A Report to Congress on Long-Term Stewardship. Volume I - Summary Report
During World War II and the Cold War, the Federal government developed and operated a vast network of industrial facilities for the research, production, and testing of nuclear weapons, as well as for other scientific and engineering research. These processes left a legacy of radioactive and chemical waste, environmental contamination, and hazardous facilities and materials at well over a 100 sites in 30 States and one U.S. Territory. Hundreds of thousands of acres of residually contaminated soils, contaminated groundwater, surface water and sediment contamination, and contaminated buildings are present at many sites across the country. These sites range in size from less than one acre, containing only a single facility, to large sites spanning over 100,000 acres with huge uranium enrichment plants and plutonium processing canyons. Since 1989, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) program has made significant progress in addressing this environmental legacy. Millions of cubic meters of waste have been removed, stabilized, or disposed of, resulting in significant risk and cost reduction. In addition, DOE began disposing of transuranic (i.e., plutonium-contaminated) waste in the nation’s first deep geologic repository – the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. DOE is now carrying out its long-term stewardship obligations at dozens of sites, including smaller sites where DOE has completed cleanup work for the entire site and many larger sites where DOE has remediated portions of the site.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM), Washington, DC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- OSTI ID:
- 1173353
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EM-0563-Vol.I
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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