Mission, Scope, and Goals

MISSION

The mission of the Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research (NABIR) program is to provide the scientific understanding needed to harness natural processes and to develop methods to accelerate these processes for the bioremediation of contaminated soils, sediments, and groundwater at DOE facilities.

SCOPE

The program will focus on in situ bioremediation of complex mixtures of contaminants present at DOE facilities. Primary contaminants of concern include mixtures of halogenated compounds, organic acids, chelating agents, heavy metals, and radionuclides. Scientific understanding will be gained by performing fundamental laboratory and field research on biotransformation and biodegradation processes, community dynamics and microbial ecology, biomolecular science and engineering, biogeochemical dynamics, and innovative methods for accelerating and assessing in situ biogeochemical processes. Field research centers and the supporting infrastructure will be established to facilitate long-term, interdisciplinary research. Computational models will be developed as integrating tools, as well as to provide methods for predicting and optimizing the effectiveness of bioremediation.

BACKGROUND

DOE has a 50-year legacy of environmental problems resulting from the production of nuclear weapons. Among the most serious are widespread contamination of soils, sediments, and groundwater. The total life-cycle cost of remediating these sites is not known (DOE, 1995). Moreover, many of the contaminated soils, sediments, and groundwater are believed to be impossible to remediate with existing technology. Examples of such intractable problems include the Snake River Aquifer in Idaho, contaminated groundwater at the "100" and "200" areas at Hanford, Washington, contaminated sediments in the Columbia River, and groundwater at the Nevada Test Site (DOE, 1995). The huge cost, long duration, and technical challenges associated with remediating DOE facilities present a significant opportunity for science to contribute cost-effective solutions.

While some of DOE's environmental remediation problems are shared by other federal agencies and the private sector, DOE faces a unique set of challenges associated with complex mixtures of contaminants, especially those mixtures that contain radioactive elements. The Environmental Management Program's Office of Technology Development has embarked on an ambitious path to develop innovative technologies for solving many of its problems. However, they and others have recognized that, in many cases, the fundamental scientific information needed to develop effective technologies is lacking. Natural and accelerated bioremediation, which has potential to play an important role in DOE's environmental restoration program, is one area where advances in scientific understanding could make a significant contribution.

GOALS

Over a ten-year period, the scientific knowledge needed to harness natural biogeochemical processes and develop methods to accelerate these processes will be achieved by meeting the following goals:

o Develop interdisciplinary teams and focus them on gaining the fundamental knowledge necessary to overcome the obstacles facing current technologies for remediating complex contaminant mixtures in natural environments.

o Establish field research centers for long-term research on the scientific foundations underpinning bioremediation.

o Develop the scientific knowledge, computational methods, and monitoring techniques needed to implement and predict the effectiveness of bioremediation of contaminant mixtures in a wide variety of natural environments.

o Train a new generation of scientists and engineers to address interdisciplinary problems related to biogeochemical processes in complex environments.

o Identify opportunities for using knowledge gained from this program for other applications such as ex situ waste treatment, pollution prevention, and ecosystem monitoring.

o Develop effective partnerships to address ethical, legal, and social issues as well as to use and share the knowledge acquired from the program for optimal application of bioremediation at DOE sites. Partners will include intra- and inter-agency representatives, state and federal regulators, the public, and the research and development community.

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