Testifying before a congressional subcommittee July 13, two federal energy officials stressed the importance of technology and involvement of national laboratories in hazardous waste cleanup efforts in communities that supported United States defense efforts for decades, according to a news release.
“Given the magnitude of the remaining cleanup mission, the Office of Environmental Management (EM) must keep developing innovative approaches to accelerate progress, increase efficiency and protect human health and the environment,” EM Senior Advisor, William “Ike” White, testified before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s energy subcommittee. “As we continually work to enhance our research and development efforts, EM takes a comprehensive approach to prioritizing all cleanup work, including the associated technology development."
Vahid Majidi, director of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), also emphasized technology in his testimony.
“To accelerate cleanup missions, our laboratory provides processing, remediation and closure approaches with a rigorous data-driven foundation," Majidi said. "We identify the barriers to success and then develop high-impact technologies to overcome them, while minimizing waste production in the disposition of nuclear materials.”
To include more diverse voices in solving technical challenges, EM is launching the Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program, the release stated.
“This will enable us to add a technology curriculum and a research grant partnership involving EM, minority serving institutions and the national labs,” White said.
Out of 107 sites currently being cleaned up, EM has completed cleanup at 92 sites, most recently finishing up work at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, according to the release.
"These historical accomplishments were enabled by the significant investments that Congress made in the EM program and aided by technology, and R&D (research and development)," the release stated.
