ENHANCING EFFECTIVENESS OF EMSP PROJECTS THROUGH STRONG CONNECTIONS TO SITE PROBLEMS
The Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) funds basic science research that will lead to reduced remediation cost, schedule, technical uncertainties, and risk for DOE’s environmental clean up. The Tanks Focus Area (TFA) has partnered with EMSP to accomplish those same objectives for DOE’s largest and most expensive remediation effort – to retrieve and immobilize the highly radioactive wastes that are our nation's chief nuclear defense program legacy. TFA has been tasked to facilitate success of the EMSP investment. The key for EMSP projects to contribute to this remediation effort is communication. First, the scientist needs to understand much more about how his scientific results would be used than he could ever learn from the original EMSP solicitation or by reading the referenced DOE needs statements. Second, the scientist’s results must be communicated to the site problem holders in a usable form and in a timely manner such that important information gaps can still be filled by the EMSP project. Research results can be used in a variety of ways besides deployment of new hardware or a new process. When results are USED the site problem holders become “users”. The important aspect that research results are to be used is captured in the TFA lexicon for their clients, the DOE sites--“USERS”. The best method observed, so far, to accomplish the indispensable communication necessary for success is through direct contact between EMSP researchers and TFA/site problem holders, person to person. The observation that direct contact is the best medium for exchange of complex information may seem inanely obvious. However, it is not the normal procedure in the more academic world of the fundamental scientists, where publishing of results in a peer-reviewed journal completes the transmittal of scientific results. Direct communication between EMSP researchers and site users doesn’t occur naturally. TFA actively bridges this gap between science and technology development and site users through its technology integration managers (TIMs). TIMs are experienced researchers, usually from DOE’s national laboratories, with intimate knowledge of the needs of sites at the working level. They help focus the research projects to develop technical solutions to site submitted needs. They stand in a rather unique position with one foot in the research community and the other foot “in the tanks”. This paper will show, through several examples, significant contributions EMSP scientists have made to solving DOE's high-level waste challenges through direct and enhanced communication with TFA and site users.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 984261
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-39058; EY4049110; TRN: US1005248
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management '02
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COMMUNICATIONS
MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
TANKS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
EMSP
DOE-EM
TFA
interfacing
enhancing value
science program
interaction
site needs