United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-11-08 monographic deposited born digital 20 p. GA 1.13:RCED-95-29 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29 P0b002ee18039121a f:rc95029 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29 RCED-95-29 Nuclear facilities Energy research Contractor performance Facility maintenance Maintenance costs Work measurement standards Radioactive wastes Nuclear waste storage Tanks (containers) Nuclear waste management Hanford (WA) DOE Hanford Tank Farm Maintenance Program Letter Report RCED At the Energy Department's (DOE) Hanford facility in Washington state, a backlog in routine maintenance increases the risk of a significant leak or accident involving underground storage tanks that hold 61 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste. Some progress has been made in strengthening the tank farm maintenance program. Westinghouse, a contractor at Hanford, believes that a new maintenance approach has helped to reduce the number of uncompleted maintenance projects from 1,969 to 1,517. However, the remaining backlog of projects is still too great to guarantee that needed maintenance will be done in a timely manner. Tank farm maintenance personnel estimate that to respond promptly to maintenance needs, the number of projects awaiting completion should not exceed three months' work--about 300 projects, or less than one-fifth of the current backlog. Westinghouse can further improve its maintenance program by reducing the time spent preparing and closing out maintenance projects. Westinghouse has started to experiment with procedures that other DOE sites use to reduce delays, and these experiments show promise. Westinghouse can also improve its program by gathering and analyzing more information about how it processes maintenance projects. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29.pdf GAO/RCED-95-29 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-95-29 Letter Report GAO/RCED-95-29; Nuclear Health and Safety: Further Improvement Needed in the Hanford Tank Farm Maintenance Program; Nuclear facilities Energy research Contractor performance Facility maintenance Maintenance costs Work measurement standards Radioactive wastes Nuclear waste storage Tanks (containers) Nuclear waste management Hanford (WA) DOE Hanford Tank Farm Maintenance Program