Organized By The National Governors Association Federal Facilities Task Force

Closing the Circle on the Splitting of the Atom U.S. Department of Energy - Office of Environmental Management The Environmental Legacy of Nuclear Weapons Production in the United States and What the Department of Energy is Doing About It Second Printing January 1996 This book describes existing environmental, safety, and health problems throughout the nuclear weapons complex, and what the Department of Energy is doing to address them. Because of the secrecy that until recently surrounded nuclear weapons production, many citizens today are unaware how and where nuclear weapons were made or the resulting environmental problems. Yet a broad public awareness is precisely what is needed now in order to address the many issues concerning the environmental legacy of the Cold War. The aim of this book is to foster deeper public understanding to help hasten progress as the Department moves ahead on resolving these problems. In the midst of the complexities and uncertainties of such a challenge, one thing is clear: the task demands a similar – if not greater – level of commitment, intelligence, and ingenuity than was required by the Manhattan Project.   View, Print or Download this book -- Adobe PDF File Format Cover  (123KB -- 2 Pages) Table of Contents - Introduction  (186KB -- 8 Pages) I. Overview  (379KB -- 9 Pages) II. Building Nuclear Warheads: The Process  (374KB -- 6 Pages) III.Wastes and Other Byproducts of the Cold War   (1.5MB -- 37 Pages) IV. Contamination and Cleanup (643KB -- 15 Pages) V. An International Perspective (81KB -- 3 Pages) VI. Transition to New Missions (109KB -- 7 Pages) VII. Looking to the Future (992KB -- 8 Pages) Glossary (82KB -- 10 Pages) For Further Reading (363KB -- 6 Pages)     Home Page