Summary: The Department of Energy has a vast complex of research and nuclear facilities that hold large quantities of nuclear materials. Some of the materials have deteriorated, are not properly packaged for storage, and may pose a significant risk to workers, the public, and the environment. DOE uses a system of civil monetary penalties to hold its contractors accountable for meeting the agency's nuclear safety requirements. DOE found that, for it to be able to assess civil penalties, existing safety requirements would have to be reissued as enforceable rules. Since 1988, however, DOE has issued enforceable rules covering only two of 11 safety areas originally proposed--radiation protection for workers and quality assurance issues that define how work is planned and carried out. Nuclear safety rules are to be enforced at any DOE facility with the potential to cause radiological harm to workers, the public, or the environment. Although no problems have been identified with the application of the occupational radiation protection rule, DOE field offices have been inconsistent in placing facilities under the quality assurance rule. DOE began its enforcement program in 1996 and concentrates its investigations and enforcement actions on the most significant violations of nuclear safety rules. DOE has taken 33 enforcement actions and assessed more than $1.8 million in penalties since 1996. Violations have included unnecessarily exposing workers to radioactivity and not following procedures intended to prevent an uncontrolled nuclear reaction from occurring. Some nonprofit contractors were exempted from paying about $600,000 of the $1.8 million in assessed penalties. DOE has recommended that the statutory exemption be continued and even expanded. However, GAO notes that contract mechanisms have fallen short in addressing safety-related problems and that, in contrast to DOE, other regulatory agencies do collect penalties from nonprofit organizations. GAO recommends that Congress consider eliminating the provision that exempts some contractors from paying penalties when they commit safety violations. GAO also recommends that DOE strengthen its nuclear safety enforcement program and ensure that field offices apply it consistently. This testimony summarizes GAO's June 1999 report, GAO/RCED-99-146.
