a national network of organizations addressing issues of nuclear weapons production and waste cleanup

working towards a nuclear-free future for all

working towards a nuclear-free future for all

citizen watchdogs taking action

citizen watchdogs taking action

Our Issues

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

We work to oppose our massive nuclear weapons complex. This expensive and dangerous choice is something we can change.

NUCLEAR WASTE

Nuclear waste remains a dangerous legacy of energy and weapons production. We need a responsible nuclear waste disposal strategy.

NUCLEAR ENERGY

The time has come for a carbon-free, nuclear free future. Nuclear Energy is expensive, dirty, and dangerous; We can do better.

 
 

Map of ANA Sites Across the U.S.

Map of DOE nuclear facilities which concern the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. This list includes active National Nuclear Security Administration sites (purple) , Environmental Management sites (green), and Legacy Management sites (yellow).

View Department of Energy Nuclear Complex Sites in a larger map ➩

CLEANUP SITES ONLY (Map from DOE Environmental Management website)


The map above shows the remaining 15 active EM sites where cleanup work is currently ongoing. Learn more about the 92 completed sites here.
To visit site-specific webpages, please click on the site name in the below table or the location on the map below.

Site Name Type(s) of Cleanup Work Performed
EMCBC-New York (formerly DOE SPRU Field Office)
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC)
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
Hanford Office of River Protection
  • Tank Waste
Hanford
Richland Operations Office
  • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Idaho
  • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
  • Tank Waste
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
EM-Los Alamos
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
Moab
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Nevada National Security Site
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Oak Ridge
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
  • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
Paducah
  • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
Portsmouth
  • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
Sandia National Laboratories
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Savannah River Site
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition
  • Tank Waste
  • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
  • Soil and Groundwater Remediation
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
  • Transuranic Waste Disposition
West Valley Demonstration Project
  • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning
  • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition

Congressional Views on Nuclear Weapons and Waste

The Congressional Mapping Project

This project tracks the views of key senators and representatives on nuclear weapons and waste. To use this resource, select the state that you wish to view and you will be redirected to a page containing information about that states’ senators and representatives.

click to view full map

The map above depicts the views of various members of congress on nuclear energy and weapons.
To start viewing, simply click on a state and you will be redirected to a page with information on that states’ congressional representation.

The American Centrifuge Facility (The Piketon Atomic Plant): “Piketon’s New Nuclear Chapter” – Excerpt from the Scioto Valley Guardian

BYJAY SALLEY, NEWS EDITORTHE SCIOTO VALLEY GUARDIAN

In the previous month, 96 U.S. Senators, cast their votes in favor of an amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment’s aim is to “mandate the Secretary of Energy to establish a Nuclear Fuel Security Program, expand the American Assured Fuel Supply, establish a HALEU for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstration Projects Program, and submit a report on a civil nuclear credit program, and to enhance programs to build workforce capacity to meet critical mission needs of the Department of Energy…”

…However, this optimism for nuclear independence is met with strong criticism from activists, who cite the history of the neighboring Gaseus Diffusion plant, and the alarmingly high cancer rates among Pike County’s population.

Image of ongoing cleanup efforts at the GDP.

The now decommissioned Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP), which started making nuclear fuel in 1954, has been met with health concerns. The plant ceased gaseous enrichment operations in May 2001 after it consolidated operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. The following year, transfer and shipping operations were also consolidated in Paducah. Since then, the plant has been undergoing “decontamination” and “deconstruction” to the tune of billions of dollars.

Recently cleanup operations were turned over to the Southern Ohio Cleanup Company. SOCCo, LLC. is a newly formed limited liability company made up of members of Amentum Environment and Energy, INC., Flour Federal Services, INC., and Cavendish Nuclear (USA) Incorporated. “Amentum and our heritage companies have a long history of supporting the DOE’s environmental management program and have managed numerous decontamination and decommissioning projects across the DOE complex. Our extensive experience at the Oak Ridge Reservation enables us to bring advanced technical solutions to complete the work safely and effectively at Portsmouth,” said Amentum CEO John Heller. Many of the companies involved in the cleanup operations have a history of alleged violations, false claims, and even fraud. In 2020, AECOM Energy & Construction Inc. (now part of Amentum) and its subsidiary Waste Treatment Completion Company LLC paid nearly $58 million dollars to the United States government to settle fraud allegations. The allegations lodged by the federal government said the company charged for work that was not done.

The current cleanup of the GDP has created a whirlwind of controversies since it began.

In 2019, Zahn’s Corner Middle School closed due to reported contamination within the school building. The Scioto Valley Local School District, at the time, informed the community of the discovery of Neptunium 237 (Np-237), a man-made radioactive element characterized by a 2.144-million-year half-life, in air samples at the school. Np-237 poses significant radioactivity and potential hazards to human health, manifesting in severe repercussions upon ingestion or inhalation, including cancer. The introduction of Np-237 into the environment can occur through the discharge of nuclear waste. Health impacts, experts say, are contingent on the level and mode of exposure, with short-term exposure leading to symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and prolonged exposure heightening cancer risks. Its presence in the environment is also concerning, as its persistence can lead to contamination of soil, water, and air, along with its accumulation in plants and animals that enter the human food chain.

Google Earth image of the contaminated Zhans Corner Middle School. This year, Congress approved funding to build a new school.

Private air monitoring stations have reported numerous radioactive isotopes in areas surrounding the plant, extending to Lucasville and Chillicothe.

In April 2019, Dr. Michael Ketterer, Professor Emeritus at Northern Arizona University, released a report following the identification of radioactive contamination within a Lucasville resident’s home. The report concluded that Neptunium and Plutonium found in homes and private air monitoring stations were directly linked to the “Atomic Plant.”

As per the Ohio Department of Health, Pike County’s cancer incidence rate between 2014 and 2018 exceeded the state average by 14% and the national average by 19%. The county predominantly sees cases of Lung and Bronchus cancer, along with elevated rates of Breast Cancer among female residents. A study led by Joseph J. Mangano, MHP, MPA, an epidemiologist and the executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, further highlighted that Pike County boasts the highest cancer rates among Ohio’s 88 counties.

In 2020, former plant employees filed a lawsuit against contractors working for the U.S. Department of Energy at the time, alleging the creation of a hazardous environment for workers and nearby residents. The lawsuit, initially branding the contractors involved in “cleaning up the facility” a “criminal enterprise,” was linked to the release of dangerous “isotopes” and “radioactive material” over the years. An additional federal lawsuit was filed against Centrus and the previous site cleanup contractors alleging similar allegations of radioactive contamination in homes near the plant. That lawsuit is still ongoing in federal courts.

While the facility is viewed as a regional economic cornerstone, supplying numerous jobs, concerns about safety outweigh the financial benefits in the eyes of many community members. Vina Colley, a former employee of the GDP, is among those who have taken a stand against the facility. Colley, who has vocally decried rising cancer rates and linked radioactive contamination to the GDP clean-up efforts, appeals for a thorough examination of reports and facts before advocating for full-time operations at the neighboring Centrus facility. She calls upon current Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to take action and to listen to those affected by the radioactive contamination.

Activist groups in the state continue to push for Ohioans, particularly those affected by the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant, to receive compensation under RECA due to potential radiation-related health concerns. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (“RECA”), established under 42 U.S.C. § 2210 note, offers compensation to individuals who suffered serious illnesses due to presumed radiation exposure during atmospheric nuclear tests or uranium industry work. Administered by the Attorney General, the program provides lump sum awards for three groups: Uranium Miners, Millers, and Ore Transporters; “Onsite Participants” in nuclear tests; and individuals who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site (“Downwinders”).

The Department of Energy maintains that the new HALEU production is conducted within stringent safety parameters and is isolated from the surrounding environment. “We are committed to the highest standards of safety and security in our operations,” said a Centrus spokesperson. However, the glaring disparity between official assurances and the community’s lived experiences underscores the need for transparent oversight and accountability.

Nuclear Ban Treaty: Resources & More Info

THE U.N. TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

On 7 July 2017 – following a decade of advocacy by ICAN and its partners – an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations adopted a landmark global agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It entered into legal force on January 22nd of this year, 2021, when the first 50 nations signed and ratified it.

Prior to the treaty’s adoption, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive ban, despite their catastrophic, widespread and persistent humanitarian and environmental consequences. The new agreement fills a significant gap in international law.

It prohibits nations from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities.

READ MORE →

 

All ANA News

The American Centrifuge Facility (The Piketon Atomic Plant): “Piketon’s New Nuclear Chapter” – Excerpt from the Scioto Valley Guardian

While the facility is viewed as a regional economic cornerstone, supplying numerous jobs, concerns about safety outweigh the financial benefits in the eyes of many community members. Vina Colley, a former employee of the GDP, is among those who have taken a stand against the facility. Colley, who has vocally decried rising cancer rates and linked radioactive contamination to the GDP clean-up efforts, appeals for a thorough examination of reports and facts before advocating for full-time operations at the neighboring Centrus facility. She calls upon current Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to take action and to listen to those affected by the radioactive contamination.

read more
2022 DC Days Ask Report

2022 DC Days Ask Report

Our DC Days 2022 Ask Report is out now! Alliance for Nuclear Accountability groups focus on: Stopping new nuclear weapons design, engineering, production, and testing activities. Addressing challenges from cleanup and waste management, processing, storage, and...

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DOE Consent for Interim Storage Starting (AGAIN)!

DOE Consent for Interim Storage Starting (AGAIN)!

The Department of Energy's Federal Register has the attached announcement of a public comment period through March 4, 2022 for consent-based siting of spent fuel storage. Stay tuned for sample comments from ANA and our member groups. View: Notice of Request for...

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