Hundreds of federal workers in charge of nuclear waste cleanup took the Trump administration’s resignation offers. Now, the most radioactively contaminated parts of the country are being overseen with a fraction of the staff.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, tasked with cleaning up vast nuclear contamination from World War II and Cold War-era weapons programs, is operating with roughly half its normal workforce, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ watchdog agency. The vacancy rate for the office is 45% overall; for critical positions like general engineers and nuclear engineers, who are responsible for managing and designing the safe disposal of nuclear waste, the vacancy rates are now both over 50%.
“This understaffing includes shortages in mission-critical occupations that are integral to carrying out EM’s mission, which includes addressing contaminated buildings, soil, and groundwater, and treating radioactive waste,” the GAO wrote in a report commissioned by Rep. Frank Pallone, the New Jersey Democrat who serves as the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.