SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — An internal audit questions NASA's cleanup plans for a former rocket test site near Los Angeles, saying the space agency has committed to an "excessive and unnecessarily costly cleanup."
NASA, along with several other federal agencies, is required by law to remove contamination at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The site was home to rocket engine tests for decades and housed up to 10 nuclear reactors, including one that had a partial meltdown in 1959.
NASA has estimated it would cost more than $200 million to reduce radioactive contamination to background levels. Thursday's report by NASA's inspector general questioned whether it was a smart use of its limited funds since it said the site would be turned into parkland. It said the space agency should re-examine its plans.
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