ACCELERATING CLOSURE AT DOE SITES WITHEM’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

摘要

Technical support is important for all U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities facingdifficult technical issues, aggressive remediation schedules, and tight budgets. It is especiallyvital for closure sites, which typically are smaller and have fewer resources available to apply toremediation activities. In many cases, closure sites and other small sites no longer have staff withthe expertise required to overcome technical barriers on their own.As closure deadlines approach, special technical expertise is needed to identify, evaluate, andimplement new and innovative approaches that will result in significant cost and scheduleimprovement for the waste disposition pathway. Site "problem holders" must have access toworld-class scientific and engineering expertise from DOE national laboratories and researchfacilities, private industry, and universities to address immediate critical problems. In order tohave confidence in the feasibility and results of innovative approaches, site contractors need tohave the benefit of the valuable experiences of technicians who have faced similar problems andfound solutions.The DOE Environmental Management (EM) Science and Technology (S&T) programrecognizes the need of the closure sites to solve problems aggressively and is highly responsiveto this need. Technical support from the S&T program can take many forms, such as providingexpertise, reviewing the baseline, addressing a specific technical problem, evaluatingcommercially available technologies, or co-funding a high-risk alternative. This paper describesthe approach by which closure sites are quickly and easily able to obtain technical support fromthe S&T program and provides examples of successfully completed and ongoing technicalsolutions activities.