United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-07-20 monographic deposited born digital 33 p. GA 1.13:GAO-05-665 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665 P0b002ee180397310 f:d05665 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665 GAO-05-665 Counterterrorism Hazardous substances Health hazards Homeland security Nuclear facility security Nuclear fuel plant security Nuclear waste management Nuclear waste storage Strategic planning Radiation safety Safety standards Nuclear radiation monitoring Nuclear materials Plutonium Hanford (WA) Los Alamos (NM) Rocky Flats (CO) Savannah River (SC) Yucca Mountain (NV) Other Written Product A30417 Plutonium is very hazardous to human health and the environment and requires extensive security because of its potential use in a nuclear weapon. The Department of Energy (DOE) stores about 50 metric tons of plutonium that is no longer needed by the United States for nuclear weapons. Some of this plutonium is contaminated metal, oxides, solutions, and residues remaining from the nuclear weapons production process. To improve security and reduce plutonium storage costs, DOE plans to establish enough storage capacity at its Savannah River Site (SRS) in the event it decides to consolidate its plutonium at SRS until it can be permanently disposed of in a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. GAO was asked to examine (1) the extent to which DOE can consolidate this plutonium at SRS and (2) SRS's capacity to monitor plutonium storage containers. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665.pdf GAO-05-665 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-665 Other Written Product GAO-05-665; Securing U.S. Nuclear Materials: DOE Needs to Take Action to Safely Consolidate Plutonium; Counterterrorism Hazardous substances Health hazards Homeland security Nuclear facility security Nuclear fuel plant security Nuclear waste management Nuclear waste storage Strategic planning Radiation safety Safety standards Nuclear radiation monitoring Nuclear materials Plutonium Hanford (WA) Los Alamos (NM) Rocky Flats (CO) Savannah River (SC) Yucca Mountain (NV) Volume 115 Page 1378 115 Stat. 1378