GAO recommends that Energy Department lead collaborative efforts on low-dose radiation research

In a recent report and testimony, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Department of Energy (DOE) take a leading role in a collaborative interagency effort on research into low-dose radiation’s health effects.

GAO identified seven federal agencies that obligated $210 million in fiscal years 2012 to 2016 to the issue. DOE contributed 56 percent of the funds ($116.3 million). The next largest contributor, the National Institutes of Health, provided 42 percent ($88.6 million). Five other agencies provided two percent ($4.7 million).

Since fiscal year 2012, however, DOE has phased out funding for one of its primary research programs on the topic. This has led to a void in collaboration efforts that no other agency has filled, GAO said.

Because of DOE’s experience leading this area of research and its research responsibility under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, GAO suggested the department could play a significant role in establishing a coordinating mechanism for this research.

GAO noted that government has used advice from scientific advisory bodies to develop and implement radiation protection requirements and guidance for workers and the public in certain settings. The settings GAO reviewed include the operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants, the cleanup of sites with radiological contamination, the use of medical equipment that produces radiation and accidental or terrorism-related exposure to radiation.