Sandia National Labs

News Release

Media Relations Department

CONTACT: Neal Singer, 505-845-7078, nsinger@sandia.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 20, 1996

Sandia Scientists Win Grants For Fundamental Environmental Cleanup Research

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Three Sandia National Laboratories scientists who proposed methods to investigate or restore damaged environmental areas each have won grants of more than a million dollars from the Department of Energy to test the validity of their proposals.

The awards are among 135 distributed nationally to 52 universities and 11 national laboratories in a $47 million program by the energy department's Environmental Management Science Program. The intent is to stimulate innovative fundamental research that will help the agency manage and dispose of radioactive and hazardous chemical waste. The prospective research "should address problems that are considered intractable without new knowledge," according to a prospectus distributed by the agency.

Sandia principal investigators, who will each receive grants over a three-year period, are:

DOE officials say the Environmental Management Science Program is the first of its kind in bringing together scientists who have the desire to understand the whys and hows of everything in the universe with the engineers who must methodically complete defined tasks.

Proposed research is expected to contribute to environmental management and restoration actions that would decrease risk for the public and workers, provide opportunities for major cost reductions, and reduce time required to achieve major cleanup actions.

The investment itself resulted from congressional interest in encouraging longer term research to ultimately reduce clean-up costs of environmentally damaged areas.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram national laboratory operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation for the U.S. DOE. With main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California, Sandia has broad-based research and development programs contributing to national defense, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

Neal Singer, nsinger@sandia.gov

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Last modified: June 12, 2001

Sandia National Laboratories is operated by Lockheed Martin Corp. for the U.S. Department of Energy.