Fish, FRAMES and sticky chemicals net technology award for Pacific Northwest National ...( RICHLAND Wash. -- Three environmental ...)

The technologies recognized for innovation and "performance in challenging times" are FRAMES, a software system for understanding the effect of industrial activities on people and the environment; a testing chamber that identifies how hard-to-measure chemicals change in the environment; and a test bed for developing fish friendly designs for roadway culverts.

Speeding up risk assessment: FRAMES The Framework for Risk Analysis Multimedia Environmental Systems (FRAMES) is an environmental systems analysis tool that enables regulators and environmental cleanup specialists to assess risk from pollutants in days or weeks, instead of months or years.

FRAMES allows users to integrate an array of commercial or custom-built knowledge, data and simulation models and databases. The result is a highly tailored visualization of each risk scenario. The intuitive operation of FRAMES saves time and expense because no specialized programming knowledge is needed, and little reconfiguration is required to incorporate a model.

FRAMES users include the U.S. Army, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as industry and universities.

Slick technology nabs sticky chemicals: chemical testing chamber

Identifying how chemicals change in the environment became easier and more accurate with the development of the PNNL chemical testing chamber, a new tool for understanding hard-to-measure chemical emissions.

The chamber is the first system to precisely measure semi-volatiles, very sticky chemicals that remain in the environment for weeks to months after release. Semi-volatiles are key ingredients in pe
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Contact: Judith Graybeal
graybeal@pnl.gov
509-357-4351
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
21-Jan-2004