Editorial: Learning from past negligence

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson made the right decision this week when he said he would ask the White House to expand legislation, which currently would provide compensation to past and current employees who have become ill after exposure to beryllium at DOE nuclear sites, to also include workers who have been harmed by radioactive materials. His actions were prompted by a Washington Post story that asserted thousands of government employees at a uranium plant in Kentucky may have been unwittingly exposed to cancer-causing plutonium.

In previous administrations, sweeping problems under the rug was the norm at the DOE and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, which oversaw the nation's atomic testing. The secrecy was so pervasive that the dangers of above-ground atomic tests and unsafe working conditions at federal plants handling radioactive materials were hidden from the public.

After President Clinton was elected in 1992, though, a new era of openness was ushered into the DOE, including the declassification of millions of documents related to nuclear weapons tests and human radiation experiments during the Cold War. Clinton also created a commission in 1994 to determine the extent of government-run radiation experiments and whether victims should be compensated. In 1994 Congress passed legislation providing compensation for for those exposed to atomic tests, including both employees and those who lived downwind from the testing at the Nevada Test Site. But as the Sun's Mary Manning reported last week, because the law only applies to above-ground atomic tests it eliminates many eligible workers exposed to radiation through other means.

In the past, the AEC or the DOE would routinely hide behind the cloak of national security, refusing to provide information showing how dangerous radiation could be. Richardson, for the most part, appears to have learned from the mistakes made by his predecessors and seems concerned about the health and safety of those who have been exposed to harmful amounts of radiation and other dangerous materials. Regarding the situation in Kentucky, Richardson was adamant: "I am determined to uncover more about what actually occurred, who was responsible and what must be done to assure that it never happens again."

While Richardson's recent actions are encouraging, unfortunately the DOE hasn't taken the same kind of "never again" approach in its suitability assessment of the permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste. Rather than relaxing the standards for a potential repository at Yucca Mountain, the DOE and other federal agencies should be doing everything in their power to ensure that past mistakes made regarding radioactive materials aren't tragically made again when deciding whether Yucca Mountain is safe enough to be the final resting place for man's deadliest waste.

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