DOE works with other countries on nuclear waste cleanup but is missing opportunities to strategically engage with them to find approaches that reduce both costs and risks to workers and the public. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

U.S. GAO - Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE Is Missing Opportunities to Apply Lessons from Other Countries That Could Reduce Risks and Costs

Nuclear waste cleanup can be costly, risky, and time consuming. The Department of Energy's cleanup efforts in the U.S. will cost over $640 billion and...

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Since 2019, DOE has used “end state" contracting for nuclear cleanup to focus contractors on a defined outcome. Under this system, DOE saw extra costs of >$500 million because it did not fully use contract incentives to manage costs. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

U.S. GAO - Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE Needs to Better Use End State Contracts to Achieve Intended Results

The Department of Energy employs contractors to conduct nuclear waste cleanup at its U.S. sites. Since 2019, DOE has used an "end state" contracting...

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NNSA has lots of exciting scientific equipment—like linear accelerators and huge supercomputers—that it uses to design, assess, and certify the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons. However, much of it is decades old and needs repair.

U.S. GAO - National Nuclear Security Administration: Additional Actions Needed to Plan for Science, Technology, and Engineering Facilities and Workforce Investments

The National Nuclear Security Administration relies on unique science, technology, and engineering facilities and a highly skilled workforce to...

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DOE has removed >16 million tons of uranium mill tailings and other materials from the Moab Mill Site in Utah, where uranium was processed for weapons during the Cold War. The surrounding groundwater was contaminated and is threatening the Colorado River. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

U.S. GAO - Nuclear Waste: DOE’s Plans to Complete Cleanup and Transfer of Moab Mill Site

The Moab Mill Site in Utah processed uranium during the Cold War era. The surrounding groundwater was contaminated and flowed into the Colorado River...

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When planning new capital asset projects expected to cost more than $100 million, DOE’s nuclear waste cleanup office (EM) doesn’t always consider a wide range of options, leading to overlook potential cost-savings. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

U.S. GAO - Nuclear Waste Cleanup: Changes Needed to Ensure DOE Is Not Prematurely Excluding Less Expensive Options for Large Projects

To clean up nuclear waste, the Department of Energy spends billions of taxpayer dollars on large projects, like waste treatment facilities. When...

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As DOE prepares to grout ~24 million gallons of low-activity waste from 22 tanks at its Hanford site, it must decide whether to grout (1) at Hanford and transport the grout or (2) offsite, which could mean transporting liquid waste. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

DOE’s nuclear cleanup office (EM) lost staff in every location in FY25 (overall attrition 38%), raising concerns about the safety of operations now and in the future, especially as more staff become eligible for retirement. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Some good news: the Office of Naval Reactors is on track to save billions on decontamination & decommissioning (D&D) of excess facilities by partnering with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) & leveraging its network of experienced contractors. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

DOE spends nearly $1 billion annually to maintain the facilities it needs for its nuclear cleanup efforts—an increase of 80% since FY2020. Improving how it manages and communicates data on this spending could save money and better address maintenance needs. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Clarifying the statutory definition of “high-level radioactive waste” (HLW) could help DOE save tens of billions of dollars in nuclear cleanup costs, including for treatment and disposal of ~90 million gallons of waste stored in underground tanks. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

According to DOE data, costs are up and schedules are delayed for many major nuclear cleanup projects and activities since our last report in 2022. Reasons include contractor performance issues, unanticipated site conditions, and technical challenges. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

The @nytimes.com discusses the competing priorities of states still dealing with cleanup of legacy nuclear waste. In our 2025 report on DOE’s waste disposal planning we recommended that DOE convene a forum of regulators to negotiate changes to its disposal plans. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Los Alamos looks forward to additional park-and-ride shuttle routes to the lab. NNSA has some concerns about potential challenges with having sufficient federal staff to oversee the program and assess whether it’s providing the intended benefits.

Under a new authority in the FY25 NDAA, NNSA sites can reimburse some contractor commuting costs. This could improve safety and congestion. To date, Los Alamos is the only site to have made a proposal; they estimated it would cost $74 million to implement from FY25–30.

Commuting can be a slog. One way NNSA can address recruitment & retention challenges at its labs is by making it easier to get to work, including by offering park-and-ride shuttles and public transit subsidies. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

NNSA said it plans to implement new processes, including the use of templates and root cause guidance, to help project managers better meet reporting requirements. We recommend they complete the guidance and implement the process.

NNSA saw costs grow >25% on 7 out of 14 construction projects, but didn’t notify Congress about 5 of them for months, let alone within the 30 days required by law. Nor did NNSA assess the root causes of cost overruns for those 5 within 90 days or inform Congress, as required. #nukesky

NNSA spends a lot of money on nuclear weapons & infrastructure. NNSA has requirements (similar to those of the Nunn-McCurdy Act) to formally notify Congress about cost overruns and assess the reasons for the overruns, but it hasn’t consistently done so. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

The cleanup of soil and landfills contaminated with nuclear waste, which DOE is on the hook for, could cost tens of billions of dollars and take decades. But the agency is unable to readily identify the scope, schedule, and cost of this cleanup. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Most Department of Energy sites haven’t completed reviews of their use of “forever chemicals” known as #PFAS, which have been linked to harmful health effects. We recommend that DOE finish these reviews so it can fully address PFAS contamination. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Until the UPF is ready, NNSA will have to keep using an 80-year old facility that could cost up to a half billion dollars to maintain in the meantime. We recommended that NNSA develop a comprehensive plan for this maintenance.

The UPF is also delayed. The agency is monitoring the project, but there are already doubts that the contractor will meet its project milestone for 2029. There are concerns about the ability to track project progress because of the way the contractor categorizes project tasks.

The estimated cost to complete the UPF has increased nearly $4 billion just since construction started in 2018. Poor management accounts for $770 million of that. NNSA has conducted reviews to get to the root of the cost increases and implemented 19 out of 20 corrective actions.

In 2004 NNSA began planning the Uranium Processing Facility to replace Manhattan Project-era facilities at Y-12 in TN. Fast forward 21 years: UPF’s est. cost is up to nearly $10 billion and it’ll cost NNSA to keep using old facilities until UPF is complete. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

This morning @nytimes reported on radiological risks in Ukraine. We have a recent report on the range of nuclear security and safety risks related to the war in Ukraine. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

You wouldn’t think the cost of a fixed-price construction contract could increase—but hundreds of NNSA’s run over, to the tune of $37.5 million just in FY23. NNSA’s construction budget is always tight so unexpected increases mean delays for other projects. www.gao.gov/products/gao... #nukesky

Fusion is essential for powering the USS Enterprise—and, here on earth, for maintaining and modernizing the U.S. nuclear stockpile without explosive nuclear testing. NNSA operates 3 fusion facilities for these purposes. www.gao.gov/products/gao... #nukesky

Even so, there are signs that DNFSB is on the right track: DNFSB’s score on a measure of employee engagement & satisfaction jumped to 70 (out of 100) in 2024, from 39 in 2017. DNFSB’s primary resource is its people so better human capital planning means better outcomes.

But! DNFSB is supposed to have 5 presidentially nominated & Senate-confirmed Board members. Filling seats has been challenging; as of August 2025, the Board had 2 seats filled, with 1 member’s term expiring in Oct 2025. With 1 seated member, the Board’s authority will be limited.

DNFSB enhanced collaboration with stakeholders, improved internal processes, and boosted employee morale. One among many examples: DNFSB hired & delegated authority to an Executive Director of Operations to supervise staff and manage the day-to-day.