Book Description

Unlike other governmental, educational, and private sector research and development facilities in the United States, DOE's science laboratories are not regulated or licensed by external regulators, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), to help ensure safe operations. Instead, DOE and its predecessor agencies1 have, since 1946, been granted legislative authority to self-regulate nuclear and worker safety at all of their facilities, including the science laboratories. The merits of using external agencies to oversee safety in DOE facilities have been studied by the department and the Congress for nearly a decade. In 1999, we testified before this Subcommittee that DOE's changing positions and its inability to reach consensus with its likely regulators had left an uncertain future for the external regulation of the department's facilities. In this context, the conference report accompanying the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002 directed DOE to prepare an implementation plan for shifting regulatory responsibilities for nuclear and worker safety at its 10 science laboratories to NRC and OSHA. 2 DOE submitted its plan in July 2002.2.