Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the
Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Projects (22-SEP-05,
GAO-05-1044R).
For about 40 years, the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats site,
near Denver, served as a production facility that made plutonium
triggers, or "pits," for nuclear weapons. That role resulted in
radiological and chemical contamination of many of the site's
buildings and its soil and water. Cleanup of the site, which
commenced in 1996, has been a monumental undertaking. The cleanup
is being conducted under the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement, which
is the legally binding agreement that provides the framework for
the cleanup effort. The cleanup agreement specifies the roles of
the Department of Energy (DOE) and the two regulatory agencies
for the site: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (Colorado).
In February 2001, when GAO last reported on DOE's project to
clean up and close the Rocky Flats site, the project was slightly
over cost and behind schedule. The vast amount of work remaining
to be done at that time, along with various major challenges
facing the cleanup contractor, made it doubtful that the
contractor could achieve its December 2006 closure goal. But now
the contractor hired by DOE (Kaiser-Hill Company, L.L.C.) plans
to complete the physical cleanup portion of the work early and
under budget. The regulatory agencies' final decision on the
adequacy of the cleanup will take another year or so after
completion of the physical cleanup, and the majority of the
planned wildlife refuge will not open to the public for at least
5 years. In this context, Congress asked us to determine (1) the
key factors that contributed to the progress of the Rocky Flats
cleanup; (2) when the Rocky Flats cleanup is scheduled to be
completed, and at what total cost, including long-term
stewardship costs; and (3) what measures DOE and the regulatory
agencies are taking to determine that the cleanup will achieve a
level of protection of public health and environment consistent
with the cleanup agreement.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-05-1044R
ACCNO: A37838
TITLE: Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the
Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Projects
DATE: 09/22/2005
SUBJECT: Contract administration
Cost analysis
Cost plus incentive fee contracts
Interagency relations
Nuclear waste disposal
Nuclear waste management
Nuclear weapons
Performance measures
Pollution control
Safety
Environmental cleanups
Colorado
DOE Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement
Superfund Program
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GAO-05-1044R
United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548
September 22, 2005
The Honorable Jeff Sessions
Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
The Honorable Wayne Allard
United States Senate
Subject: Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the
Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Project
For about 40 years, the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats site, near
Denver, served as a production facility that made plutonium triggers, or
"pits," for nuclear weapons. That role resulted in radiological and
chemical contamination of many of the site's buildings and its soil and
water. Cleanup of the site, which commenced in 1996, has been a monumental
undertaking. The cleanup is being conducted under the Rocky Flats Cleanup
Agreement, which is the legally binding agreement that provides the
1
framework for the cleanup effort. The cleanup agreement specifies the
roles of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the two regulatory agencies
for the site: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment (Colorado). In February 2001,
when GAO last reported on DOE's project to clean up and close the Rocky
Flats site,2 the project was slightly over cost and behind schedule. The
vast amount of work remaining to be done at that time, along with various
major challenges facing the cleanup contractor, made it doubtful that the
contractor could achieve its December 2006 closure goal. But now the
contractor hired by DOE (Kaiser-Hill Company, L.L.C.) plans to complete
the physical cleanup portion of the work early and under budget. The
regulatory agencies' final decision on the adequacy of the cleanup will
take another year or so after completion of the physical cleanup, and the
majority of the planned wildlife refuge will not open to the public for at
least 5 years.
1In addition, the cleanup must be conducted in accordance with all
applicable statutes, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, also known as
Superfund; and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as
amended.
2GAO, Nuclear Cleanup: Progress Made at Rocky Flats, but Closure by 2006
Is Unlikely, and Costs May Increase, GAO-01-284 (Washington, D.C.: Feb.
28, 2001).
In this context, you asked us to determine (1) the key factors that
contributed to the progress of the Rocky Flats cleanup; (2) when the Rocky
Flats cleanup is scheduled to be completed, and at what total cost,
including long-term stewardship costs; and (3) what measures DOE and the
regulatory agencies are taking to determine that the cleanup will achieve
a level of protection of public health and environment consistent with the
cleanup agreement.
To address these objectives, we reviewed and analyzed project activity
reports; decontamination and demolition accomplishments; financial
documents; and scientific analyses, such as a study of how actinides3
migrate through soil and water and an assessment of the public health risk
posed by contaminants remaining at the site. We reviewed the general
content of these analyses but did not review the science underlying them.
We also visited the site and observed cleanup activities, and we
interviewed officials of DOE's Office of Environmental Management,
Kaiser-Hill, EPA, Colorado, the Department of the Interior's Fish and
Wildlife Service, and other entities. Further, we attended monthly
meetings of the Rocky Flats Coalition of Local Governments and the Rocky
Flats Citizens Advisory Board. We briefed you and your staff on the
preliminary results of our review. This report summarizes our briefing,
and the enclosure contains the briefing slides presented. We reviewed the
data used to prepare this report and determined that they were
sufficiently reliable for the purposes of the report. We conducted the
work for this report from March through September 2005 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. Our work is continuing,
and we expect to issue a final report on the Rocky Flats cleanup project
in March 2006.
Key Factors that Contributed to the Cleanup's Progress
According to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory agencies, four key
factors contributed to the cleanup's progress to date. These key factors
are as follows:
o The cost-plus-incentive-fee contract provided Kaiser-Hill with strong
profit incentives to complete the work quickly and safely. These profit
incentives drove site workers to look for innovative and creative cleanup
solutions because, for example, workers could receive bonuses for
cost-saving suggestions. The incentives also led to a continuing focus on
safety, as one significant safety infraction could shut down work in a
building or throughout the site.
o EPA's Superfund accelerated cleanup process allowed cleanup actions to
proceed much more quickly and collaboratively than would have happened
under the traditional Superfund process. As the cleanup progressed, DOE,
Kaiser-Hill, EPA, and Colorado staff often worked side by side in the
field, participating in or observing soil removal actions and confirmatory
sampling procedures.
3Actinides are a series of radioactive chemical elements with atomic
numbers 89 (actinium) through 105 (hafnium).
o A confluence of site-specific events-climatic, geologic, chemical, and
structural-aided the cleanup effort by confining both its scope and its
4
complexity. For example, the dry Colorado climate and the alluvial fan on
which the site is situated help to minimize erosion, thereby inhibiting
offsite migration of contaminants. Also, the thick shale and clay stone
that underlies the site prevents contaminants from seeping into the deep
drinking-water aquifer. The chemical nature of key contaminants of concern
at the site, plutonium and americium, also inhibit their migration,
according to a study undertaken in the late 1990s. That is, these
contaminants are relatively insoluble in water and tend to adhere to soil.
Further, the robust construction of the plutonium production buildings at
the site resulted in under-building contamination that was both less
severe and less extensive than feared.
o The major challenges facing the contractor at the time of our last
report have been resolved, except for safety, which has since improved but
nonetheless will remain a concern as long as work goes on at the site.
Some of the challenges identified in our 2001 report were overcome through
innovation, as workers constantly sought ways to complete their tasks more
quickly and at less cost. Innovative techniques, such as the use of cerium
nitrate to decontaminate gloveboxes so they could be shipped whole rather
than cut into pieces, enabled the contractor to proceed with cleanup much
faster and at less expense than anticipated. Other challenges-such as
uncertainties about the end use of the site-were overcome through
congressional action, such as passage of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife
Refuge Act of 2001. Resolution of the end use question led to resolution
of the uncertainty about what cleanup levels were appropriate; this
uncertainty was resolved through collaboration with the community and the
regulatory agencies. Challenges posed by a balky plutonium packaging
system were also overcome, as were challenges posed by insufficient
numbers of available transportation casks and inadequate loading
capability for certain wastes.
Cleanup Schedule and Cost
The contractor plans to finish the physical completion portion of the
cleanup at Rocky Flats in late October 2005. "Physical completion" means
that the contractor has met all contractual requirements, which include,
for example, removing all buildings, waste, vehicles, and signage from the
site and remediating contamination
5
to the appropriate levels. After the contractor finishes its cleanup work,
a number of regulatory and land-transfer events must occur before the
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge will open to the public. The
estimated dates of some significant events include the following:
4An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped wedge of sediment that typically
accumulates in arid or semi-arid climates on land where a stream emerges
from a steep canyon onto a flat area.
5Should any problems arise following physical completion, such as
additional contamination that the contractor should have remediated, under
the terms of the contract, Kaiser-Hill would be responsible for coming
back to the site and resolving the problems, according to DOE and
Kaiser-Hill officials.
o December 2005 -- DOE determines that the contractor has completed
physical cleanup.
o June 2006 -- DOE issues draft decision documents for public comment.
o November 2006 - DOE, EPA, and Colorado issue final decision documents
specifying the final remedy.
o December 2006 - EPA certifies completion of the cleanup and removes
portions of the site from Superfund's national list of cleanup sites.
o Early 2007 -- DOE transfers portions of the site to the Fish and
Wildlife Service.
o 2011 through 2016 -- Fish and Wildlife Service opens public access
trails and facilities in the wildlife refuge.
The cleanup project will cost about $7 billion (since 1995), according to
DOE, which
6
includes an approximately $510 million incentive fee to the contractor.
DOE estimates additional long-term surveillance and maintenance costs of
at least $7 million per year; this estimate is for fiscal years 2007
through 2011, although some of these costs may continue indefinitely. For
contractor employees at Rocky Flats, DOE's pension and postretirement
benefits liability in fiscal year 2004 amounted to nearly $100 million.
DOE expects to continue paying between $64 million and $110 million per
year for such benefits; the actual amount paid will fluctuate within this
range depending on market and actuarial conditions and is expected to
decrease after about 25 years. This estimate of benefit costs does not
include up to an additional $15 million expected to be funded to cover
additional payments for contractor employees whose benefits would be
affected by the cleanup's physical completion a year ahead of schedule.
Additional costs associated with Rocky Flats include pending legislation
that proposes authorizing up to $10 million to purchase some privately
held mineral rights at Rocky Flats, and a growing number of claims under
the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000
for harmful beryllium exposure at the site.7
Measures Taken to Determine Cleanup's Adequacy
Numerous measures have been and are being taken to provide assurance to
DOE and the regulatory agencies that the cleanup will achieve a level of
protection of public health and the environment consistent with the
cleanup agreement. These measures include EPA's and Colorado's regulatory
approvals of interim and final cleanup actions, DOE-initiated cleanup
verification reviews, and independent reviews by scientific organizations
and contractors. The primary cleanup assurance measure to
6Unless otherwise specified, all values are DOE estimates as of 2005, in
current dollars.
7The act required implementation of a program to provide compensation to
employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, and its contractors and
subcontractors involved in nuclear weapons production and testing
programs.
date consists of regulatory approval of interim cleanup actions completed
at individual hazardous substance sites. As of mid-September 2005, the
regulatory agencies had approved the cleanup of 337 of the 360 individual
sites. Another 21 sites were awaiting regulatory approval, and cleanup
work at the 2 remaining sites had been completed, but the closeout report
had not been finalized and sent to the regulators. Regulatory approval of
these individual sites' cleanup, along with other regulatory documents,
will provide support for the final regulatory approval, which EPA
estimates will occur in late 2006.
A second cleanup assurance measure consists of three DOE-initiated actions
to verify that the radiological surface soil contaminants have been
sufficiently remediated. These actions, which began in the summer of 2005,
consist of an aerial scan of the site, targeted ground-based scans of
previously remediated areas, and the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and
Education's (ORISE) independent verification of portions of the surface
soil cleanup. The preliminary results of these actions indicate the
existence of some additional areas of contamination; DOE has remediated
some of these already and plans to remediate the others. ORISE has not yet
completed its planned verification work, pending ongoing discussions with
DOE. Ironically, although these verification activities were undertaken to
increase public confidence in the cleanup, the preliminary results have
sparked additional questions from the public about the cleanup.
Furthermore, outside cleanup reviews have also served as a cleanup
assurance measure. For example, the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry completed a public health assessment of Rocky Flats in
May 2005. This assessment concluded that, owing to the lack of exposure
pathways, residual contamination at Rocky Flats posed no adverse health
risk to the local population. Other reviews include studies by independent
consultants hired by local communities to review cleanup actions
associated with the original landfill and surface and groundwater issues.
Recommendations from these studies have been shared with DOE, which is now
in the process of responding to them. Finally, the Fish and Wildlife
Service plans to take surface soil samples in areas corresponding with
proposed trails in the future refuge.
Preliminary Observations
o The cleanup effort at Rocky Flats has been a massive and challenging
undertaking, but it is not yet complete. Although the contractor plans to
complete its work in late October 2005, regulatory activities will
continue, as will any additional remediation required as a result of their
conclusions. The final decision about the cleanup's adequacy is EPA's to
make and will take at least another year. Even then, monitoring and
maintenance activities will go on for decades.
o Throughout the cleanup effort, DOE, the contractor, the regulatory
agencies, and the Fish and Wildlife Service garnered valuable lessons.
Some of these lessons, such as innovative cleanup techniques, may be
useful to other DOE sites undergoing or planning cleanup. Other lessons,
however, may not be transferable. For example, knowledge gained about the
migration of plutonium and americium through soil at Rocky Flats may not
be helpful to
cleanup efforts at sites located in wet climates, where migration of other
types of contaminants is extensive.
We provided the contents of this report to DOE's Office of Environmental
Management, Legacy Management, and Rocky Flats Project Office;
Kaiser-Hill; the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment;
EPA; and the Fish and Wildlife Service. We obtained views on the report
contents from officials of these offices who were involved in or
knowledgeable about the Rocky Flats cleanup. These officials generally
agreed with the content of this report. In addition, the officials offered
technical clarifications that we incorporated as appropriate.
As agreed with your offices, we will make copies of this report available
to others upon request. This report will also be available at no charge on
GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact
me at (202) 512-3841 or [email protected]. Contact points for our Offices of
Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page
of this report. Major contributors to this report include Daniel Feehan,
Assistant Director; Claire Cyrnak; Glenn C. Fischer; Pam Tumler; and Keith
Rhodes, GAO's Chief Technologist.
Gene Aloise Director, Natural Resources and Environment
Enclosure
Enclosure
Briefing Slides
Nuclear Cleanup: Preliminary Results of the Review of the Department of
Energy's Rocky Flats Closure Project
Briefing for Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Committee on Armed
Services United States Senate
and
The Honorable Wayne Allard United States Senate
September 22, 2005
Enclosure
Background
o For nearly 40 years, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky Flats site
served as a nuclear weapons production facility, manufacturingplutonium
triggers for nuclear weapons.
o Most of the production work occurred in the 385-acre industrial zone
and resulted in the radiological or chemical contamination of about 200 of
the site's more than 800 structures and its soil and water. The remainder
of the 6,300-acre site served as a buffer zone.
o DOE is responsible for cleaning up Rocky Flats and awarded Kaiser-Hill
Company, L.L.C., a contract to decontaminate and remove structures and
remediate environmental contamination at the site.
o The Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement is legally binding and provides the
framework guiding the effort. The regulatory agencies are the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment (Colorado).
Enclosure
Research Objectives
(1) What key factors have contributed to the cleanup's progress at Rocky
Flats?
(2) When is the Rocky Flats cleanup scheduled to be completed, and at what
total cost, including long-term stewardship costs?
(3) What measures are DOE and the regulatory agencies taking to determine that
the cleanup will achieve a level of protection of public health and environment
consistent with the cleanup agreement?
Enclosure
Scope and Methodology
To answer the objectives, we
o reviewed and analyzed scientific analyses and project planning and
budgetary documents;
o visited the Rocky Flats site and observed the cleanup work; and
o interviewed officials of DOE; Kaiser-Hill; EPA; Colorado; Interior's
Fish and Wildlife Service; and various community stakeholder groups,
scientific organizations, and consultants.
Enclosure
Summary
o According to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory agencies, four key
factors contributed to the cleanup's progress at Rocky Flats.
o The contractor's physical cleanup work is scheduled for completion in
late October 2005, but key steps remain before the planned wildlife refuge
will open to the public. The total cleanup cost will approach $7 billion
(since 1995), plus between $64 million and $110 million a year in pension
liabilities (this cost will decrease after about 25 years), plus
stewardship costs of about $7 million a year that will continue
indefinitely.
o DOE, the regulatory agencies, and others are taking numerous measures
(e.g., surveys, samples, monitoring, and independent reviews) to determine
that the cleanup will meet the terms of the cleanup agreement.
Enclosure
Key Factors in Cleanup Progress
Four key factors, according to DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory
agencies, have contributed to the cleanup's progress at Rocky Flats:
1. the cost-plus-incentive-fee contract structure, which encouraged the
contractor to finish early and safely;
2. EPA's Superfund accelerated cleanup process, and the collaboration that
this process encouraged among DOE, the contractor, and the regulatory
agencies;
3. site-specific characteristics that confined the cleanup's scope and
complexity, including climatic, geologic, structural, and chemical
characteristics; and
4. overcoming the challenges we identified in 2001, such as completing the
buildings' cleanup and demolition; getting all the waste packaged and
shipped; and working safely, which has improved but remains a concern.
Enclosure
Schedule and Cost
o The contractor plans to complete its physical cleanup work in October
2005, but the regulatory agencies' final decision on the adequacy of the
cleanup will take another year or so, and the majority of the planned
wildlife refuge will not open to the public for at least 5 years.
o Total cost of the cleanup project, from 1995 to present, will be nearly
$7 billion.
o DOE estimates additional long-term surveillance and maintenance costs
of at least $7 million per year, and some of these costs may continue
indefinitely.
o DOE will likely pay between $64 million and $110 million per year for
upto 25 years, with costs decreasing thereafter, for contractor pensions
and medical and life insurance benefits.
o Up to $10 million may be authorized to purchase some privately held
mineral rights at Rocky Flats.
Enclosure
Estimated Schedule and Cost
Timeline
Estimated Dates of Significant Events at Rocky Flats
Enclosure
Cleanup Assurance Measures
DOE and others are taking numerous measures to determine that the cleanup
will achieve a level of protection of public health and environment
consistent with the cleanup agreement:
o Key scientific studies supporting cleanup actions
o Interim and final regulatory approvals by EPA and Colorado
o DOE-initiated verification of surface soil cleanup
o Aerial scan
o Targeted ground-based scans
o Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education's verification of portions
of the surface soil cleanup
o Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's final public health
assessment
o Reviews by outside consultants
o Fish and Wildlife Service's future property review
Enclosure
Preliminary Observations
o A confluence of events defined the cleanup's parameters and contributed
to DOE's and regulatory agencies' confidence in the cleanup. But the
cleanup is not finished. Regulatory activities are continuing, and they
may result in the need for additional remediation. The final decision
about the cleanup's adequacy is EPA's to make and will take at least
another year.
o The Rocky Flats cleanup has been a massive and challenging undertaking
through which many lessons have been learned-by all parties. Many of these
lessons may be applicable to DOE's cleanup efforts at other sites; others
may not be. What worked at Rocky Flats may not necessarilywork at a site
whose geology, climate, and contaminants render the cleanup effort more
extensive.
(360626)
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