DOE nuclear cleanup costs, schedule delays continue to rise, GAO says

The Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management faces significant cost increases, schedule delays, and data management issues in completing nuclear waste cleanup projects, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The report, Nuclear Waste Cleanup: DOE Needs to Improve the Accuracy of Cost and Schedule Information for Major Projects and Activities, found that DOE-EM's combined costs for capital asset projects increased by more than $2 billion and combined costs for operations activities increased by about $75 billion since GAO last reported in 2022.

Capital asset projects have defined start and end points, whereas operations activities are typically routine or recurring. According to the GAO, capital asset projects accounted for 15 percent (about $1.3 billion) of DOE-EM's approximately $8.5 billion fiscal year 2025 budget, and operations activities accounted for 85 percent (about $7.2 billion).

DOE-EM officials told the GAO that the cost increases were already known to the office and accounted for in previous life-cycle cost estimates. As of May 2025, DOE-EM estimated that the remaining cleanup work at its 15 sites would cost more than $500 billion.

Potential cost savings: Despite the considerable remaining cleanup costs, the GAO identified ways DOE-EM could realize significant savings, including the following:

• $18 billion from grouting closed tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
• Up to $210 billion by optimizing low-activity waste treatment at Hanford.
• "Tens of billions" in additional savings by optimizing high-level waste treatment at Hanford.
• $700 million by optimizing transuranic waste shipments.

Observations: Based on a review of the largest capital asset projects and operations activities across 11 DOE-EM sites, the GAO made the following observations about the office's challenges and opportunities to improve performance.

1. Contractor performance issues, unanticipated site conditions, and other factors led to cost and schedule increases for the largest capital asset projects. Moreover, key performance information is not consistently accessible.

2. Sites reported several factors contributing to cost and schedule changes for operations activities, but DOE-EM headquarters struggles to provide consistent and comparable cost and schedule estimates and reconcile data discrepancies.

3. Cost estimates for several projects and activities may increase due to pending decisions and new approaches could result in significant cost savings.

Recommendations: To improve DOE-EM's oversight of its most expensive capital asset projects and operations activities, the GAO made two recommendations.

The recommendations include that the office (1) ensures the completeness of cost and schedule information relevant to its capital asset projects and (2) coordinates with site officials and contractors to improve the accuracy of current and historical cost and schedule data for operations activities.

In responding to the report, the DOE concurred with the GAO recommendations and indicated it was taking steps to address them, including appending and updating its performance management systems for capital asset projects and operations activities. DOE-EM expects to complete the recommended steps by the end of September.