INEEL's new Geocentrifuge Research Laboratory will be put to use to study the theory that soil moisture content controls the chemical reactivity of contaminants in the vadose zone (the saturated area between the surface and the water table).
And researchers focused on metals in the subsurface will conduct two projects. The first will study feasibility of using metal-reducing microbes to create passive barriers to immobilize heavy metals in the subsurface and degrade chemical compounds of carbon and halogen. The second project will evaluate how stainless steel alloys survive three decades of underground storage. Since most long-term waste repositories and disposal facilities will be underground, test results will help understand long-term integrity, corrosion impacts, and contaminant transport from containers.
"Since 2000, INEEL has heavily invested in increasing the Laboratory's capabilities to conduct state-of-the-art subsurface research by hiring additional staff and building research facilities. Our success in competing for EMSP funding is validation that we're on the right track," said Wright.
In developing their proposals, INEEL researchers placed strong emphasis on compelling collaborations with other institutions to leverage research resources. INEEL staff will be working with researchers from three other national laboratories, 11 universities and five corporations. One collaborating industry is North Wind Environmental, Inc., an INEEL spin-off company located in Idaho Falls.
The INEEL is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the DOE's missions in environment, energy, science and national security. The INEEL is operated for the DOE by Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LL
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Contact: Deborah Hill
dahill@inel.gov
208-526-4723
DOE/Idaho National Laboratory
11-Nov-2002