National Government Policy Options for Contributing to Regional Economic Stability: The US Department of Energy's Major Nuclear Weapons Sites |
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| Authors: | MICHAEL GREENBERG KAREN LOWRIE MICHAEL FRISCH DAVID LEWIS |
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| Affiliation: | Michael Greenberg is professor and associate dean of the faculty, Edward J. Bloustein School, Rutgers University and director of Economic and Social Analyses for CRESP. His research focuses on urban redevelopment and public health.;Karen Lowrie is project manager of Economic and Social Analyses for CRESP. Her research focuses on land use and organizational issues related to clean-up of contaminated sites and public participation.;Michael Frisch is assistant professor of Planning, University of Missouri, Kansas City. His research focuses of urban redevelopment, especially regional social capital in redevelopment.;David Lewis is senior project researcher for CRESP. He is completing his Ph.D. thesis on the use of incubators in economic development. |
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| Abstract: | We have conducted economic simulation, historical, and survey research that considers the national government's obligation to the regions that surround the places where it developed and tested nuclear weapons. The research shows that the strongest case for an obligation is at four site regions: Hanford (Washington), Idaho, Oak Ridge (Tennessee), and Savannah River (Georgia, South Carolina). These four are dependent on the Department of Energy (DOE), have relatively low incomes, are expected to grow less economically than their counterparts and the nation as a whole, and suffer from environmental stigma. We reviewed and simulated the impacts of a variety of tools, including severance packages, onsite projects, and offsite economic investments. In essence, investments in severance packages, education, and recreation are more effective per dollar invested than high technology, but all investments are less effective in these dependent regions than in larger metropolitan areas because of the economic leakage out of these dependent regions. The national government needs to begin a process of working with these regions to help them deal with the shock of shrinking their dependency on the DOE. |
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