Impact of occupational issues on DOE's environmental restoration program
- Battelle-Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
- U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is in the midst of a 30-yr, multi-billion-dollar environmental restoration program for most of the facilities included in its nuclear weapons complex. Long-term planning efforts are under way to identify strategies and approaches for carrying out this extraordinarily complicated task. The DOE has already entered into interagency agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and states for many of its environmental restoration sites. These agreements set legally enforceable deadlines for cleanup activities at these sites. In addition, DOE has made other commitments to Congress and the public regarding its environmental restoration schedule. Thousands of workers will be directly involved in environmental restoration activities at DOE sites. Cleanup activity will be carried out in environments involving potential exposure to highly toxic chemical substances and radionuclides. It is inevitable that occupational safety and health (OSH) issues will become both critical and highly visible to DOE. The OSH issues associated with cleanup activities will likely attract the attention of workers, unions, the media, regulators, and the public. This paper reviews three case studies describing OSH activities in DOE's environmental restoration program. These case studies will help alert DOE officials to ways that various OSH issues should be considered when planning environmental restoration activities. This activity is being coordinated with other DOE work to identify occupational requirements that are applicable to DOE cleanup work.
- OSTI ID:
- 7059691
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-920606-; CODEN: TANSA
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 65; Conference: American Nuclear Society annual meeting, Boston, MA (United States), 7-12 Jun 1992; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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A review of occupational safety and health issues relevant to the environmental restoration program: Selected case histories and associated issues
A review of occupational safety and health issues relevant to the environmental restoration program: Selected case histories and associated issues
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NATURAL URANIUM
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054000* - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety