Energy Department awards $40 Million for waste cleanup research at nuclear sites

Core mission, cleanup of massive hazardous waste from decades of nuclear weapons research, production in 20th century

Ernest Moniz, Department of Energy secretary

WASHINGTON – US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced $40 million in awards for four new Energy Frontier Research Centers to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to support the Department of Energy environmental management and nuclear cleanup mission.

The four centers will be led respectively by Florida State University, Ohio State University, the University of South Carolina and the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

“The four new Energy Frontier Research Centers announced today lay the foundation for continuing success in our environmental cleanup efforts, which depend upon advances in innovative science and research technologies,” said Secretary Moniz.

The goal is to achieve fundamental advances in science to enable safe, efficient, and cost-effective waste cleanup and storage technologies said the DOE in a press release.

The research centers are funded by DOE’s Office of Science and are designed to support the work of DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, which is responsible for the Department’s cleanup mission.

“As one of America’s most successful use-inspired basic research initiatives, the EFRC program can be counted on to further discoveries that will greatly enhance cleanup efforts and accomplish one of DOE’s core missions,” said Moniz.

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The new centers were competitively selected based on a comprehensive merit review process with awards ranging from $2 million to $4 million per year for each center for up to four fiscal years.

The Energy Frontier Research Centers have produced over 7,500 peer-reviewed scientific publications and have helped lay the scientific groundwork for fundamental advances in solar energy, electrical energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration, materials and chemistry by design, biosciences, and materials in extreme environments.

The program has also has benefited a number of large and small companies, including start-up firms, and generated hundreds of inventions at various stages of the patent process.

Each of the new centers is a multi-institutional team and includes several university and/or national laboratory partners in addition to the lead institution.