Protect nuclear workers

Seattle Times: A draft audit of federal nuclear workers' on-the-job injuries has added to the cloud of questions about whether the Bush administration's policy of accelerated cleanup is cutting too many corners.
The Energy Department should move quickly to respond to the latest inspector general report, which covers 10 nuclear sites. The agency also should cooperate fully with federal and state investigations into concerns specific to the Hanford nuclear reservation in southeastern Washington. In the last two years, as many as 100 workers at Hanford's underground tank farm have complained about exposure to potentially toxic fumes with no response from their employer, according to the Government Accountability Project.
Both circumstances sound alarms about the course of the costly, difficult but altogether necessary job of cleaning up the nation's nuclear defense waste.
Cutting corners
Under Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, the Energy Department began a program to cut drastically the nuclear cleanup program's cost and duration. While progress has been made, many of the agency's tactics, such as trying unilaterally to weaken the rules on how much waste can be left in underground tanks, have vexed regulators.
Last month, the project released an e-mail from a medical doctor at the Hanford contractor responsible for Hanford workers' health issues, warning doctors not to encourage workers to file workers compensation claims. The e-mail, sent in 2000, noted other Hanford contractors might be penalized if they had too many claims.
The latest inspector general report raises troubling discrepancies in the number of workplace injuries the Energy Department is recording. At Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the Energy Department reported only 166 days lost to worker injury, while the contractor, Bechtel, reported , 463 days.
Contending the document is a draft, administration officials are challenging some of the audit's data and conclusions and are asking for extra time to comment. This process should be expedited.
Cleaning up the nation's nuclear defense waste is difficult, expensive and necessary. But faster, cheaper cleanup that compromises worker safety or fudges the means to track it is inexcusable.