Considerable Cleanup Progress Has Been Made, but Much Work Remains, and Closure Costs May Exceed $7.5 Billion

By the end of fiscal year 2000, Kaiser-Hill had made significant strides in cleaning up the Rocky Flats site, but the vast majority of the work, and some of the most technically challenging, remained. The project’s total cost will grow, however, if additional work is required or if delays occur. After closure, costs will continue through at least 2070 for activities such as site monitoring and maintenance, and for contractor employee retirement benefits. If closure occurs by the target date, the contract cost will be about $4 billion. Kaiser-Hill and DOE Are Improving Management of the Project, but Concerns Remain About Implementation of DOE’s Plan

Although both Kaiser-Hill and DOE have made considerable progress on their respective plans for managing the Rocky Flats closure project, further improvements are needed to help ensure that they meet the target date for the site’s closure. Conclusions

Closing the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site by December 2006 is a laudable goal and a formidable challenge, especially given the magnitude and complexity of the cleanup project. Kaiser-Hill has made significant progress in the cleanup of the site on several fronts. To determine the management actions needed, if any, to improve the likelihood of the project’s success, we compared the major challenges affecting the closure of the site with Kaiser-Hill’s and DOE’s plans for addressing them.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO reviewed several aspects of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky Flats Environmental Technology site cleanup and closure plan. Specifically, GAO reviewed (1) the status and cost of the Rocky Flats closure project, (2) the likelihood that the site will be closed by 2006, and (3) the management actions needed, if any, to improve the likelihood of the project's success.

What GAO Found

GAO found that in the more than five years that it has been the major contractor at the Rocky Flats site, Kaiser-Hill has made significant progress toward cleaning up the site, but the majority of the work--and the most complicated--remains to be done. Because of the project's difficulty, DOE entered into a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract with Kaiser-Hill. If completed on time, the project will cost about $7.5 billion from the signing of the first cleanup contract with Kaiser-Hill in July 1995 through the 2006 closure date, and about $1.4 billion more thereafter, for such activities as site monitoring and maintenance and for contractor employees' retirement benefits. These overall costs will increase if additional work is required or the 2006 target date is not achieved. Kaiser-Hill and DOE are unlikely to meet the December 2006 target closure date. A number of significant and complex challenges must be overcome first. Kaiser-Hill and DOE are developing their respective plans for managing the closure project, but DOE needs to take additional steps to effectively implement its plan.