Cleaning up America's Nuclear Weapons Complex
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CLEANING UP AMERICA’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX 2019 Update for Governors Founded in 1908, THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION (NGA) is the nonpartisan organization of the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Through NGA, governors share best practices, address issues of national and state interest and share innovative solutions that improve state government and support the principles of federalism. The NGA Solutions: Center for Best Practices (NGA Solutions) is the only research and development firm that directly serves the nation’s governors and their key policy staff. Governors rely on NGA Solutions to provide tailored technical assistance to address the challenges that face their states; identify and share best practices from across the country; and host meetings of leading policymakers, program officials, industry experts and scholars. Through research reports, policy analyses, cross-state learning labs, state grants and other unique services, NGA Solutions quickly informs governors of what works, what does not and which lessons they can learn from others grappling with similar issues. NGA Solutions has five policy teams: • Economic Opportunity • Education • Energy, Infrastructure & Environment • Health • Homeland Security and Public Safety For information about NGA Solutions, please visit https://www.nga.org/bestpractices/. CONTENTS Executive Summary ..............................................................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................4 Federal Facilities Task Force .............................................................................5 Successes Around the Complex ............................................................................7 Cleanup Successes ..........................................................................................7 Site Closures ..................................................................................................10 What Are the Main Issues of Concern for States? ................................................12 Setting Funding Priorities ...............................................................................12 Ensuring Compliance ......................................................................................13 Managing Waste Safely ..................................................................................15 Improving Communication Between States and DOE EM ................................17 Coordinating Emergency Response Communication Protocols ........................17 State by State Overview ......................................................................................18 Idaho ..............................................................................................................19 Kentucky ........................................................................................................21 Missouri .........................................................................................................24 Nevada ...........................................................................................................27 New Mexico ...................................................................................................30 New York ........................................................................................................33 Ohio ...............................................................................................................36 South Carolina ................................................................................................38 Tennessee ......................................................................................................40 Texas .............................................................................................................43 Washington and Oregon .................................................................................46 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................48 Appendix A. The History of the Nuclear Weapons Complex and Its Environmental Legacy .........................................................................................49 Appendix B. How Are Cleanup Decisions Made? ..................................................51 Appendix C. Waste Types and Definitions ............................................................53 Appendix D. Acronyms ........................................................................................55 Appendix E. NGA Solutions: Center for Best Practices Federal Facilities Task Force Principles and Associated Expectations for State–Department of Energy Engagement ........................................................................................56 Appendix F. NGA Solutions: Center for Best Practices Federal Facilities Task Force ..........................................................................................................58 CLEANING UP AMERICA’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX: 2019 UPDATE FOR GOVERNORS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors of “Cleaning Up America’s Nuclear Weapons Complex: 2019 Update for Governors” are Dan Lauf, program director, and Bevin Buchheister, senior policy analyst in the National Governors Association Solutions: Center for Best Practices’ (NGA Solutions) Energy, Infrastructure & Environment policy team. This report was written with assistance from Andy Chinn, Molly Spiller and Heather Martin from Ross Strategic. The authors would like to thank the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE EM) for its partnership and funding support for the report. We also would like to thank the members of the NGA Solutions Federal Facilities Task Force for their time and effort reviewing draft versions of the report and providing updated, state- specific information. We also thank the following individuals for their careful review of and contributions to this report: Sue Gander, Alex Schaefer and Anne Clement of NGA and Elizabeth Lisann of DOE EM. This report was completed with support from DOE EM under Award Number DE- EM0005173. Disclaimer: This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendations, favoring by the U.S. Government or an agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. D-Reactor complex, Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Washington State. D-Reactor was one of three production reactors constructed at Hanford during the Manhattan Project and World War II. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photo- graphs Division, HAER, Reproduction number HAER WASH,3-RICH.V,1–14. Executive Summary The research, testing and production of America’s nuclear arsenal that began during World War II and continued throughout the Cold War was critical to U.S. national security. However, this work resulted in significant environ- mental contamination at sites across the country. That contamination is now the focus of the largest environmental cleanup effort in the world. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE EM) spends more than $6 billion per year to fund cleanup activities and manage the cleanup sites. States play an import- ant role in the cleanup partnership, overseeing the cleanup effort and working with DOE EM to ensure that federal and state laws are followed and that cleanup decisions are transparent, responsible and equitable. The National Gov- ernors Association (NGA) Solutions: Center for Best Practices’ Federal Facilities Task Force (FFTF) is a forum in which states directly affected by the cleanup effort can communicate with each other and with DOE EM on waste disposal progress, priorities and challenges and stay informed about technology, policy and budget developments. The FFTF includes Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Important progress has been made since DOE EM was established in 1989 and the FFTF was founded in 1993, including the establishment of legal frameworks and agreements for cleanup, completion of cleanup operations at 91 of 107 total sites and significant reduction in risk to public health and the environment at all the sites.1 In addition to successes across the complex, significant cleanup progress has been made in each FFTF state that hosts cleanup sites. 1 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.energy.gov/em/office-environmental-management. CLEANING UP AMERICA’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS COMPLEX: 2019 UPDATE FOR GOVERNORS 1 Successes from each state are contained in the body of this report. Major highlights since NGA last published this report in 2015 include: • The first-ever demolition of a gaseous diffusion plant Tennesseein in 2016. • Completion of Idaho’s Transuranic