6

1.1 Purpose and Scope

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of

Oversight, within the Office of Environment,

Safety and Health, conducted the second phase

of its investigation of the Paducah Gaseous

Diffusion Plant (PGDP or Plant) from October

through December 1999. The purposes of the

second phase of the investigation, and the subject

of this report, were to determine whether

environment, safety, and health (ES&H) activities

and practices from 1952 to 1990 were consistent

with the knowledge, standards, and local

requirements applicable at the time and to identify

any ES&H concerns that had not previously been

documented. The first phase of this investigation,

conducted from August through October 1999,

addressed DOE and site contractor activities and

ES&H issues arising since 1990.

This investigation was performed at the

direction of the Secretary of Energy, who

instructed the Office of Environment, Safety and

Health to examine recent employee concerns

about past operations and work practices, and

current management of legacy materials (i.e.,

materials remaining from past operations) at

PGDP. Both phases of this investigation were

coordinated with other organizations that have

regulatory authority at PGDP, including the

Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC), the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(OSHA). Excluded from this investigation were

any activities currently under NRC jurisdiction

(i.e., portions of PGDP leased to the United States

Enrichment Corporation, or USEC).

The scope of this second phase includes

activities from 1952 to 1990 that affect: (1) DOEand predecessor agency-owned facilities and

properties inside and outside of the security fence,

(2) privately- or publicly-owned, non-DOE

facilities and properties, (3) DOE and contractor

personnel employed at PGDP, and (4) members

of the public and the environment in proximity to

the Plant. The objectives of this phase of the

investigation are to more fully understand the

nature of past operations at the Plant, as well as

modifications of operations, processes, and

activities; and to identify critical ES&H practices

and events that did not, in the judgment of the

investigation team, fulfill their mission of protecting

workers, the public, or the environment. This

phase of the investigation is not intended to be a

comprehensive examination of the validity of each

ES&H concern or allegation previously expressed

or identified and is not intended to conflict or

interfere with any ongoing litigation involving

ES&H concerns at PGDP. The results of other

related evaluations being conducted by DOEó

such as the mass balance, exposure assessment,

and medical surveillance projectsóare also outside

the scope of this investigation. Finally, detailed

examination of any work that PGDP might have

performed for others in relation to weapons

systems, as well as the effectiveness of any

associated ES&H practices, was not part of the

investigation.

1.2 Current Site Operations

The PGDP is located in McCracken County,

Kentucky, approximately ten miles west of the City

of Paducah and three miles south of the Ohio River.

The site occupies about 3,425 acres, 750 of which

are within a security fence, and contains uranium

enrichment process equipment and support

facilities. The mission of the Plant is to ìenrichî

uranium for use in domestic and foreign

commercial power reactors. Enrichment involves

increasing the percentage of uranium-235 in the

material used for creating reactor fuel (UF6

).

Uranium-235 is highly fissionable, unlike the more

common isotope uranium-238. The PGDP

enriches the UF6

 from roughly 0.7 percent

uranium-235 to about 2.75 percent uranium-235.

Figures 1 and 2 are site maps showing current

operations, facility leasing status, and major

boundaries.

DOE is the site ìlandlord,î owns the physical

plant, and is responsible for operation of the

Northwest plume and the Northeast plume pump

and treat systems; for operation of a permitted

1.0 Introduction