DOE cleanup of 15 nuclear sites to cost up to $840 billion by 2100

The Government Accountability Office released a report Friday on future land use planning at selected Department of Energy cleanup sites. The agency reviewed laws, regulations, policies, and agency documents at six sites and visited two of them. The agency interviewed DOE officials, regulators, tribal officials, and community stakeholders.

DOE created initial future land use plans in coordination with local communities as early as 1992 at six cleanup sites. DOE estimates cleaning up 15 remaining sites will cost between $641 billion and $840 billion and be completed in 2100.

At Oak Ridge, Paducah, Portsmouth, and Savannah River sites, DOE and regulators established cleanup levels that aligned with initial future land use plans. DOE agreed to clean up most of the contaminated areas to support industrial use.

For nearly a third of the Hanford site and most of the contaminated areas of the Idaho site, DOE and regulators set more stringent cleanup standards than needed to meet anticipated uses. They said it would be difficult to calculate the cost difference between cleaning up to support residential and other uses, but others noted cleaning up to support residential use is typically more costly.

DOE has transferred or leased a small amount of land to the community or private entities for industrial use at five of the sites. Some community stakeholders have expressed interest in more land transfers and generally expressed support for industrial reuse.

Stakeholders cited potential benefits including economic growth, high-quality jobs, or local tax revenue. They also cited potential drawbacks such as taking focus and resources away from cleanup, pollution and site recontamination risks, and future DOE liabilities.