To advance our understanding of the fundamental physical, chemical and biological processes that control contaminant behavior in the environment in ways that help solve DOE’s intractable problems in environmental remediation and stewardship.
Program Description
The Environmental Remediation Sciences Program advances fundamental science to understand, predict and mitigate the impacts of environmental contamination from past nuclear weapons production and provide a scientific basis for the long-term stewardship of nuclear waste disposal. The program supports an integrated portfolio of research ranging from molecular to field scales with emphasis on the use of advanced computer models and multidisciplinary, iterative-experimentation to understand and predict contaminant transport in complex subsurface environments.
The Environmental Remediation Sciences Program supports a long-term measure to "provide sufficient scientific understanding such that DOE sites would be able to incorporate physical, chemical and biological processes into decision making for environmental remediation and long-term stewardship." Progress toward this long-term goal is evaluated by quarterly, annual and long-term measures through the Administration's Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART). For more information on PART and on this specific measure, see the Office of Science PART page. For information on ERSP's specific annual and quarterly milestones in support of PART, see the ERSP Annual and Quarterly Milestones page.
Solicitations
The program is now soliciting research proposals. Details of the solicitation can be found at Notice 09-07. Information about preparing and submitting applications, as well as the DOE Office of Science merit review process, is at the DOE Office of Science Grants and Contracts Web Site.
Why the Program's Research is Important
DOE is responsible for what has been described as the largest, most complex, and diverse collection of environmental remediation challenges in the nation. While some of the problems are tractable and require only time and money to resolve, a large fraction of them cannot be resolved with existing knowledge and technology. It is the need for solutions to this subset of environmental remediation problems that drives this research program.
Data Sharing Policy
Funding of projects by the program is contingent on adherence to BER’s data sharing policy.
More Information about the Program and Its Accomplishments
Strategic Plan Program Structure Publications Annual ERSP PI Meeting: Programs and Abstracts Modeling and High-Performance Computer (SciDAC)