    Nuclear Cleanup: Progress Made at Rocky Flats, but Closure by 2006 Is
    Unlikely, and Costs May Increase (Letter Report, 02/28/2001,
    GAO/GAO-01-284).

    GAO reviewed several aspects of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky
    Flats Environmental Technology site cleanup and closure plan.
    Specifically, GAO reviewed (1) the status and cost of the Rocky Flats
    closure project, (2) the likelihood that the site will be closed by
    2006, and (3) the management actions needed, if any, to improve the
    likelihood of the project's success. GAO found that in the more than
    five years that it has been the major contractor at the Rocky Flats
    site, Kaiser-Hill has made significant progress toward cleaning up the
    site, but the majority of the work--and the most complicated--remains to
    be done. Because of the project's difficulty, DOE entered into a
    cost-plus-incentive-fee contract with Kaiser-Hill. If completed on time,
    the project will cost about $7.5 billion from the signing of the first
    cleanup contract with Kaiser-Hill in July 1995 through the 2006 closure
    date, and about $1.4 billion more thereafter, for such activities as
    site monitoring and maintenance and for contractor employees' retirement
    benefits. These overall costs will increase if additional work is
    required or the 2006 target date is not achieved. Kaiser-Hill and DOE
    are unlikely to meet the December 2006 target closure date. A number of
    significant and complex challenges must be overcome first. Kaiser-Hill
    and DOE are developing their respective plans for managing the closure
    project, but DOE needs to take additional steps to effectively implement
    its plan.

    --------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

     REPORTNUM:  GAO-01-284
         TITLE:  Nuclear Cleanup: Progress Made at Rocky Flats, but Closure
    	     by 2006 Is Unlikely, and Costs May Increase
          DATE:  02/28/2001
       SUBJECT:  Nuclear weapons
    	     Nuclear waste management
    	     Nuclear waste disposal
    	     Schedule slippages
    	     Cost overruns
    	     Pollution control
    	     Contract administration
    IDENTIFIER:  DOE Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement