Environmental Health and Remediation
Providing the science to reduce cost and risk in environmental cleanup
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is one of the world's premier providers of research for solving complex environmental challenges and protecting natural resources. We are making your water, soil and air cleaner by finding effective ways to treat and dispose of waste and environmental contamination.
Our focus in this area started with the nation's nuclear weapons mission, which began in the 1940s. Scientists at PNNL and its predecessor organizations helped discover new knowledge and develop improved methods for chemical processing and nuclear materials separations. Their work led to major advances in plutonium production and related research at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site.
Today we leverage this expertise and integrate it with other capabilities to address a monumental 21st century challenge: remediation of radioactive and hazardous waste contamination at Hanford, as well as at other contaminated sites across the nation and around the world. We specialize in:
Chemical and Nuclear Processing [+ expand/ - collapse]
Approximately 55 million gallons of nuclear waste from Hanford's plutonium production days reside in 177 underground tanks. The waste is a complex mixture, with composition varying from tank to tank, and its presence poses a substantial risk to the environment, particularly the Columbia River. By the end of this decade, DOE plans to start the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), which will use vitrification technology to encapsulate the waste in glass to enable safe, long-term storage. Successful vitrification and treatment requires resolution of a number of issues, ranging from approaches for waste mixing and transport to immobilization and disposal. PNNL is working with DOE, other national laboratories, university partners and Hanford Site contractors to resolve these issues and move the WTP toward startup.
With an eye toward future needs at Hanford and other sites, we're also pioneering predictive process science—the integration of interfacial science, scaled testing, and advanced computer simulations. This will help facilitate design and operations of not only the WTP, but other federal and industrial processing facilities. Another focus of our efforts is the development of better, more efficient methods and materials for waste immobilization and packaging for long-term storage. Among these methods are new waste glass formulations that potentially could save billions of dollars, and closure techniques—such as friction stir welding—to remotely seal nuclear waste packages.
In addition to tank wastes, we are working to resolve the disposition of a range of unique and challenging nuclear materials at Hanford and other DOE sites that do not yet have a clear path to disposal.
To learn more about work in this area, see the following websites:
Radiochemical Processing Laboratory
Radiochemical Science and Engineering.
Subsurface Science and Remediation [+ expand/ - collapse]
Waste management practices evolved over time at Hanford, from the rudimentary—releasing waste directly to the soil or burying it—to more environmentally sound approaches. Some of these practices have led to significant contamination in Hanford's "vadose zone"—the area below the surface, but above groundwater. We tap a suite of subsurface science research disciplines—as well as computer and conceptual modeling—to better understand the location of contaminants and how they travel underground. In turn, this informs development of remediation strategies and technologies to remove contaminants or bind them in place so they do not reach the groundwater. These advances will significantly reduce risks and accelerate cleanup at Hanford, as well as sites across the nation.
As a leader in the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM) consortia, we are at the center of national efforts to leverage high-performance computing to fill gaps in understanding and guide these types of cleanup activities.
To learn more about work in this area, see the following websites:
Earth Systems Science Division (ESSD) Research Areas
Subsurface Contaminant Fate & Transport (ESSD).
These links may take you away from http://energyenvironment.pnnl.gov/default.asp.
