[CPEO-MEF] RADIATION: Nuclear weapons plant contractors

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Nuclear Cleanup Awards Questioned
Firms Cited for Errors Get Funding

By Kimberly Kindy
Washington Post
May 18, 2009

A private company was being paid $300 million by the federal government 
to clean up radioactive waste at two abandoned Cold War plants in 
Tennessee when an ironworker crashed through a rotted floor. That 
prompted a major safety review, which ended up forcing work to an abrupt 
halt, and the project was shut down for months. The delay and a host of 
other problems caused cost estimates to rise, eventually hitting $781 
million.

Now, President Obama's stimulus package is opening a bountiful stream of 
new funding, and the same contractor, Bechtel Jacobs, is slated to get 
$118 million to help complete the job.

The Energy Department has begun releasing more than $6 billion in 
stimulus money to clean up 18 nuclear sites from New York to California, 
more than doubling the typical yearly funding for the program. 
Contractors helped shape the stimulus package and are lined up to get 
the work, including many that have been cited for serious safety 
violations and costly mistakes.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051702254.html?hpid=topnews

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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