Doe Funds Environmental Cleanup Research
The Department of Energy (DOE) has granted $33 million for 38 research projects to help solve environmental cleanup challenges.
Researchers at 30 universities, nine Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, one other government and two private institutions will conduct scientific studies focusing on environmental problems at DOE facilities that were once part of the nation’s nuclear weapons production complex. Funding for the projects will come out of the DOE’s fiscal year 2002 environmental management budget.
“These projects are designed to apply advanced scientific research and initiatives to make significant strides in nuclear waste cleanup efforts at DOE sites across the country,” said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. “The success of these programs and the success of the department’s Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) will be measured in actual cleanup results, and we expect these programs to deliver.”
The 38 science awards focus on: location and characterization of subsurface contaminants and characterization of the subsurface; conceptual modeling; containment and stabilization; and monitoring and validation.
The funded projects were selected after evaluations by external peer reviewers and DOE technical managers familiar with the DOE’s cleanup needs. Members of the research teams will attend periodic meetings with federal staff to review the status of the projects, and each project team is required to provide a written progress report on an annual basis.
This is the seventh year of grants and other awards made under the agency’s Environmental Management Science Program, established by Congress in fiscal year 1996. The science program is overseen by the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, which is responsible for the environmental cleanup of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, and by the Office of Science, which manages the department’s basic research programs.
Provided by theEnvironmental News Service. t.
