Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE's Cleanup Plan for the Paducah, Kentucky Site Faces Uncertainties and Excludes Costly Activities

摘要

We are pleased to be here today to discuss the Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to clean up its Paducah, Kentucky, uranium enrichment plant. Recent allegations that past activities at the plant endangered the health of employees led to renewed interest in DOE's efforts to clean up the site-efforts that began in 1988, when contamination was discovered in the drinking water wells of residences near the plant. Allegations include the improper disposal of hazardous and radioactive materials, release of contamination into streams and drainage ditches, and exposure of workers to radioactive materials. In an October 1999 report on Paducah, DOE found that limited progress has been made in cleaning up the source areas of contamination at the site, such as landfills, waste burial grounds, and waste and scrap piles.