ABSTRACT
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is a major player in accelerating cleanup and decision making, and is especially active in the research and development area of environmental technologies. From a contamination standpoint, DOE faces environmental remediation and waste management problems resulting from over 50 years of nuclear weapons and energy production. At most DOE sites, in situ approaches for site restoration and containment of wastes are desirable (over excavation and pump-and-treat technologies), because much of the contamination is difficult to handle after it is removed. Contaminants may also be widely dispersed in the environment, exist at relatively dilute concentrations, or may be otherwise inaccessible because of depth or location beneath structures. Classes of chemical contaminants present in sediments and groundwater at more than half of all DOE facilities include fuel hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, metals, and radionuclides.
