A June 27 Senate subcommittee hearing spotlighted the difficulties with contracts for nuclear-waste cleanup under the Energy Dept.'s Office of Environmental Management (EM).

Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight, highlighted the problems at legacy sites, saying, "Unfortunately for the taxpayer, for EM's large contracts, cost overruns, schedule delays and technical failures are the rule, not the exception." For example, the cost of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River site, near Aiken, S.C., has increased to $1.2 billion from an original estimate of $340 million, she said.