Executive summary: This first annual report is on the activities and potential costs required to address the waste, contamination, and surplus nuclear facilities that are the responsibility of DOE's Environmental Management program. Of the Base Case life-cycle cost estimate of $230 billion from 1995 to 2070, 49% is waste management, 28% environmental restoration, 10% nuclear material and facility stabilization, 5% technology development, and 8% other. The top 5 sites account for 70% of the costs: Hanford 21%, Savannah River Site 21%, Rocky Flats 10%, Oak Ridge 10%, and Idaho Laboratory 8%. Assumptions include significant productivity increases, meeting current compliance requirements, and use of existing technologies. Excluded were: cleanup where no feasible cleanup technology exists (e.g., nuclear explosion sites and most contaminated groundwater), cleanup of currently active facilities, naval nuclear propulsion facilities (handled by US Navy), and first 5 years of program ($23 billion). Of the alternative cases evaluated, land use has the biggest potential cost impact. Total projected environmental costs are comparable to total U.S. nuclear weapons production costs. The makeup of Volumes I and II (the latter being site summaries) are outlined briefly.

This book investigates how citizens in the United States and Russia have used the democratic process to force their governments to address the horrendous environmental damage caused by the nuclear arms race. It is the first in-depth comparative study of environmental activism and democracy in the two countries. Critical Masses focuses on two crucial areas--the Hanford Reservation in Washington State and the Mayak Complex in Russia--that were at the heart of their nations' nuclear weapons programs, examining how the surrounding communities were affected. It explores nuclear weapons production, how both governments concealed environmental and health dangers from people living nearby, and how Russian and American citizens think about environmental issues. And it provides insights into the process of democratization in Russia and the limits of democracy in the United States, as well as the development of nuclear policy in the post-Cold War era.

Lessons from the cleanup of America's most dangerous nuclear weapons plant