Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences BERAC Meeting April 30, 2003 Teresa Fryberger Office of Biological and Environmental Research

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Associate Director Ari Patrinos Life Sciences Division Marv Frazier, Director Medical Sciences Division Michael Viola, Director Climate Change Research Division Jerry Elwood, Director Environmental Remediation Sciences Division Teresa Fryberger, Director Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Outline  Background—DOE cleanup problems  Environmental Sciences Division  Strategic Planning so far

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management The DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) was created in 1989 to Address the environmental legacy from over 50 years of nuclear weapons research, production, and testing - some of the most technically challenging and complex work of any environmental program in the world

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Legacy: Nuclear Weapons Production SOURCE: Accumulation from 50 years of nuclear weapons production by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy DOE Environmental Legacy

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy DOE Environmental Legacy DOE Problem Wastes - Examples -403,000 cubic meters of high level waste (HLW) -250,000 cubic meters of solid transuranic wastes (TRU) -4.4 million cubic meters of low level waste (LLW) -Non-radioactive hazardous wastes and mixed wastes -5,000 – 7000 contaminated facilities

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy DOE Environmental Legacy DOE Environmental Problems -5,700+ individual plumes contaminating soil and groundwater -7.8 Km 2 plume at SRS Km 2 plume of CCl 4 at Hanford -710,000 m 3 of soil at NTS -1.5 million m 3 of soil at Fernald

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy The Legacy Continues  More contamination and waste will be identified as characterization continues  Decontamination wastes???  Secondary waste streams from clean-up operations  Long-term stewardship of sites where residual contamination remains

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Why Do We Need Basic Research for the Cleanup?  We have never done this before  To provide a technical basis for making decisions  To provide new approaches to cut costs, or sometimes just to provide approaches  To resolve technical problems as the cleanup progresses

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Hanford in the mid 1940s

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy  Single Shell Tanks -149 tanks -35M gallons of wastes -190K tons of chemicals -132M curies of radioactivity -75% Sr-90, 24% Cs “leakers”  Double Shell Tanks -28 tanks -20M gallons of wastes -55K tons wastes -82M curies of radioactivity -72% Cs-137, 27% Sr-90 Hanford High Level Tank Wastes EXAMPLE

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy High-Level Tank Wastes: how was it created? DOE Spent Fuel Reprocess Acid Waste Underground Storage Tanks 403,000 m 3 Sludge (Oxides, Hydroxides, Carbonates Sr, Cs,TRU) Saltcake and Supernate ( Nitrates, Nitrites, Cs, Sr, Tc) “Neutralization”

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Volume!!! Cost!!! Quality!!! ? 0.03% Radionuclides Treatment of HLW Tanks TRUs Cs,Sr,Tc LLW HLW Glass Separate Cs,Sr, (Tc)? Alkaline High Level Waste Liquid Sludge TRUs, Sr, Cs, Tc, Metals $1-2M/glass log

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Hanford High Level Waste Science issues:  Chemistry of high pH solutions to predict waste behavior  Tailored separations processes to  Cut costs  Reduce volume  Improve waste form performance  Designer materials for wasteforms  Improve performance  Reduce volume/costs  Remote characterization and online monitoring tools

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Hanford High Level Wastes 65 Known Leakers Subsurface Contaminants: Cesium Strontium Uranium Technetium Cyanides Chromium Cobalt Nitrates What happens during retrieval?? What does it mean to say “we’re done”??

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Understanding Contaminant Transport  Science issues:  Modeling/Prediction  Complexity  Scaling  Characterization/monitoring  In situ remediation/immobilization  Surficial Transport  Trophic Transfer

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Galvin Commission, 1995 “ There is a particular need for long term, basic research in disciplines related to environmental cleanup … Adopting a science-based approach that includes supporting development of technologies and expertise … could lead to both reduced cleanup costs and smaller environmental impacts at existing sites and to the development of a scientific foundation for advances in environmental technologies.” From the 1995 Galvin Commission Report On the Department of Energy Laboratories

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences Division

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences Division  STAFF  Judy Nusbaum  Anna Palmisano  Paul Bayer  Roland Hirsch, Medical Applications Div.  Brendlyn Faison, Hampton University  Henry Shaw, LLNL  3-4 new slots (hopefully)

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy The Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) is developing the scientific basis for risk-based decision making and “breakthrough” approaches to cleaning up the nuclear weapons complex. Bioremediation Research (NABIR) provides the understanding of how microbes that naturally exist in soils can stabilize metals and radionuclides. Studies span the range of microbial genetics of all the way to field studies at actual contaminated sites. The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) is serving environmental users from around the world by providing the leading edge of computational and experimental capabilities for understanding processes at the molecular level. The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) is studying the ecological impacts of remediation activities in real time at the Savannah River Site while providing hands-on educational programs at the Site. D. radiodurans reduces uranium complexation ions with tetramethoxycalix[4]arene of cesium Environmental Remediation Sciences R&D for solutions to DOE’s long-term environmental cleanup challenges

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences: FY03 Budget (thousands of $) NABIR$24,720 EMSP $29,900 EMSL $38,000 (operations) SREL $ 6,800 Misc. $10,100 Total $109,500 Largest program of its kind anywhere! Minus ~12M for unfunded Congressional earmarks in FY03!

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy NRC Recommendation: “…that DOE develop a strategic vision for its Environmental Quality (EQ) R&D portfolio. This vision should provide the framework for developing the science and technology necessary to address EQ problems that extend beyond the present emphasis of short-term “compliance” and should incorporate the principal of continual improvement.” A Strategic Vision for DOE Environmental Quality R&D(National Academy Press, 2001) Strategic Planning for Environmental Remediation Sciences

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Strategic Planning  2 Strategic Planning workshops (July and September, 2002)  Involved scientists from all relevant disciplines, other DOE offices, other agencies  Used NRC Reports on EM Science needs as a basis  Formation of BERAC Subcommittee  1 st meeting in April 2003  Reviewed Strategic Plan Draft  Draft II is on its way!

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences: Mission Enable scientific advances that help solve currently intractable environmental problems or otherwise provide break-through opportunities for DOE environmental missions, while also contributing to the general advance of the scientific fields involved.

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences: Goals  Provide science to inform decisions about environmental remediation and stewardship  Advance scientific foundations that enable innovative remediation technologies and methodologies  Synthesize and integrate across disciplines to foster new scientific approaches that match the complexity of the problems

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy ERSD Characteristics  Primary focus is on a subset of DOE-EM relevant issues  That are currently “intractable”  Where science can have the greatest impact  Highly interdisciplinary – integrates results from biology, geology, chemistry, ecology, etc.  Committed to developing and supporting a suite of field research sites  Develop a “toolbox” of characterization and monitoring tools.

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy  Improve our understanding of contaminant fate and transport by investigating and linking relevant processes  Focus on interdisciplinary hypothesis-driven field studies to address complexity, scaling, and validation of models and lab results  Understand nature’s tools for cleaning up the environment — harness the cleanup potential of microorganisms and geochemistry Environmental Remediation Sciences Program Emphasis

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Remediation Sciences Program Emphasis (continued)  Help develop the next generation of computational and experimental capabilities for understanding contaminant behavior  Provide the basis for new characterization and monitoring capabilities  Provide the basis for new separations and waste management options

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Collaborating/Coordinating  Interagency Steering Committee on Multimedia Environmental Modeling  National Science and Technology Council committees  Collaborations/Joint Research Calls with  EPA, NSF, NIEHS…  Other BER: Genomes to Life, Ecology, Microbial Genome  Other DOE: Environmental Management, Basic Energy Sciences, Advanced Scientific Computing, Yucca Mountain Project

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Director Raymond L. Orbach Principal Deputy Director James F. Decker Deputy Director for Operations Milton D. Johnson Chief of Staff Jeffrey T. Salmon Office of Basic Energy Sciences Associate Director Patricia M. Dehmer Office of Biological and Environmental Research Associate Director Aristides Patrinos Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics Associate Director S. Peter Rosen Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Associate Director N. Anne Davies Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Associate Director C. Edward Oliver Geosciences Heavy Element Chem. Analytical & Separations Chemistry User Facilities: synchrotron light sources, (nanoscience centers, neutron source) Climate Change Genomes to Life Microbial Research Ecology Bioremediation Low Dose Radiation EM Science Program User Facility: EMSL Computation Initiatives: Genomes to Life (Contaminant Flow and Transport) The Office of Science Program Offices and Environmental Capabilities

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Programmatic Challenges  Integrating the science across the division programs  Fostering interdisciplinary research teams  Nurturing truly innovative ideas  Getting our science used

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Getting our science used  Work directly with cleanup staff at sites to identify and collaborate on the field research sites.  Work on specific site problems  Sponsor frequent technical exchange workshops with sites  Develop a strategy to “advertise” our successes.

Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy Opportunities  to “revolutionize” environmental studies— bringing much-needed rigor and the new tools of genomics, nanoscience, and computing to bear.  to have far-reaching impacts on the way environmental issues are approached.  to apply to a broader set of problems (e.g. water quality, future energy options, waste minimization, mining and industrial wastes)