Office of Energy Research and Office of Environmental Management; Energy Research Financial Assistance Program Notice 97-03; Environmental Management Science Program

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Research and Office of Environmental Management;

Energy Research Financial Assistance Program Notice 97-03;

Environmental Management Science Program

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Offices of Energy Research (ER) and Environmental

Management (EM), U.S. Department of Energy, hereby announce their

interest in receiving grant applications for performance of innovative,

fundamental research to support the management and disposal of DOE

radioactive, hazardous chemical, and mixed wastes; the stabilization of

nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuel; remediation of contaminated

sites; and the decontamination and decommissioning of facilities.

The DOE Environmental Management program currently has ongoing

applied research and engineering efforts under its Technology

Development program. These efforts must be supplemented with basic

research to address long-term technical issues crucial to the EM

mission. Basic research can also provide EM with near-term fundamental

data that may be critical to the advancement of technologies that are

under development but not yet at full scale nor implemented. Proposed

basic research under this notice should contribute to environmental

management activities that would decrease risk for the public and

workers, provide opportunities for major cost reductions, reduce time

required to achieve EM's mission goals, and, in general, should address

problems that are considered intractable without new knowledge. This

program is designed to inspire ``breakthroughs'' in areas critical to

the EM mission through basic research and will be managed in

partnership with ER. ER's well-established procedures, as set forth in

the Energy Research Merit Review System, as published in the Federal

Register, March 11, 1991, (56 FR 10244), will be used for merit review

of applications submitted in response to this notice. This information

is also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.er.doe.gov/

production/grants/merit.html.

Subsequent to the formal scientific merit review, applications that

are judged to be scientifically meritorious will be evaluated by DOE

for relevance to the objectives of the Environmental Management Science

Program. Additional information can be obtained at http://

www.em.doe.gov/science.

DATES: Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a brief

preapplication. All preapplications, referencing Program Notice 97-03,

should be received by DOE by 4:30 P.M. E.S.T., January 15,1997. A

response encouraging or discouraging a formal application generally

will be communicated to the applicant within three weeks of receipt.

The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 P.M., E.D.T.,

April 16,1997, in order to be accepted for merit review and to permit

timely consideration for award in Fiscal Year 1997.

ADDRESSES: All preapplications, referencing Program Notice 97-03,

should be sent to Dr. Roland F. Hirsch, ER-73, Mail Stop F-240, Office

of Health and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, Maryland 20874-1290, telephone: (301) 903-

5349. Preapplications will be accepted if submitted by United States

Postal Service, including Express Mail, commercial mail delivery

service, or hand delivery, but will not be accepted by fax, electronic

mail, or other means.

After receiving notification from DOE concerning successful

preapplications, applicants may prepare formal applications using the

instructions in the Office of Energy Research Application Guide and in

the Supplementary Information in this notice. Applications must be sent

to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, Grants and

Contracts Division, ER-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, Maryland

20874-1290, Attn: Program Notice 97-03. The above address for formal

applications must also be used when submitting formal applications by

U.S. Postal Service Express Mail, any commercial mail delivery service,

or when hand carried by the applicant. Please note that notification of

a successful preapplication is not an indication that an award will be

made in response to the formal application.

Awards

Multiple-year funding of grant awards is anticipated, contingent

upon the availability of funds. Award sizes are expected to be on the

order of $100,000-$300,000 per year for total project costs for a

typical three year grant. Applications for collaborative projects

involving several research groups or more than one institution may

receive larger awards if merited. Investigators considering submitting

collaborative projects are encouraged to prepare a single application

incorporating the entire research program and a combined

[[Page 64732]]

budget as well as separate budgets for each collaborating institution.

DOE reserves the right to fund in whole or part any or none of the

applications received in response to this Notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Roland F. Hirsch, ER-73, Mail Stop

F-240, Office of Health and Environmental Research, Office of Energy

Research, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown,

Maryland 20874-1290, telephone: (301) 903-5349, fax: (301) 903-0567,

electronic mail: [email protected], or Dr. Carol J. Henry,

Office of Science and Technology, Office of Environmental Management,

1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, telephone: (202)

586-7150, electronic mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Environmental Management, in

partnership with the Office of Energy Research, sponsors the

Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) to fulfill DOE's

continuing commitment to the cleanup of DOE's environmental legacy. The

program was initiated in Fiscal Year 1996.

Purpose

The need to build a stronger scientific basis for the Environmental

Management effort has been established in a number of recent studies

and reports. Among the important observations and recommendations made

by the Galvin Commission (``Alternative Futures for the Department of

Energy National Laboratories,'' February 1995) are the following:

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.

The objectives of the Environmental Management Science Program are

to:

Provide scientific knowledge that will revolutionize

technologies and clean-up approaches to significantly reduce future

costs, schedules, and risks; and

``Bridge the gap'' between broad fundamental research that

has wide-ranging applicability such as that performed in DOE's Office

of Energy Research and needs-driven applied technology development that

is conducted in EM's Office of Science and Technology; and

Focus the Nation's science infrastructure on critical DOE

environmental management problems.

Representative Research Areas

Basic research is solicited in all areas of science with the

potential for addressing one or more of the areas of concern to the

Department's Environmental Management program. The scientific

disciplines relevant to the program include, but are not limited to,

biology (including cellular and molecular biology, ecology,

bioremediation, genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology; plant

sciences are listed as a separate category below), chemistry (including

analytical chemistry, catalysis, heavy element chemistry, inorganic

chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and separations

chemistry), computational sciences (including research and development

of mathematical/ numerical, informatics, and communication procedures

and software technology, for example for deterministic simulations and

optimization), engineering sciences (including control systems and

optimization, diagnostics, transport processes, thermophysical

properties and bioengineering), geosciences (including geophysical

imaging, physicochemical dynamics and chemical transport in fluid-rock

systems, and hydrogeology), health sciences, materials science

(including condensed matter physics, metallurgy, ceramics, waste

minimization, welding and joining, degradation mechanisms, and remote

sensing and monitoring), physics (including atomic, molecular, optical,

and fluid physics) and plant science (including mechanisms of mineral

uptake, intercellular transport, and concentration and sequestration).

Projects in bioremediation that fall within the scope of Notices

issued by the Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research (NABIR)

Program of the Office of Energy Research (such as Notice 97-04) should

be submitted to that program rather than to the Environmental

Management Science Program. Projects outside the scope of NABIR but

within the scope of this Notice may be submitted to the EMSP.

Applicants to the EMSP are strongly encouraged to collaborate with

researchers in other institutions, such as universities, industry, non-

profit organizations, the DOE National Laboratories, and/or other

Federal Laboratories, where appropriate, and to incorporate cost

sharing and/or consortia wherever feasible. Applicants are encouraged

to provide training opportunities, including student involvement, in

applications submitted to the program.

Major Environmental Management Challenges

The following is an overview of the major technical challenges

facing the Environmental Management program that are the focus of this

announcement. More detailed descriptions of the specific technical

needs and areas of emphasis associated with these problem areas can be

found in the background section of this Notice.

The Department is the guardian of over 300 large storage tanks

containing over 100 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes, which

include organic and inorganic chemical compounds, in solid, colloidal,

slurry, and liquid phases. The environment within the tanks is highly

radioactive and chemically harsh. A few of the tanks have leaked to the

environment while others are corroding. The contents of these tanks

need to be characterized, removed from the tanks, treated, and

converted to safe forms for disposal.

The Department is the custodian of several thousand metric tons of

spent nuclear reactor fuels, resulting primarily from weapons

fabrication activities during the Cold War, but also including fuel

from research and naval reactors. The long-term containment performance

of the fuel under storage and disposal conditions is uncertain. Such

uncertainties affect the ability to license disposal methods.

The Office of Environmental Management is the custodian of large

quantities of fissile materials which were left in the manufacturing

and processing facilities after the United States halted its nuclear

weapons production activities. These materials include plutonium

solutions, plutonium metals and oxides, plutonium residues and

compounds, highly enriched uranium, and nuclides of other actinides.

Additional scientific information is required to choose processes for

converting these materials to stable forms.

The Department currently has on its sites over one hundred sixty

thousand cubic meters of waste containing both radioactive and

hazardous materials. This mixed waste contains a wide variety of

materials, as varied as protective clothing, machining products and

wastes, packaging materials, and process liquids. Fundamental

scientific data are needed to improve processes associated with

treatment systems, such as characterization, pre-treatment, and

monitoring.

[[Page 64733]]

The Department is committed to the safe disposal of all radioactive

wastes, including high-level wastes, mixed wastes, and fissile

materials. Safe disposal of these materials requires that the wide

range of potential waste streams be converted into insoluble materials

for long term storage. Some radioactive material-containing forms have

been successfully developed and are being produced; however, at

present, research challenges still exist in developing suitable forms

for each material to be stored.

The Department is currently conducting cleanup activities at many

of its sites, and is preparing plans for additional remediation work.

There is much scientific uncertainty about the levels of risk to human

health at the end stages of the DOE clean-up effort.

The aforementioned areas of emphasis do not preclude, and DOE

strongly encourages, any innovative or creative ideas contributing to

solving EM challenges mentioned throughout this Notice.

Application Evaluation and Selection

Scientific Merit. The program will support the most

scientifically meritorious and relevant work, regardless of the

institution. Formal applications will be subjected to scientific merit

review (peer review) and will be evaluated against the following

evaluation criteria listed in descending order of importance as

codified at 10 CFR 605.10(d).

1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project

2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach

3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed

Resources

4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.

External peer reviewers are selected with regard to both their

scientific expertise and the absence of conflict-of-interest issues.

Non-federal reviewers may be used, and submission of an application

constitutes agreement that this is acceptable to the investigator(s)

and the submitting institution.

Relevance to Mission. Subsequent to the formal scientific

merit review, applications which are judged to be scientifically

meritorious will be evaluated by DOE for relevance to the objectives of

the Environmental Management Science Program. These objectives were

established in the Conference Report for the Fiscal Year 1996 Energy

and Water Development Appropriations Act, and are published in the

Congressional Record--House, October 26, 1995, page H10956.

DOE shall also consider, as part of the evaluation, program policy

factors such as an appropriate balance among the program areas,

including research already in progress. Research funded in the

Environmental Management Science Program in Fiscal Year 1996 can be

reviewed at http://www.doe.gov/em52/science-grants.html.

Application Format

Applicants are expected to use the following format in addition to

following instructions in the Office of Energy Research Application

Guide. Applications must be written in English, with all budgets in

U.S. dollars.

ER standard face page (DOE F 4650.2 (10-91))

Application classification sheet (see below for list of

categories)

Table of Contents

Project Abstract (no more than one page)

Budgets for each year and a summary budget page for the

entire project period (using DOE F 4620.1)

Budget Explanation

Budgets and Budget explanation for each collaborative

subproject, if any

Project Narrative (recommended length is no more than 20

pages; multi-investigator collaborative projects may use more pages if

necessary up to a total of 40 pages)

Goals

Significance of Project to the EMSP

Background

Research Plan

Preliminary Studies (if applicable)

Research Design and Methodologies

Literature Cited

Collaborative Arrangements (if applicable)

Biographical Sketches (limit 2 pages per senior

investigator)

Description of Facilities and Resources

Current and Pending Support for each senior investigator

While the original application and seven required copies must be

submitted, applicants are encouraged to also provide a 3.5-inch

diskette containing the application in electronic format. The label on

the diskette must clearly identify the institution, principal

investigator, title of application, and the computer system and program

used to prepare the document.

Application Categories

In order to properly classify each preapplication and application

for evaluation and review, the documents must indicate the applicant's

preferred scientific research field and environmental category,

selected from the following lists. More than one environmental category

may be indicated if desired.

Field of Scientific Research

1. Biology, not including plant science

Chemical Sciences (2-6):

2. Analytical Chemistry and Instrumentation

3. Catalysis

4. Heavy Element Chemistry

5. Separations Chemistry

6. Other Topics in Chemistry

7. Computer and Mathematical Sciences

8. Engineering Sciences

Geosciences (9-11):

9. Geophysics

10. Geochemistry

11. Hydrogeology: Flow Modeling and Subsurface Science

12. Health Sciences

13. Materials Science

14. Physics

15. Plant Science

16. Other

Environmental Category:

A. Decontamination/Decommissioning

B. Health/Ecology/Risk

C. High-level Radioactive Waste

D. Waste Disposal Forms

E. Fissile materials

F. Spent Nuclear Fuel

G. Subsurface Characterization

H. Subsurface Contaminant Treatment

I. Waste Characterization & Separations

J. Waste Treatment & Destruction

K. Other

Program Schedule

Preapplications must be received by DOE on or before January 15,

1997, and full applications on or before April 16, 1997, at the times

and addresses noted above. It is anticipated that awards will be made

no later than September 30, 1997.

Program Funding

Up to a total of $20,000,000 of Fiscal Year 1997 Federal funds is

expected to be available for new Environmental Management Science

Program awards resulting from both this Notice and a parallel

announcement to government laboratories and Federally Funded Research

and Development Centers, including the DOE national laboratories. All

projects will be evaluated using the same criteria, regardless of the

submitting institution. The program will be competitive and offered to

investigators in universities or other institutions of higher

education, other

[[Page 64734]]

non-profit or for-profit organizations, non-Federal agencies or

entities, or unaffiliated individuals. Apart from this notice, the

program also will be offered to DOE national laboratories and other

Federal laboratories.

Preapplications

A brief preapplication may be submitted. The original and five

copies must be received by January 15, 1997, to be considered. The

preapplication should identify on the cover sheet the institution,

name, address, telephone, fax and electronic mail address for the

principal investigator, title of the project, and the field of

scientific research and category(ies) of environmental application to

which the project is responding (using the list above). The

preapplication should consist of up to three pages of narrative

describing the research objectives and the plan for accomplishing them,

and should also include a paragraph describing the research background

of the principal investigator and key collaborators if any. A 3.5 inch

diskette containing the preapplication in any common word processing

format may also be submitted in addition to the required printed

copies.

Preapplications will be evaluated relative to the scope and

research needs of the DOE's Environmental Management Science Program by

qualified DOE program managers from both ER and EM. Preapplications are

strongly encouraged but not required prior to submission of a full

application.

Information

Information about the development, submission of applications,

eligibility, limitations, evaluation, the selection process, and other

policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605, and in the

Application Guide for the Office of Energy Research Financial

Assistance Program. The Application Guide is available from the U.S.

Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, ER-73, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, Maryland 20874-1290. Telephone requests

may be made by calling (301) 903-5349. Electronic access to ER's

Financial Assistance Application Guide and forms is possible via the

World Wide Web at http://www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.

Background

The United States involvement in nuclear weapons development for

the last 50 years has resulted in the development of a vast research,

production, and testing network known as the nuclear weapons complex.

The Department has begun the environmental remediation of the complex

encompassing radiological and nonradiological hazards, vast volumes of

contaminated water and soil, and over 7,000 contaminated structures.

The Department must characterize, treat, and dispose of hazardous and

radioactive wastes that have been accumulating for more than 50 years

at 120 sites in 36 states and territories. By 1995, the Department had

spent about $23 billion in identifying and characterizing its waste,

managing it, and assessing the remediation necessary for its sites and

facilities. Over the next ten years at current budget projections,

another $60 billion will be spent. The DOE cleanup of the Cold War

legacy is the largest cleanup program in the Federal Government, even

larger than that of the Department of Defense legacy. The Office of

Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for waste management and

cleanup of DOE sites. The EM operations have been historically

compliance-based and driven to meet established goals in the shortest

time possible using either existing technologies or those that could be

developed and demonstrated within a few years. Environmental Management

is also responsible for conducting the program for waste minimization

and pollution prevention for the Department.

The variety and volume of the Department's current activities make

this effort a challenge itself. In some cases, fundamental science

questions will have to be addressed before a technology or process can

be engineered. There is a need to involve more basic science

researchers in the challenges of the Department's remediation effort.

The Office of Energy Research (ER) addresses fundamental, frequently

long-term, research issues related to the many missions of the

Department. The Environmental Management Science Program will use ER's

experience in managing fundamental research to address the needs of

technology breakthroughs in EM's programs.

This research agenda has been developed for Fiscal Year 1997, along

with a development process for a long term program within EM, with the

objective of providing continuity in scientific knowledge that will

revolutionize technologies and clean-up approaches for solving DOE's

most complex environmental problems. The following are descriptions of

the technical challenges in addressing many of these issues, in areas

which are of particular interest for this notice.

High-level Radioactive Waste Tanks. The Department is the guardian

of over 300 large storage tanks containing over 100 million gallons of

highly radioactive wastes, which include organic and inorganic chemical

compounds, in solid, colloidal, slurry, and liquid phases. The

environment within the tanks is highly radioactive and chemically

harsh. A few of the tanks have leaked to the environment while others

are corroding.

Specific areas of emphasis in technology needs and research

challenges related to high-level waste tank problems include, but are

not limited to:

The characterization and safe removal of the contents of

these tanks, with the contents converted into forms suitable for long-

term storage. Particular challenges include the need for improved

characterization and separation methods of these wastes, including

pretreatment, and methods to reduce the total volume of waste requiring

long-term storage, which will reduce the large disposal costs

associated with these wastes. Problems exist in the plugging of

transport lines, mobilizing waste sludge, leak detection, process

control, and conversion to final waste forms.

The separation of complex chemical and radioactive waste

to minimize the final volume of high level waste remaining after

processing. The removal of liquid from sludges is a difficult

challenge. There is not yet sufficient understanding of the factors

that control the selectivity and efficacy of chemical and physical

interactions, including structure-function relationships, and the

effect of particle shapes and kinetics. In pretreatment unit operations

there is a need to understand waste behavior and effects at waste

processing interfaces, as well as how pretreatment processes affect the

ability to transport waste between unit operations. Difficulties also

exist in separating radioactive species from high ionic strength,

multi-component aqueous solutions of salts dominated by species such as

sodium nitrate, nitrite, carbonate, and phosphate. Separation of

radionuclides and hazardous substances from solid (e.g. calcined) waste

streams is also of interest.

The physical state of the wastes in storage tanks. Some

tanks contain distinct layers of sludge, salt cake and supernatant, and

these layers may also not be homogeneous. There is evidence that much

of the solid waste exists as colloidal particles that may remain

suspended, settle out of solution, or gel and solidify with changes in

conditions. Fine solids or colloidal particulates can

[[Page 64735]]

carry a large fraction of contaminant and can interfere with subsequent

processing. Important unknown factors which inhibit the remediation of

tank wastes include the effects of temperature, pH, particle chemistry

and morphology on agglomeration, sedimentation, viscosity,

partitioning, dissolution, and speciation.

The optimization of waste conversion processes. The

presence of radionuclides results in radiation-induced, high-energy

chemical reactions and in waste heating, which can accelerate chemical

reactions. Some of these reactions may be catalyzed by extreme pH

conditions and an array of active surface sites on the solids suspended

in the waste. These processes lead to considerable variability in the

chemical composition of the waste and therefore to difficulties in

treatment process design. Some wastes or processes include byproducts

which are unacceptable for long-term storage (e.g. organics, nitrates,

nitrites, ferrocyanides, nitrogen oxides, chlorinated hydrocarbons) and

which therefore must be destroyed or eliminated from the system.

Treatment of both acidic and alkaline (up to several molar hydroxide)

aqueous solutions is required.

Spent Nuclear Fuel. The Department is the custodian of several

thousand metric tons of spent nuclear reactor fuels which resulted

primarily from weapons fabrication activities during the Cold War, but

also include fuel from research and naval reactors. The long-term

containment performance of the fuel under storage and disposal

conditions is uncertain. Such uncertainties affect the ability to

license disposal methods.

Specific areas of emphasis in technology needs and research

challenges related to spent nuclear fuel problems include, but are not

limited to:

Mechanisms which may adversely affect the performance of

the fuel package during storage must be identified. Deleterious effects

which are incompletely characterized include: radiolytic effects of the

radiation field on surrounding materials; corrosion, degradation, and

radionuclide release mechanisms and rates for the representative fuel

matrices; mechanisms which may lead to accelerated degradation of

containers; dissolution characteristics of the matrices; and the

effects of microbes on fuel packages. Some fuel storage pools have

water clarity problems during fuel movement which affect safe

operations.

A technical basis is required for other steps in the spent

fuel program, including: mechanisms of pyrophoricity and combustion

parameters for various fuel types; gas generation during processing;

determination of moisture content of fuel and maximum acceptable amount

of moisture; degradation mechanisms and kinetics of spent fuel in a dry

storage environment over a period of several decades; fissile and

radioisotopic content of some spent fuel types; segregation behavior of

elements; control of criticality in the very long term; and synergistic

effects. Methods to remove moisture without damage to the structure of

fuel elements are required.

Some spent fuel types require additional characterization,

such as fission and/or gamma ray nondestructive assay or evaluation,

before disposal activities can be commenced. Current characterization

methods are either extremely expensive or may not yield the necessary

information for performance criteria for safe interim storage,

transportation, and repository deposition. Thermodynamic and kinetic

properties of miscellaneous spent fuel types, such as mixed oxide

fuels, are not known to the level of detail needed to include them in a

general purpose treatment process. Online measurement of fissile

content and nuclear poisons during stabilization must be developed.

Fissile Materials. The Office of Environmental Management is the

custodian of large quantities of fissile materials which were left in

the manufacturing and processing facilities after the United States

halted its nuclear weapons production activities. These materials

include plutonium solutions, plutonium metals and oxides, plutonium

residues and compounds, highly enriched uranium, and nuclides of other

actinides.

Specific areas of emphasis in technology needs and research

challenges related to fissile material problems include, but are not

limited to:

Gaps exist in the information base needed for choosing

among the alternate processes to be used in safe conversion of various

types of fissile materials to optimal forms for safe interim storage,

long term storage, and ultimate disposition. Necessary information

includes accurate determination of thermodynamic redox potentials and

heterogeneous electron transfer kinetics of selected actinides and

actinide complexes; characterization of plutonium compound solubility

in aqueous phosphate and sulfate media; actinide chemical

thermodynamics and kinetics; behavior of mixed oxidation states of

plutonium-containing materials; plutonium diffusion and corrosion

behavior; the application of acid solution separation processes to

neutralized and alkaline residues and wastes; the nature and effect of

actinide interactions with organometallics, surfaces, and organic

residues; and the performance of various analytical methods, including

x-ray tomography, digital radiography, acoustic resonance spectroscopy,

and actinide self-fluorescence.

Mixed hazardous and radioactive low-level waste. The term ``mixed

waste'' refers to waste containing both radioactive and hazardous

materials. There is currently estimated to be about 167,000 cubic

meters of mixed waste in storage awaiting treatment and disposal. There

are over 1,400 different mixed waste streams in inventory, located at

38 separate sites in 19 states. This inventory will be increased with

newly generated mixed waste resulting from DOE's ongoing activities in

environmental restoration, facility decontamination, and transition

processes. Existing treatment and disposal capacities are presently too

limited to allow the treatment and disposal of this inventory of mixed

wastes. Research at a fundamental scientific level could lead to

innovative processes or technologies, or could provide data to permit

the advancement of technologies currently under development.

Specific areas of emphasis in technology needs and research

challenges related to mixed waste problems include, but are not limited

to:

Characterization technologies for non-destructive

evaluation of drum and box contents for the presence of materials

defined by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act as hazardous in

the waste, and for segregating and routing incoming waste streams to

appropriate treatment processes, are lacking. Effluent monitoring must

be improved to optimize treatment operations, and to ensure compliance

with applicable environmental requirements.

Sorting of the large volume of wastes is impractical

without improved nondestructive, noninvasive measurement techniques.

Long-term performance of advanced waste forms still must be

ascertained. To support equipment design and permitting of high-

temperature treatment processes, more information is needed on the

thermodynamics, transport and generation of regulated hazardous

materials and radionuclides in these processes. Real time monitors for

heavy metals, dioxins, and volatile organic compounds are also not

available. Alternatively, nonthermal treatment processes could be used,

but major

[[Page 64736]]

technical issues remain unresolved. Methods for direct removal of

radioactive material are also of interest.

Monitoring for the presence of mercury and other toxic

metals in wastes, and removal of mercury from wastes, are high

priorities but large-scale techniques are not yet available. Relative

to mercury containing wastes, methods are required for the

stabilization of mercury and for the amalgamation of bulk, non-

recyclable mercury to meet Universal Treatment Standards and

leachability testing standards. Improvements are required in techniques

for identifying alpha-emitting radionuclides.

Removal of radioactive components from waste in solid

forms. These wastes include sludges from defense reprocessing

activities, metals and concrete from decontamination and

decommissioning activities, and calcined wastes. Highly radioactive

sludges are typically metal oxides with large amounts of potentially

soluble materials such as sodium or aluminum. A method for direct

removal of the small radioactive fraction of these materials would

greatly reduce disposal costs, but such methods are lacking.

Waste Disposal Forms. Safe disposal of radioactive wastes requires

that a wide range of potential waste streams be converted into

insoluble materials for long term storage. Some radioactive material-

containing forms have been successfully developed and are being

produced; however, the forms must be developed and optimized for each

material to be stored, including high-level wastes, low-level wastes,

mixed wastes, and fissile materials.

Specific examples of technology needs and research challenges

relating to waste forms include, but are not limited to:

Borosilicate glass is a waste form which is currently used

for the storage of some high level waste and is considered a candidate

for disposal of other high and low level wastes. It is unclear whether

all waste types can be dissolved in borosilicate glass. Many common

waste components, such as phosphates, sulfates, and chromates, are

thought to have low solubilities. Some extractant materials, such as

crystalline silicotitanate, may have limited solubilities as well.

A better understanding of waste form leaching performance

is required, including the hydrodynamics of fluids in cracked media,

transport phenomena and phase separation at surfaces, and radiation-

enhanced dissolution at interfaces. Validated chemical and

thermodynamic models are required to predict leaching and gas bubble

formation. The structure and bonding of waste components in waste

forms, as well as the effect of the waste and the radiation field on

stability, solubility, durability, and processing of the host, must be

elucidated.

Waste forms for mixed waste which have higher waste

loading, improved stability and chemical durability than current forms

are required to reduce disposal costs and facilitate waste acceptance.

Evaluation of the long-term performance is required to ensure that

disposal satisfies stakeholder concerns and regulatory requirements.

Vitrification of certain plutonium-contaminated waste

materials may be preferred to cementation due to the lower volume of

the final waste form. Vitrification has not been as highly developed

for actinide residues or wastes as for fission product wastes. For

other actinide wastes, mineral waste forms may be preferred; however,

an enhanced technical basis for alternate waste forms for stabilizing

plutonium is needed before mineral compositions can be used as

intermediate- and long-term storage materials.

Risk, Quantitative Methodologies, Human and Environmental Health

Analyses. There is much scientific uncertainty about the levels of risk

to human health at the end stages of the DOE clean-up effort. Research

challenges in the area of risk, quantitative, and health analyses

include, but are not limited to:

Accurate risk analyses require thorough knowledge of

contaminant characteristics, basic ecological processes and principles,

rates at which contaminants move through ecosystems, and health and

ecological effects. In particular, better knowledge of radionuclide and

toxic chemical transport dynamics and the potential effects of long-

term exposure to low levels of radionuclides, in combination with other

contaminants, is essential.

--There is a need for health and environmental research to support

adoption of performance standards that present quantifiable criteria

for the levels to which high level waste tanks must be cleaned prior to

closure.

Research is required to improve understanding of

threatened and damaged ecosystems and processes to restore the

viability and quality of these ecosystems.

Details of the programs of the Office of Environmental Management

and the technologies currently under development or in use by

Environmental Management Program can be found on the World Wide Web at

http://www.em.doe.gov and at the extensive links contained therein.

These programs and technologies should be used to obtain a better

understanding of the missions and challenges in environmental

management in DOE when considering areas of research to be proposed.

References for Background Information

Note: World Wide Web locations of these documents are provided

where possible. For those without access to the World Wide Web, hard

copies of these references may be obtained by writing Dr. Carol J.

Henry at the address listed in the contacts section.

DOE. 1996. Estimating the Cold War Mortgage: The 1996 Baseline

Environmental Management Report. March 1996. U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Environmental Management, Washington, D.C.

http://www.em.doe.gov/bemr96/index.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Environmental Restoration EM-40.

http://www.em.doe.gov/er/index.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization EM-60.

http://www.em.doe.gov/menu/?nucmat.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Science and Risk Policy EM-52 and Environmental

Management Science Program.

http://www.em.doe.gov/science/

DOE. 1996. Office of Science and Technology EM-50.

http://www.em.doe.gov/menu/?techdev.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Waste Management EM-30.

http://www.em.doe.gov/menu/?wstmgmt.html

DOE. 1996. Spent Nuclear Fuel. DOE-Owned SNF Technology Integration

Plan. U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC. DOE/SNF-PP-002, May

1996.

DOE. 1996. Taking Stock: A Look at the Opportunities and Challenges

Posed by Inventories from the Cold War Era. The U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Washington, DC.

http://www.em.doe.gov/takstock/index.html

DOE. 1996. Tank Waste Information Network System.

http://twins.pnl.gov:8001/refmain.html

DOE. 1995. Closing the Circle on the Splitting of the Atom: The

Environmental Legacy of Nuclear Weapons Production in the United States

and What the Department of Energy is Doing About It. The U.S.

[[Page 64737]]

Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Office of

Strategic Planning and Analysis, Washington, D.C.

http://www.em.doe.gov/circle/index.html

DOE. 1995. Environmental Management 1995: Progress and Plans of the

Environmental Management Program. The U.S. Department of Energy, Office

of Environmental Management, Washington, D.C.

http://www.em.doe.gov/em95/

DOE. 1995. Risks and the Risk Debate: Searching for Common Ground ``The

First Step''. The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental

Management, Washington, D.C.

http://raleigh.dis.anl.gov:81/cgi-bin/dispdoc--return.pl?rrd+1

DOE. 1995. Technology Summary Reports, June 1995 (Rainbow Books)

http://www.em.doe.gov/rain/

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. 1996. Mixed Waste Focus Area

Integrated Technical Baseline Report. Volumes 1 and 2. U.S. Department

of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, Idaho. DOE/ID-10524.

http://wastenot.inel.gov/mwfa/doe_id-10524.html

National Commission on Superfund Members. Final Consensus Report of the

National Commission on Superfund. March 1994. Keystone Center and the

Environmental Law Center of Vermont Law School.

National Environmental Technology Strategy. Bridge to a Sustainable

Future. April 1995. National Science and Technology Council,

Washington, D.C.

http://www.gnet.org/gnet/gov/usgov/whitehouse/bridge/bridge.html

National Research Council. 1996. Building an Environmental Management

Science Program: Initial Assessment. National Academy Press,

Washington, DC.

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/envmanage/

National Research Council. 1995. Improving the Environment: An

Evaluation of DOE's Environmental Management Program. National Academy

Press, Washington, D.C.

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/doeemp/

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Hanford Tank Cleanup: A Guide to

Understanding the Technical Issues. R.E. Gephart, R.E. Lundgren.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington. NTIS Order

number: DE96004127. Report Number: PNL-10773. To order, call the NTIS

sales desk at (703) 487-4650.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Tanks Focus Area FY 1996 Site

Needs Assessment. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland,

Washington. PNL-11091.

Secretary of Energy Advisory Board. Alternative Futures for the

Department of Energy National Laboratories. February 1995. Task Force

on alternative Futures for the Department of Energy National

Laboratories, Washington, D.C.

http://www.doe.gov/html/doe/whatsnew/galvin/tf-rpt.html

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. Complex Cleanup: The

Environmental Legacy of Nuclear Weapons Production, February 1991. U.S.

Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. NTIS Order number:

PB91143743. To order, call the NTIS sales desk at (703) 487-4650.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1996. Availability of 1997 Grants

for Research.

http://es.inel.gov/ncerqa/rfa97/eparfa97.html

(The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program

is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR Part

605)

Issued in Washington, DC on December 2, 1996.

John Rodney Clark,

Associate Director for Resource Management, Office of Energy Research.

[FR Doc. 96-31071 Filed 12-5-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P