Calendar Year 2020

The Department of Energy (Department), under a 1992 Notice of Noncompliance Consent Order, is required to cease use of the radioactive liquid waste tank farm at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) by December 31, 2012. Approximately 900,000 gallons of liquid wasted remain in the INTEC tank farm. Besides being radioactive, this mixed waste has a high sodium content from decontamination activities and as such is also regulated by the State of Idaho under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Accordingly, this waste is commonly referred to as "sodium-bearing waste." A 1995 Settlement Agreement with the State of Idaho requires the Department to treate this waste by the end of 2012 which would also enable the Department to close the tank farm in support of the 1992 Consent Order.

The Department of Energy's (DOE’s) Sandia National Laboratories-New Mexico (Sandia) develops science-based technologies in support of national security in areas such as nuclear weapons, nonproliferation, military technologies, and homeland security. Sandia's primary mission is ensuring that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is safe, secure, and reliable and can fully support the Nation's deterrence policy. Part of this mission includes systems engineering of nuclear weapons; research, design, and development of non-nuclear components; manufacturing of non-nuclear weapons components; the provision of safety, security, and reliability assessments of stockpile weapons; and the conduct of high-explosives research and development and environmental testing. Sandia Corporation, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, operates Sandia for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

The Department of Energy (Department) is required by Federal law and Departmental policy to design nuclear facilities to reduce the risk of potential nuclear hazards to workers, the public, and the environment in the event of an earthquake. To this end, the Department has issued Orders, Guides and Technical Standards and adopted national consensus standards and building codes to govern the design of its nuclear facilities and to mitigate the potential impact of earthquakes and othe rnatural phenomena. Specifically, the Department requires designers to use site-specific seismic and geological data in the design of its nuclear facilities. Such data includes historic seismic activity of the region, characterization of subsurface conditions of the soil and rock, calculated ground motion and soil settlement parameters, and the methodologies used in performing such analyses. Some of this information resides in existing site-specific probabilistic seismic hazard assessment reports. Addition seismic and geological data may be available from geologic investigations performed for previously designed facilities.

In September 2009, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) received multiple allegations concerning improprieties by a senior official with the Office of Environmental Management. The allegations involved potential violations of political activity restrictions, lack of impartiality in performing official duties, misuse of position, and other related misconduct.9194628

In September 2009, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) received multiple allegations concerning improprieties by a senior official with the Office of Environmental Management. The allegations involved potential violations of political activity restrictions, lack of impartiality in performing
official duties, misuse of position, and other related misconduct. Specific allegations concerned:
1. Orchestrating a $9 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) payment to certain Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in return for something of value on behalf of a Member of Congress; 2. Asking Federal officials at the U.S. Department of Energy's (Department) Savannah River Site (Savannah River) in South Carolina to arrange meetings with contractor employee union representatives in violation of the National Labor Relations Act;
3. Ordering Savannah River Federal and contractor officials to access subcontractor personnel files for data mining of demographic information in violation of the procedures for protecting persondly identifiable information; 4. Directing Savannah River contractor oficials to conduct Recovery Act-related job fairs in those counties represented by a Member of Congress in violation of the Hatch Act and Standards of Ethical Conduct; and, 5. Directing Savannah River contractor persomel to hire three specific individuals contrary to contract law principles.