U.S. Department of Energy progress and accomplishments in surplus facility decommissioning under environmental restoration

The mission of the US Department of Energy (DOE) environmental restoration program is to ensure that risks to human health and safety and to the environment, posed by contaminated inactive waste sites and surplus facilities, are either eliminated or reduced to prescribed, safe levels. The program is concerned with all aspects of assessment and remediation activities where sites and facilities are no longer associated with active nuclear-related production or research operations. Remedial action comprises assessment and remediation of inactive waste sites and correction of a release or spill problems. Decommissioning includes assessment, decontamination, reuse, or dismantlement of surplus contaminated facilities that are no longer active. DOE is implementing a national program, directed by the Office of Environmental Restoration (ER) within the Office of Environmental Management (EM), to ensure that all decommissioning objectives are accomplished. The national program will promote the safe and efficient decommissioning of DOE facilities and strive to achieve timely and cost-effective results, based on a reasonable set of priorities, focusing on protection of the environment, improved worker and public safety, and conservation of valued resources. This paper provides a brief overview of the history of decommissioning within DOE and provides examples of progress in decommissioning facilities across the DOE complex. The paper also presents ER's accomplishments in establishing and implementing the various components of the national decommissioning program framework