The United States Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management's Progress and Challenges in Environmental Remediation and Decommissioning

The United States Department of Energy Environmental Management Program (EM) is responsible for managing the world largest environmental cleanup program comprised of unparalleled scope, complexity, diversity of facilities and contaminants and technical challenges. Established in 1989, EM mission is the safe and successful cleanup of the Cold War legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. Within this mission, EM is responsible for radioactive liquid wastes, spent nuclear fuel, nuclear materials, solid radioactive waste, contaminated soils and groundwater and contaminated facilities located in 14 States, on over 2,000,000 acres of land and over 4500 facilities requiring decommissioning. Since 1989 EM has, and continues to evolve into a true project management oriented organization with world-class engineering and technology capabilities, and as the National Academy of Public Administration has concluded, a with the changes underway, EM is on a solid path to becoming a high performing organization. Not only has EM grown and matured as a functional organization, but it has also achieved some remarkable on the ground accomplishments in environmental remediation, deactivation and decommissioning and waste management/nuclear material stabilization. These accomplishments have been made within a context of having to work with some of the most dangerous substances known to humanity; of having to perform first of a kind tasks in highly hazardous environments; and of having to design, construct and operate first of a kind technology and facilities to solve problems that once seemed unsolvable. In addition, EM accomplishments have been made with the highest priority and focus given to safety and risk reduction. In October 2006, and with a life cycle cost of $6.7 Billion, cleanup/D and D was completed at the 800+ facility 6200 acre former nuclear weapons complex at Rocky Flats (Denver, Colorado). Today, this former DOE site, once called the most dangerous place in the United States is a National Wildlife Refuge under a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Interior. On a smaller scale, but no less important, the Ashtabula, Fernald, Miamisburg, and Columbus sites which have all achieved completion of cleanup. Additionally, significant progress has been made at the other major DOE sites such as the Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Site and the Savannah River Site and includes the completed cleanup of 85 of 107 geographical sites; disposal of 50,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; disposal of over 8.5 million cubic meters of low level and mixed low level waste; stabilization of tons of weapons grade plutonium for long term disposition; stabilization of more than 100 contaminated groundwater plumes, and the deactivation and decommissioning of over 1700 industrial, radiological and nuclear facilities. (author)