4.2: Managing the Legacy
Manage the Department’s post-closure environmental responsibilities and ensure the future protection of human health and the
environment.
Other Information:
Over the last 15 years, the Department has made significant progress in environmental remediation. Millions of cubic meters
of waste have been removed, stabilized, or disposed of, and a number of former weapons facilities have been transformed for
other uses. The overall risk to human health and the environment will continue to decrease as the Department completes additional
cleanup work. The new challenge will be to successfully manage the environmental remedies and the residual risks in a manner
that enables the optimal future use of the land and facilities while continuing to protect human health. This is true for
both the sites that are closing and for those that continue to support ongoing DOE missions. In addition to the sites cleaned
up by the Office of Environmental Management, DOE is responsible for sites remediated by other parties. The Department has
responsibility for long-term surveillance and maintenance at sites associated with the Formerly Used Sites Remedial Action
Program (cleanup is performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and uranium mining and mill tailing sites (as specified
by the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act). By 2015, DOE will be conducting long-term surveillance and maintenance
at approximately 120 sites where there is no longer an ongoing Departmental mission. Roughly two dozen sites with ongoing
missions will also have surveillance and maintenance activities; those activities will be managed as an integral part of the
overall site operation. A geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is vital for moving temporarily stored legacy materials
from former nuclear weapons sites to a safe, central storage location. The repository is also necessary for preserving the
nuclear option for electricity generation which provides approximately 20 percent of the Nation’s electricity supply (nuclear
energy is also addressed in Strategic Goals #1.1 and #1.2). Integral to attaining this goal is the near-term licensing, subsequent
construction, and operation of the permanent repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain authorized under the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act.
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