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The Office of Oversight in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environment, Safety and Health today released a report of its findings of the Phase One Independent Investigation of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. The first phase of the investigation -- ordered in August by Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson in response to allegations of improper environment, safety and health practices -- covered activities at the plant since 1990. This initial phase was designed to provide Secretary Richardson with a timely assessment of the current status of environmental protection, worker and public health and safety, and guide the department's plans for any necessary corrective action.

"The final report largely confirms the preliminary findings we reported to the Congress last month and confirms that current operations do not present an immediate risk to workers or the public," said Dr. David Michaels, the department's Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health. "The investigators documented a number of weaknesses that perpetuate the risks and hazards of legacy operations and that the department needs to fix. But these are not insurmountable problems."

In September, preliminary findings and corrective actions were announced. Since release of preliminary findings, the report has been validated for accuracy with the site management. The report contains new detailed results of environmental samples collected from groundwater, surface water and soil/sediments. The types and levels of contamination detected in samples analyzed independently were generally consistent with the site's past environmental monitoring results.

Issuance of the report followed a six-week investigation including two weeks of onsite activities. The 20-member team of environment, safety and health professionals and technical experts conducted more than 100 interviews with managers and workers, observed work activities, inspected plant facilities, sampled and analyzed groundwater, surface water, sediment and soil, conducted radiological surveys, and reviewed hundreds of documents.

In the environmental area, the team noted that the Paducah plant currently operates in compliance with the Federal Facility Agreement between EPA and the Commonwealth of Kentucky and has made extensive efforts to characterize major sources of groundwater contamination and protect the public from that contamination. At the same time, the team noted that there has been limited progress in isolating or remediating the numerous sources of offsite contamination. The report points out that funding for cleanup has been much less than requested, and little progress has been made toward final cleanup. As a result, two of Paducah's early major cleanup milestones under the agreement -- to remediate "Drum Mountain" and to characterize the waste unit beneath it -- are in significant jeopardy.

The team also noted that the radiological protection program has been improved since 1990 with the addition of staff and establishment of numerous controls such as dosimetry, bioassay and contamination controls. Despite these improvements however, the program requires a higher level of discipline, formality and rigor in order to provide workers with maximum protection. The team also found that improvements were needed in establishing, maintaining and following procedures, particularly for work performed by subcontractors.

In addition, the team said that criticality safety hazards in DOE material storage areas have not been characterized, analyzed and resolved even though they were identified more than two years ago, posing a potential hazard to workers in surrounding areas.

The report also concludes that neither DOE nor the contractor Bechtel Jacobs has conducted effective oversight of environment, safety and health performance or ensured that all DOE and regulatory requirements are met.

The department and the contractor are aggressively working to implement the recommendations in the investigative team's report. The actions include:

Environmental protection

• Work is being accelerated on the cleanup of contaminated scrap metal ("Drum Mountain").

• DOE, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are re-examining current site priorities, schedules and funding for characterization and cleanup.

• A meeting has been scheduled with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to discuss sources of air emissions and a revised emissions management plan.

• A walk down of radiological postings was completed, with corrective actions taken where needed.

Training

• Requirements for job-specific Radiation Work Permits have been reviewed and clarified to ensure adequate implementation.

Criticality safety hazards

• The department last week began characterization and removal activities for the first DOE Material Storage Area (DMSA) associated with the seismic upgrades at the Paducah Plant. This activity is being conducted using established safety procedures.

• Over the next several months, the department will perform the characterization, handling and disposal of the DMSAs cited in the investigation report. Lessons learned from characterization of removal of the first DMSA will be used as we proceed with characterization and removal of the remaining DMSAs identified in the investigation report.

• Additionally, the department is proceeding with interim measures to reduce the DMSA combustible loading, provide specialized training for workers who transverse DMSAs, review fire response procedures in place and ensure postings of criticality safety hazards are adequate.

Oversight

• The department has assigned facility representatives at Paducah on an interim basis. Two full time facility representatives will be stationed at Paducah who will provide regular surveillance of operations and safety practices.

• The department is establishing a program for environment, safety and health oversight at Paducah.

DOE program managers responsible for oversight of the Paducah plant are required to develop and submit a corrective action plan addressing each of the report's findings within 30 days. Progress on implementing the corrective actions will be monitored by the oversight staff within the Office of Environment, Safety and Health.

The investigation team has returned to Paducah to conduct the second phase of the investigation which will focus on the full range of environment, safety and health issues at the plant from its inception in the early 1950s. More than 150 current and former workers are being interviewed to learn more about where recycled uranium may have been used most, whether workers were told and how they were told, and the types of protection given to workers. The Phase II investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will guide the department's medical monitoring efforts. Similar Phase I and II investigations will also be conducted at the Portsmouth (Ohio) Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the former Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The report is available on the Internet at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/portal or by calling DOE's Paducah site office at 270/441-6830. The report will also be available for review at the Paducah public library and DOE's Environmental Information Center in Kevil, Kentucky.

- DOE -

R-99-283