DOE began FUSRAP in 1974 to address radiological contamination at sites operated by the Manhattan Engineering District and the Atomic Energy Commission, both predecessor agencies to DOE. During the 1940s through 1960s, work was performed at numerous locations within the United States as part of the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Storing, transporting, sampling, mining and milling, machining, and processing radioactive materials that were used to make nuclear weapons created sites that became contaminated with uranium, thorium, radium, and their decay products, as well as nonradioactive materials. In general, these sites were cleaned up or released for use under the guidelines in effect when the work was completed. However, those guidelines were not as strict as those in effect today, and radiological contamination in excess of current guidelines remained at a number of sites. To date, 46 sites have been included in FUSRAP. After reviewing several hundred sites, DOE originally identified 41 sites for inclusion in FUSRAP. According to DOE, these sites were included because they had met several criteria, including the following: (1) they had been involved in processing or handling radioactive materials owned by the government, (2) DOE determined that it had authority over the sites, and (3) there was significant or potential radioactive contamination. In addition to the sites identified by DOE, the Congress assigned five sites to DOE for remediation, and the Department placed them in FUSRAP because of their similarity with or proximity to sites in the program. By 1997, DOE had completed the cleanup of 24 sites, leaving 22 sites in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio, as shown in table 1. In October 1997, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1998 (P.L. 105-62) transferred responsibility for the administration and execution of FUSRAP from DOE to the Corps. At that time, about $582 million had been spent for cleaning up sites since the program’s inception. Funding for FUSRAP for fiscal year 1998 was $140 million (compared with the funding levels of about $70 million per year during the last few years that DOE managed the program). The conference report on the legislation transferring FUSRAP directed the Corps to review the cost and schedule for each cleanup site. In March 1998, the Corps issued a report to Congress on the status and future of FUSRAP. The Corps included two cost and schedule estimates—baseline and conservative. The baseline estimates assumed cleanup levels consistent with future restricted or industrial land use, while the conservative estimates assumed cleanup levels consistent with future residential land use at all sites. Both the baseline and conservative estimates assumed unconstrained funding. Whether the baseline or conservative assumptions are closer to the cleanup that is actually implemented will depend on the results of the Corps’ risk analysis and coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency and state and local representatives. Soon after FUSRAP was transferred, the Corps developed cost and schedule estimates for each FUSRAP site. In comparison to prior cost and schedule estimates prepared by DOE, the Corps’ cost estimates, in total, are higher. The Corps estimated that it would cost up to $2.25 billion and would take until after 2004 to complete cleanup at all sites. DOE had estimated that it would cost up to $1.5 billion and would take until as late as 2006 to complete cleanup. An examination of the individual cost estimates, however, shows that much of the difference between DOE’s and the Corps’ estimates can be attributed to two FUSRAP sites where new information became available after the program was transferred and/or the scope of cleanup alternatives was changed. At several sites, the extent of contamination is unknown, and, at one site, a treatment technology or disposal site may not be available. For those sites, the Corps’ current cost and schedule estimates are probably not accurate and can be expected to increase as more information is developed. The Corps’ cost and schedule estimates were generally based on DOE’s site characterizations, scope of work, and estimates and do not differ significantly from DOE’s estimates at most of the 22 sites. Corps officials told us that this was because the Corps either agreed with DOE’s plan or did not have sufficient knowledge and information about a site to deviate from DOE’s plan. For example, within the Buffalo (N.Y.) District, the Corps’ report to Congress identified planned efforts at the Ashland 1 site during fiscal year 1998 that were very similar to those planned for by DOE in its June 1997 accelerated plan. Ashland 1 is a 10.8-acre site in Tonawanda, New York, that was used to store wastes from uranium processing. Contamination on the site is from uranium, radium, and thorium and the decay products associated with those elements. To estimate the site’s cleanup costs and schedule, the Corps used site characterization data compiled while the program was under DOE. Just as DOE had planned, the Corps plans to remove about 29,000 cubic yards of contaminated material. When completed, the site will be available for industrial use. The cost or schedule estimates for some sites were based on the Corps’ judgment that the scope of the cleanup would have to be altered. For example, the Seaway site (located in Tonawanda, N.Y.) is a 93-acre landfill that includes 16 acres that are contaminated with uranium, thorium, and radium. DOE officials informed us that they had reached a tentative agreement with local officials to leave buried material in place. Other material in the landfill that was accessible would be assessed to determine if removal was required. DOE’s $250,000 cost estimate and 1999 closure date for the site assumed that no further remedial action was necessary. The Corps reviewed this information and determined that additional remedial action may be necessary. The Corps listed several options for remediating the site and estimated that the cost to complete the cleanup would be $10.2 million and that the cleanup would take until 2001. Similarly, at the W.R. Grace site (the 260-acre site in Baltimore, Md., was used to extract thorium and other elements from sand), DOE was still conducting site characterization work and had not developed a cleanup plan. DOE estimated that it would cost from $12.1 million to $12.8 million to clean up the site and that it would take until 2002 or 2003 to complete the cleanup. The Corps reviewed DOE’s data and estimated that a further review of site information and remedial actions would cost from $39.6 million to $53.3 million and would take until 2002. The Corps also assumed that cost sharing with the site owner would not occur, while DOE assumed that the site’s owner would bear a portion of the costs. In total, the Corps’ March 1998 report to Congress stated that the cleanup of the remaining 22 FUSRAP sites would cost from $1.56 billion under the baseline estimate to $2.25 billion under the conservative estimate, in addition to the costs incurred prior to fiscal year 1998. The Corps also estimated that, given unconstrained funding, 16 of the remaining 22 sites could be cleaned up and removed from FUSRAP by 2002. Four additional sites could be cleaned up by 2004 if funding were unconstrained and if the cleanup parameters—such as cleanup criteria or disposal location—were significantly changed. The report stated that the remaining two sites—the Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Storage Site and Luckey, Ohio—could not be completed until after 2004 because the contamination at those sites was not fully characterized and technological uncertainties existed. In May 1997, DOE estimated that cleaning up the 22 FUSRAP sites would cost about $1.5 billion and could be completed by 2006. In June 1997, DOE estimated that cleaning up the 22 FUSRAP sites would cost about $983 million and could be completed by 2002. The May 1997 cost and schedule estimates were part of a plan to complete cleanup at all FUSRAP sites within 10 years. The June 1997 estimate was part of an accelerated plan to complete the cleanup within 6 years. In order to complete the cleanup within 6 years, many sites would be cleaned up to a less stringent level, leaving higher levels of contamination at the site than would have remained under the May 1997 plan. Because of this, the June cost estimate was much lower than the May cost estimate. The difference between the Corps’ estimates and DOE’s estimates results primarily from the estimates for two sites—the Niagara Falls, New York, and Luckey, Ohio, sites. Table 2 shows DOE’s and the Corps’ cost estimates for these sites. (See app. I for a site-by-site comparison of DOE’s and the Corps’ estimates.) The Corps’ overall total cost estimates for these sites differ from DOE’s because of changes in the scope of cleanup or additional contamination information that has become available. For example, the Niagara Falls Storage Site may eventually be cleaned to a more stringent level than was planned by DOE. The Niagara Falls site is a federally owned site consisting of 191 acres about 19 miles north of Buffalo, New York. Beginning in 1944, the former Manhattan Engineering District used the site to store waste material from processing uranium. On-site contamination includes uranium decay products, radium, and thorium. The site also contains highly radioactive processing residues in a containment structure with an interim cap. In its June 1997 plan, DOE planned to clean up two buildings at the site and monitor and maintain the interim cap that currently contains the contamination. This alternative would have resulted in the site’s removal from the program in 2002 at a cost of $6 million. DOE also planned to conduct long-term surveillance and maintenance at the site.