The Savannah River Environmental Technology Field Test Platform: Phase 2

The principal goal in the development of new technologies for environmental monitoring and characterization is transferring them to organizations and individuals for use in site assessment and compliance monitoring. The DOE complex has devised several strategies to facilitate this transfer including joint research projects between private industries and government laboratories or universities (CRADAs) and streamlined licensing procedures. One strategy that has been under-utilized is a planned sequence gradually moving from laboratory development and field demonstration to long term evaluation and onsite use. Industrial partnership and commercial production can be initiated at any step based on the performance, market, user needs, and costs associated with the technology. This approach allows use of the technology by onsite groups for compliance monitoring tasks (e.g. Environmental Restoration and Waste Management), while following parallel research and development organizations the opportunity to evaluate the long term performance and to make modifications or improvements to the technology. This probationary period also provides regulatory organizations, potential industrial partners, and potential users with the opportunity to evaluate the technology`s performance and its utility for implementation in environmental characterization and monitoring programs.