Nuclear waste

In August 1987, the Department of Energy released information showing the presence of Iodine-129, a radioactive material, in groundwater beneath its Hanford Reservation in southeastern Washington State. DOE's handling of the situation discouraged disseminating the information within and outside the agency. In fact, the discouragement was so pervasive that GAO believes DOE might never have publicly released the information if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, through its on-site representative, had not identified and pursued the issue. DOE maintains that the available information concerning Iodine-129 migration is insufficient to disqualify Hanford from consideration; addressing it in the environmental assessment would not have affected its selection of Hanford as a candidate repository site. NRC and Washington State agree that not enough is known about the Iodine-129 migration issue to have rejected Hanford on that basis