactive waste generated by U.S. nuclear-weapons-production plants will certainly take decades to complete, according to a report from the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment. OTA says current plans by the Department of Energy (DOE) to handle the problems are

Over the past 50 years, nuclear weapons -- a key element of U.S. defense strategy -- have been produced at more than a dozen facilities throughout the United States run by DOE and its predecessor agencies. The facilities that comprise the nation's Nuclear Weapons Complex have generated waste -- much of it chemically toxic as well as highly radioactive -- and have released vast quantities of hazardous chemicals and radionuclides into the environment, according to the report.

Contamination of soil, sediments, surface water, and groundwater throughout the Weapons Complex is extensive, says OTA. Most of the waste generated is clearly destined to remain at the site of generation for decades to come, despite government efforts to open geological repositories in New Mexico and Nevada.

"The DOE goal stated in the Five-Year Plan and elsewhere -- to clean up all weapons sites within 30 years -- is unfounded because it is not based on meaningful estimates of the work to be done or the level of cleanup to be accomplished at the end of the time," says OTA. Attempts to estimate the cost of the cleanup have also been unreliable so far.

A lack of reliable data on the extent of environmental contamination in the areas surrounding the plants is hampering cleanup efforts, OTA points out. Not knowing the health risks posed to the public in the affected areas and not having ready technological solutions also impedes progress. And the public is skeptical about government's decision making and its commitment to solving the problem.

OTA outlines several policy initiatives to improve cleanup. It suggests that Congress increase its oversight of the DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies to develop and implement new programs. These programs would strengthen agency personnel quality, improve processes for developing new technology, increase public access to information on waste management and environmental activities, and coordinate and accelerate setting standards for cleanup.

Source: Complex Cleanup: The Environmental Legacy of Nuclear Weapons Production. Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress. 1991. 224 pages. $10. Available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. GPO stock number 052-003-01222-7.