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THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
COMPLEX
Management for Health, Safety.
and the Environment
Committee to Provide interim Oversight of the
DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources
National Research Council
National Academy Press
Washington, D.C. 1989
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NOTICE: lye project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Govem~ng Board of the
National Research Council, whose members arc drawn from the councils of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of En~ncering, and the Institute of Mcdicinc. ~hc members of the
committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for
appropriate balance.
Ibis report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved
by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpen~ating society of distinguished
scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and
technology and lo their use for the general welfan:. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by
the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on
scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
File National Academy of Engineering was established In 1964, under the charter of the National
Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its
administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the
responsibility for advising the federal govemment. 'Ike National Academy of Engineenog also
sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research,
and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the
National Academy of Engincenng.
Me Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure
the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters
pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given lo the National
Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon
itS own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. hillier is
president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to
associate the broad community of science and technolog r with the Academy's purposes of furthering
knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies
determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of bow the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineenng in providing services to the
govemment, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered
jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are
chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Library of Congress Catalog Grd No. 89~3691
International Standard Book Number 0-309 04179-1
Additional copies of this report are available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20418
S068
Printed in the United States of America.
First Printing, December 1989
Second Printing, January 1990
Third Printing, May 1990
Fourth Printing, December 1990
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Committee to Provide Interim Oversight of the
DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex
RICHARD A. MESERVE, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., Chairman
RONALD L. ATKINS, Naval Weapons Center
ALBERT CARNESALE, John F. Kennedy School of Government
JESS M. CLEVELAND, U.S. Geological Survey
DAVID G. HOEL, National Institute of Environmental Health Services
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, University of Virginia
PAUL KOTIN, Denver, Colorado
DENNIS J. KUBICKI, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
J. CARSON MARK, Los Alamos, New Mexico
MICHAEL R. OVERCASH, North Carolina State University
WOLFGANG K.H. PANOFSKY, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
RICHARD L. SAGER, JR., Lithium Corporation of America
RICHARD B. SETLOW, Broold~aven National Laboratory
DAVID R. SMITH, Santa Fe, New Mexico
STEWART W. SMITH, Kirkland, Washington
JOHN E. TILL, Radiological Assessments Corporation
VICI ORIA J. TSCHINKEL, Landers, Parsons, tic Uhlfelder, Tallahassee, Florida
F. WARD WHICKER, Colorado State University
WILLIAM L. WHI11AKER, Camegie-Mellon University
GEROLD YONAS, Titan Technologies (resigned May 1989)
Staff
STEVEN M. BLUSH, Project Director (until February 1989)
MYRON F. UMAN, Project Director (beginning February 1989)
SARAH CONNICK, Program Staff Officer
PATRICK D. RAPP, Program Staff Officer
JAROSLAVA P. KUSHNIR, Adminis~hve Specialist
ALFREDA B. McELWAINE, Administrative Secretary
CAROLYN M. BATTLE, Senior Secretary
. . .
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Commission on Physical Sciences,
Mathematics, and Resources
NORMAN HACKERMAN, Robert A. Welch Foundadon, Chairman
ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
B. CLARK BURCHFIEL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
GEORGE F. CARRIER, Harvard University
RALPH J. CIC1?RONE, University of California at Ovine
HERBERT D. DOAN, The Dow Chemical Company (retired)
PETER S. EAGLESON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
DEAN E. EASTMAN, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
MARYE ANNE FOX, University of Texas
GERHART FREDLANDER, Brookhaven National Laboratory
LAWRENCE W. FUNKHOUSER, Chevron Corporation (retired)
PHILLIP A. GRlFElTHS, Duke University
NEAL F. LANE, Rice University
CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE, University of California at Berkeley
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON, American Association for the Advancement
of Science
JACK E. OLIVER, Cornell University
JEREMIAH P. OSTRIKER, Princeton University Observatory
PHILIP A. PALMER, E.I. du Pont de glamours & Company
FRANK L. PARKER, Vanderbilt University
DENIS J. PRAGER, MacArthur Foundation
DAVID M. RAUP, University of Chicago
ROY F. SCHWIl-lERS, Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory
LARRY L. SMARR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
KARL K. TUREKIAN, Yale University
MYRON F. UMAN, Acting Executive Director
ROBERT M. SIMON, Acting Associate Executive Director
IV
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Preface
In the aftermath of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, the
Deparunent of Energy (DOE) asked the National Research Council to examine
possible implications of the accident for the large reactors operated by the
Detent. The reactors included those then operating at the Savannah River
site in South Carolina and at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the state of
Washington that were used in the production of special materials for nuclear
weapons, as well as those used in testing and research. In response, the National
Research Council issued reports (1987 and 1988b, respectively) that focused on a
variety of safety, management, and technical issues.
In the meantime, concerns developed with regard to the other, nonreactor
facilities in the nuclear weapons complex. These facilities include 17 installations
throughout the United States that are engaged in the range of activities required to
produce nuclear weapons: designing them; processing materials for uranium
enrichment; preparing materials for irradiation in the production reactors; processing
materials from the reactors; producing components for weapons; assembling the
components into a completed device; and testing components and devices. As a
result of the concerns, Congress directed the Secretary of Energy to request that
the National Research Council report its conclusions and recommendations
concerning health, safety, and environmental issues arising throughout the complex
and steps that would enhance the safety of operations at the facilities (see
Appendix F).
This report fulfills the Secretary request. It was prepared by a committee,
appointed for the purpose by the National Research Council, whose members
v
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v!
PREFACE
brought to their task expertise across a spectrum of pertinent disciplines in health,
safety, and environmental matters (see Appendix A).
In conducting its study, which began in August 1988 and extended through
September 1989, the committee reviewed extensive documentation provided by
the Department and its contractors and engaged in briefings and discussions with
a variety of others who are knowledgeable about the complex, including personnel
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies. The committee
also made site visits to several of the facilities, including the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation in Washington; the Y-12 Pant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Rocky
Flats Plant in Colorado; the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico; the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California; the Idaho National
Engineering Laboratory; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; and the
Pantex Plant in Texas.
Dunng the course of the study, a number of developments affected our work.
First, the operation of the weapons complex came under increasingly intense
public scrutiny and criticism. News articles concerning the complex appeared
almost daily, several congressional hearings were held, and a wealth of detailed
commentary about the complex was offered by a variety of individuals and
organizations, such as the General Accounting Office and the Advisory Committee
on Nuclear Facility Safety. These reports not only served as an important source
of information, but also reinforced the need for the committee to step back and
view the complex in broad overview.
Second, the national administration and the upper management of DOE changed
in early 1989. The Secretary of Energy, James D. Watkins, publicly expressed his
dismay at the past performance of the Deparanent in managing the weapons
complex and stated his intention to make substantial, if not radical, changes. He
has already introduced some changes and has indicated that further change will be
forthcoming. He has also acknowledged the extent of local, state, and federal
jurisdiction in matters related to health, safety, and the environment. We welcome
the dynamic new leadership of the Department, of course, but the fact that the
complex was changing as we studied it served to complicate our task. We have
sought to prepare a timely report that accurately reflects current circumstances,
but we recognize the possibility that in some cases events may have overtaken us
even as we were completing our work, and we cannot yet fully assess the
significance of those changes of which we were aware.
In spite of the wealth of experience we brought to our task, we faced a number
of limitations. We could not and did not examine the entirety of the nuclear
weapons complex. Some elements of the complex the production reactors, the
Nevada test site, the gaseous diffusion plants, the assembly areas at Pantex, and
nuclear waste facilities- were excluded Tom our purview by the Department, as
was transportation of materials between sites. In light of our schedule, we agreed
that our exa.-ninaiion would be more useful if we were to focus attention on the
principal remaining facilities. Although we believe the report provides an
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PREFACE
. .
YZ!
appropriate and useful overview of the complex, it is not a complete study of the
complex, of any individual facility, or even of any specific building within a
facility. Such studies would be immense undertakings, and no committee serving
pro bono on a part-time basis could hope to accomplish them.
Although the scope of our examination of the complex was necessarily limited,
we nevertheless believe that our findings are broadly applicable. In no way,
however, does our report pretend to provide a complete inventory of the health,
safety, and environmental issues facing the DOE nuclear weapons complex. It
remains for the Department and others to build on our work in what must be
· ~ · HA
viewer ~ as a contmumg ellort.
Our report is also framed by the expertise and knowledge of the committee
members. The diversity of the facilities under study required a committee
comprising individuals with disparate technical backgrounds. For the study to be
kept manageable, however, there was a practical limit on the areas of expertise
that could be represented.
In addition, we relied strongly on data provided by the Department and its
contractors. They were responsive to our requests for information, but our
firsthand data gathering had to be limited to what could be gleaned from our brief
site visits and our meetings with contractor and DOE staffs.
For these reasons the term "oversight" committee is perhaps a misnomer for
our role. We were not asked for, nor did we give, continuing advice, let alone
direction, to the Department, its contractors, or any of their personnel. This report
is our only output.
We have not examined the financial costs that would be incurred in remedying
existing deficiencies in health and safety measures, in bringing environmental
protection up to applicable standards, or in redressing environmental problems
created by past activities. Many estimates of this son have been disseminated by
the media. We do no' believe, however, that such estimates are meaningful
without the formulation of specific plans and policies, and we neither endorse nor
contradict any published figures. Nevertheless, it is clear that substantial funds
will have to be spent to accomplish the objectives.
We have not attempted to reach any bottom-line conclusion as to whether the
operations are "adequately safe." Such a judgment would require a level of
scrutiny of operations beyond the capacities of a committee like ours. Moreover,
acceptable risk must ultimately be measured by balancing the benefits of the
activities against their costs. Here the "benefit', is the supply of special nuclear
materials and nuclear weapons; the ``cost" is measured in both financial terms and
in less quantifiable health and environmental teens. Evaluation of Be balance
requires societal judgments of a sort we were not asked to make and for which,
even if asked, we could not have claimed ally special expertise.
The committee also did not examine the basis of national security requirements
that translate ink the demand for the materials produced by the facilities. There
was much public discussion during the period of our deliberations about the need
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. . ~
vial
PREFACE
for continued production of plutonium and the immediacy of the need for facilities
to produce tritium. These matters are important and require prompt resolution,
but examination of the demand for materials raises matters of national security
policy that, again, extend beyond our charge.
We are aware of the disclaimers that flavor this preface, but they are caveats
that must be understood in an undertaking like this. The immensity of our task
caused us to approach it with trepidation, but we end it with a sense of satisfaction
and with the hope that our efforts will prove helpful to the Department and the
Congress. It only remains to be said that we could scarcely have completed the
work without help from many sources. The National Research Council staff
assigned to the project gave of their tune and talents with energy and enthusiasm,
and we are in their debt. We are also grateful to the Department of Energy and its
contractors and to the many others too numerous to name here who assisted us in
our work.
Richard A. Meserve, Chairman
October 1989
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Contents
EXECI1IVE SUMMARY
1 INlllODUCrION.....
The Nuclear Weapons Complex, 8
The Current Situation, 10
The Challenges, 11
2 MANAGEMENT.......
The Management Stnucture, 14
Changes, 19
Areas for Improvement, 20
3 EliVnROblIEbrr.............................................
Introduction, 34
Environmental Contamination, 37
SeHing Standards and Priorities Across the Complex, 38
Waste Management, 43
Environmental Research, 48
DOE's Environmental Responsibility, 50
S. ~ ~ ...........
Introduction, 54
Industrial Safety, 55
Fire Safety, 61
-
1
8
34
IX
. . . .. 54
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x
Criticality Safety, 64
Seismic Safety, 66
5 ~AL1~H ~ e ~ ~ e ~ e e ~ e ~ ~ ~ e
Occupational Health, 72
Assessing Risks to Heals, 74
CON7kN~
6 MODERNIZATION OF THE COMPLEX
The DOE Modernization Report, 81
Opportunities for Advanced Technology, 86
APPENDIXES
A Biographical Sketches of Committee Members, 95
B The DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex: A Descriptive Overview, 102
C Nuclear Cnbc~'r, 113
D Plutonium, 118
E Physics of Nuclear Weapons Design, 123
F Charge to the Committee, 129
REFERENCES
ABBREVIATIONS
. . . 81
... 141
... 145
