Long-Term Stewardship and the Nuclear Weapons Complex

Decades of U.S. nuclear weapons production have exacted a heavy environmental toll. The Department of Energy estimates that cleaning up waste and contamination resulting from production activities will cost over $150 billion. Yet even once that money is spent, these sites will need long-term attention to assure protection of human health and the environment. In the authors' words, stewardship refers to 'institutions, information, and strategies needed to ensure protection of people and the envir