Joint DOE/EPA initiatives to facilitate international environmental technology transfer

The Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (OEM) is responsible for the management and the cleanup of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes generated by US Department of Energy (DOE) operations. The Office of Technology Development (OTD) within OEM is responsible for the identification, development, and implementation of technologies that will ensure compliance with all applicable regulations, including the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) safety criteria, which focus on hazardous wastes. The DOE and EPA are cooperating to identify and transfer international technologies that will expedite cleanup activities. The OTD is pursuing the use of integrated demonstrations as a primary mechanism for international technology transfer. Integrated demonstrations utilize a system engineering approach to evaluate comparable technologies in solving a single, well-defined problem. Multiple technologies can be rigorously compared in terms of safety, cost, and effectiveness in each demonstration. As a result of this approach, international collaboration among governments and the private sector is anticipated to effectively transfer technologies upon successful completion of the demonstrations. International cooperative integrated demonstrations will provide a basis for selecting preferred remediation approaches and for directing additional technology research and development