Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices 61307

3. Authority for Conducting the

Matching Program

The information contained in the IRS

data base is referred to TAR, and is

authorized under the Internal Revenue

Code (IRC) 6103 (m) (4), Public Law 99–

603. ED seeks access to this data base

under the Higher Education Act of 1965,

as amended under section 3 (a) (1) of the

Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of

1962.

4. Categories of Records and

Individuals Covered

The records to be used in the match

and the roles of the matching

participants are described as follows:

ED will provide the Social Security

Number (ssn) and first four letters of the

last name of each student who has

defaulted under a loan program

authorized under Title IV of the Higher

Education Act of 1965. This information

will be extracted from the Title IV

Program File system of records (18–40–

0024). The ED data will be matched

against IRS’’ system of records to collect

the most recent address of each taxpayer

who matches the SSN and first four

letters provided by ED.

5. Effective Dates of the Matching

Program

The matching program will become

effective 40-days after a copy of the

agreement, as approved by the Data

Integrity Board of each agency, is sent

to Congress and the Office of

Management and Budget, or 30-days

after publication of this notice in the

Federal Register, unless OMB

disapproves the Matching Program

within the 40-day review period. If

OMB takes no action within the 40-

days, this Matching Program becomes

effective after both the 40-day OMB

period and the 30-day Federal Register

period have passed. The matching

program will continue for 18 months

after the effective date and may be

extended for an additional 12 months, if

the conditions specified in 5 U. S. C.

552a (o) (2) (D) have been met.

6. Address for Receipt of Public

Comments or Inquiries

The person to contact if there are any

questions or inquiries is:

Cynthia D.B. Mills, Management

Analyst, Federal Family Student Loan

Systems Division, Office of

Postsecondary Education, Development

Division, US Department of Education,

600 Independence Avenue, SW, (Room

4613, ROB–3), Washington, DC 20202,

Telephone: 202–708–9768. Individuals

who use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TTD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8

p.m., Eastern time, Monday through

Friday.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact person listed in

the preceding paragraph.

Electronic Access to This Document

Anyone may view this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or portable

document format (pdf) on the World

Wide Web at either of the following

sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the

Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either

of the previous sites. If you have

questions about using the pdf, call the

U. S. Government Printing Office toll

free at 1–888–293–6498.

Anyone may also view these

documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the

Department . Telephone: (202) 219–

1511 or toll free, 1–800–222–4922. The

documents are located under Option

G—Files/Announcement, Bulletins and

Press Releases.

Note: The official version of this document

is the document published in the Federal

Register.

Dated: November 7, 1997.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 97–30050 Filed 11–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Research

Office of Environmental Management;

Energy Research Financial Assistance

Program Notice 98–04; Environmental

Management Science Program:

Research Related to Decontamination

and Decommissioning of Facilities

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE).

ACTION: Notice inviting grant

applications.

SUMMARY: The Offices of Energy

Research (ER) and Environmental

Management (EM), U.S. Department of

Energy, hereby announce their interest

in receiving grant applications for

performance of innovative, fundamental

research to support specifically

activities for facility decontamination

and decommissioning (D&D); which

include, but are not limited to, the

characterization, monitoring, and

certification of contaminated equipment

and facilities; contaminant removal,

contaminant control of various

treatment processes; the treatment,

removal, and stabilization of DOE D&Dderived radioactive, hazardous

chemical, and mixed wastes.

DATES: Potential applicants are strongly

encouraged to submit a brief

preapplication. All preapplications,

referencing Program Notice 98–04,

should be received by DOE by 4:30 P.M.

E.S.T., December 16, 1997. A response

encouraging or discouraging a formal

application generally will be

communicated to the applicant within

three weeks of receipt. The deadline for

receipt of formal applications is 4:30

P.M., E.S.T., March 17, 1998, in order to

be accepted for merit review and to

permit timely consideration for award

in Fiscal Year 1998.

ADDRESSES: All preapplications,

referencing Program Notice 98–04,

should be sent to Dr. Roland F. Hirsch,

ER–73, Mail Stop F–240, Office of

Biological and Environmental Research,

U.S. Department of Energy, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, MD

20874–1290. Preapplications will be

accepted if submitted by U. S. Postal

Service, including Express Mail,

commercial mail delivery service, or

hand delivery, but will not be accepted

by fax, electronic mail, or other means.

After receiving notification from DOE

concerning successful preapplications,

applicants may prepare and submit

formal applications. Applications must

be sent to: U.S. Department of Energy,

Office of Energy Research, Grants and

Contracts Division, ER–64, 19901

Germantown Road, Germantown, MD

20874–1290, Attn: Program Notice 98–

04. The above address for formal

applications must also be used when

submitting formal applications by U.S.

Postal Service Express Mail, any

commercial mail delivery service, or

when hand carried by the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr.

Roland F. Hirsch, ER–73, Mail Stop F–

240, Office of Biological and

Environmental Research, Office of

Energy Research, U.S. Department of

Energy, 19901 Germantown Road,

Germantown, MD 20874–1290,

telephone: (301) 903–5349, fax: (301)

903–0567, E-mail:

roland.hirsch@oer.doe.gov, or Mr. Mark

Gilbertson, Office of Science and Risk

Policy, Office of Science and

Technology, Office of Environmental

Management, 1000 Independence
61308 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices

Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20585,

telephone: (202) 586–7150, E-mail:

mark.gilbertson@em.doe.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office

of Environmental Management, in

partnership with the Office of Energy

Research, sponsors the Environmental

Management Science Program (EMSP)

to fulfill DOE’s continuing commitment

to the cleanup of DOE’s environmental

legacy. The program was initiated in

Fiscal Year 1996.

The DOE Environmental Management

program currently has ongoing applied

research and engineering efforts under

its Technology Development Program.

These efforts must be supplemented

with basic research to address long-term

technical issues crucial to the EM

mission. Basic research can also provide

EM with near-term fundamental data

that may be critical to the advancement

of technologies that are under

development but not yet at full scale nor

implemented. Proposed basic research

under this notice should contribute to

environmental management activities

that would decrease risk for the public

and workers, provide opportunities for

major cost reductions, reduce time

required to achieve EM’s mission goals,

and, in general, should address

problems that are considered intractable

without new knowledge. This program

is designed to inspire ‘‘breakthroughs’’

in areas critical to the EM mission

through basic research and will be

managed in partnership with ER. ER’s

well-established procedures, as set forth

in the Energy Research Merit Review

System, as published in the Federal

Register, March 11, 1991, Vol. 56, No.

47, pages 10244–10246, will be used for

merit review of applications submitted

in response to this notice. This

information is also available on the

World Wide Web at http://

www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/

merit.html.

Subsequent to the formal scientific

merit review, applications that are

judged to be scientifically meritorious

will be evaluated by DOE for relevance

to the objectives of the Environmental

Management Science Program.

Additional information can be obtained

at http://www.em.doe.gov/science.

Additional Notices for the

Environmental Management Science

Program may be issued during Fiscal

Year 1998 covering other areas within

the scope of the EM program.

Purpose

The need to build a stronger scientific

basis for the Environmental

Management effort has been established

in a number of recent studies and

reports. The Galvin Commission report

(‘‘Alternative Futures for the

Department of Energy National

Laboratories,’’ February 1995) also

provided the following observations and

recommendations:

There is a particular need for long term,

basic research in disciplines related to

environmental cleanup’’ * * * ‘‘Adopting a

science-based approach that includes

supporting development of technologies and

expertise’’ * * * ‘‘could lead to both reduced

cleanup costs and smaller environmental

impacts at existing sites and to the

development of a scientific foundation for

advances in environmental technologies.’’

The Environmental Management

Advisory Board Science Committee

(Resolution on the Environmental

Management Science Program, May 2,

1997) made the following observations:

‘‘EMSP results are likely to be of significant

value to EM’’ * * * ‘‘Early program benefits,

include: improved understanding of EM

science needs, linkage with technology

needs, and expansion of the cadre of

scientific personnel working on EM

problems’ * * * ‘‘Science program has the

potential to lead to significant improvement

in future risk reduction and cost and time

savings.’’

The objectives of the Environmental

Management Science Program are to:

• Provide scientific knowledge that

will revolutionize technologies and

clean-up approaches to significantly

reduce future costs, schedules, and

risks;

• ‘‘Bridge the gap’’ between broad

fundamental research that has wideranging applicability such as that

performed in DOE’s Office of Energy

Research and needs-driven applied

technology development that is

conducted in EM’s Office of Science and

Technology; and

• Focus the Nation’s science

infrastructure on critical DOE

environmental management problems.

Representative Research Areas

Basic research is solicited in all areas

of science with the potential for

addressing problems in

decontamination and decommissioning

of nuclear facilities, an important

subject of concern to the Department’s

Environmental Management Program.

The relevant scientific disciplines

include, but are not limited to,

bioremediation, chemistry (including

analytical chemistry and

instrumentation, surface chemistry, and

separations chemistry), computational

sciences (including research and

development of digital control

algorithms for robotics, communication

procedures and software technology for

remote control of processing

equipment), engineering sciences

(including control systems and

optimization, diagnostics, transport

processes, fracture mechanics, and

bioengineering), materials science

(including alternate materials

processing routes for waste

minimization, welding and joining,

degradation mechanisms, including

corrosion and irradiation damage in

radioactive waste forms, and remote

sensing and monitoring), and physics

(including optical, surface, and fluid

physics).

Program Funding

Up to a total of $4,000,000 of Fiscal

Year 1998 Federal funds is expected to

be available for new Environmental

Management Science Program awards

resulting from this Notice. Multiple-year

funding of grant awards is anticipated,

contingent upon the availability of

funds. Award sizes are expected to be

on the order of $100,000—$300,000 per

year for total project costs for a typical

three-year grant. Collaborative projects

involving several research groups or

more than one institution may receive

larger awards if merited. The program

will be competitive and offered to

investigators in universities or other

institutions of higher education, other

non-profit or for-profit organizations,

non-Federal agencies or entities, or

unaffiliated individuals. DOE reserves

the right to fund in whole or part any

or none of the applications received in

response to this notice. A parallel

announcement with a similar potential

total amount of funds will be issued to

DOE Federally Funded Research and

Development Centers. All projects will

be evaluated using the same criteria,

regardless of the submitting institution.

Collaboration and Training

Applicants to the EMSP are strongly

encouraged to collaborate with

researchers in other institutions, such as

universities, industry, non-profit

organizations, federal laboratories and

Federally Funded Research and

Development Centers (FFRDCs),

including the DOE National

Laboratories, where appropriate, and to

incorporate cost sharing and/or

consortia wherever feasible.

Applicants are also encouraged to

provide training opportunities,

including student involvement, in

applications submitted to the program.

Collaborative research applications

may be submitted in several ways:

(1) When multiple private sector or

academic organizations intend to

propose collaborative or joint research

projects, the lead organization may

submit a single application which

includes another organization as a

lower-tier participant (subcontract) who
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices 61309

will be responsible for a smaller portion

of the overall project. If approved for

funding, DOE may provide the total

project funds to the lead organization

who will provide funding to the other

participant via a subcontract

arrangement. The application should

clearly describe the role to be played by

each organization, specify the

managerial arrangements and explain

the advantages of the multiorganizational effort.

(2) Alternatively, multiple private

sector or academic organizations who

intend to propose collaborative or joint

research projects may each prepare a

portion of the application, then combine

each portion into a single, integrated

scientific application. A separate Face

Page and Budget Pages must be

included for each organization

participating in the collaborative

project. The joint application must be

submitted to DOE as one package. If

approved for funding, DOE will award

a separate grant to each collaborating

organization.

(3) Private sector or academic

applicants who wish to form a

collaborative project with a DOE FFRDC

may not include the DOE FFRDC in

their application as a lower-tier

participant (subcontract). Rather each

collaborator may prepare a portion of

the proposal, then combine each portion

into a single, integrated scientific

proposal. The private sector or academic

organization must include a Face Page

and Budget Pages for their portion of the

project. The FFRDC must include

separate Budget Pages for their portion

of the project. The joint proposal must

be submitted to DOE as one package. If

approved for funding, DOE will award

a grant to the private sector or academic

organization. The FFRDC will be

funded, through existing DOE contracts,

from funds specifically designated for

new FFRDC projects. DOE FFRDCs will

not compete for funding already

designated for private sector or

academic organizations. Other Federal

laboratories who wish to form

collaborative projects may also follow

guidelines outlined in this section.

Preapplications

A brief preapplication may be

submitted. The original and five copies

must be received by December 16, 1997,

to be considered. The preapplication

should identify on the cover sheet the

institution, PI name, address, telephone,

fax and E-mail address for the principal

investigator, title of the project, and the

field of scientific research (using the list

in the Application Categories section).

The preapplication should consist of up

to three pages of narrative describing the

research objectives and the plan for

accomplishing them, and should also

include a paragraph describing the

research background of the principal

investigator and key collaborators if any.

Preapplications will be evaluated

relative to the scope and research needs

of the DOE’s Environmental

Management Science Program by

qualified DOE program managers from

both ER and EM. Preapplications are

strongly encouraged but not required

prior to submission of a full application.

Please note that notification of a

successful preapplication is not an

indication that an award will be made

in response to the formal application.

Application Format

Applicants are expected to use the

following format in addition to

following instructions in the Office of

Energy Research Application Guide.

Applications must be written in English,

with all budgets in U.S. dollars.

• ER Face Page (DOE F 4650.2 (10–

91))

• Application classification sheet (a

plain sheet of paper with one selection

from the list of scientific fields listed in

the Application Categories Section)

• Table of Contents

• Project Abstract (no more than one

page)

• Budgets for each year and a

summary budget page for the entire

project period (using DOE F 4620.1)

• Budget Explanation

• Budgets and Budget explanation for

each collaborative subproject, if any

• Project Narrative (recommended

length is no more than 20 pages; multiinvestigator collaborative projects may

use more pages if necessary up to a total

of 40 pages)

Goals

Significance of Project to the EMSP

Background

Research Plan

Preliminary Studies (if applicable)

Research Design and Methodologies

• Literature Cited

• Collaborative Arrangements (if

applicable)

• Biographical Sketches (limit 2 pages

per senior investigator)

• Description of Facilities and

Resources

• Current and Pending Support for

each senior investigator

Application Categories

In order to properly classify each

preapplication and application for

evaluation and review, the documents

must indicate the applicant’s preferred

scientific research field, selected from

the following list.

Field of Scientific Research:

1. Bioremediation

2. Analytical Chemistry and

Instrumentation

3. Separations Chemistry

4. Surface Chemistry

5. Computer and Mathematical Sciences

6. Engineering Sciences

7. Materials Science

8. Physics

9. Other

Application Evaluation and Selection

Scientific Merit

The program will support the most

scientifically meritorious and relevant

work, regardless of the institution.

Formal applications will be subjected to

scientific merit review (peer review) and

will be evaluated against the following

evaluation criteria listed in descending

order of importance as codified at 10

CFR 605.10(d).

1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of

the Project

2. Appropriateness of the Proposed

Method or Approach

3. Competency of Applicant’s

Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed

Resources

4. Reasonableness and

Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget

External peer reviewers are selected

with regard to both their scientific

expertise and the absence of conflict-ofinterest issues. Non-federal reviewers

may be used, and submission of an

application constitutes agreement that

this is acceptable to the investigator(s)

and the submitting institution.

Relevance to Mission

Subsequent to the formal scientific

merit review, applications which are

judged to be scientifically meritorious

will be evaluated by DOE for relevance

to the objectives of the Environmental

Management Science Program. These

objectives were established in the

Conference Report for the Fiscal Year

1996 Energy and Water Development

Appropriations Act, and are published

in the Congressional Record—House,

October 26, 1995, page H10956.

DOE shall also consider, as part of the

evaluation, program policy factors such

as an appropriate balance among the

program areas, including research

already in progress. Research funded in

the Environmental Management Science

Program in Fiscal Year 1996 and Fiscal

Year 1997 can be viewed at http://

www.doe.gov/em52/sciencegrants.html.

Application Guide and Forms

Information about the development,

submission of applications, eligibility,
61310 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices

limitations, evaluation, the selection

process, and other policies and

procedures may be found in 10 CFR part

605, and in the Application Guide for

the Office of Energy Research Financial

Assistance Program. Electronic access to

the Guide and required forms is made

available via the World Wide Web at

http://www.er.doe.gov/production/

grants/grants.html.

Major Environmental Management

Challenges

This research announcement has been

developed for Fiscal Year 1998, along

with a development process for a longterm program within Environmental

Management, with the objective of

providing continuity in scientific

knowledge that will revolutionize

technologies and clean-up approaches

for solving DOE’s most complex

environmental problems. The following

is an overview of the technical

challenge facing the Environmental

Management Program in the area of

Decontamination and Decommissioning

which is the focus of this

announcement. More detailed

descriptions of the specific technical

needs and areas of emphasis associated

with this problem area can be found in

the background section of this Notice.

Deactivation refers to ceasing facility

operations and placing the facility in a

safe and stable condition to prevent

unacceptable exposure of people or the

environment to radioactive or other

hazardous materials until the facility

can be decommissioned. Typically,

deactivation involves removal of stored

radioactive and other hazardous

materials and the draining of systems.

Decommissioning is the process of

decontaminating or removing

contaminated equipment and structures

to achieve the desired end state for the

facility. Desired end states include

complete removal and remediation of

the facility, release of the facility for

unrestricted use, or release of facility for

restricted use. Decontamination is the

removal of unwanted radioactive or

hazardous contamination by a chemical

or mechanical process.

DOE must decontaminate and

decommission a large number of aging,

surplus facilities. The nature and

magnitude of the facility

decontamination, decommissioning,

and material disposition problems

require Environmental Management to

address these problems quickly and

cost-effectively. In Facility

Decontamination and Decommissioning,

Environmental Management is

attempting to solve the problems of

7,000 contaminated buildings that

require deactivation, and 900

contaminated buildings including their

contents that require decommissioning.

DOE is also responsible for

decontaminating the metal and concrete

within those buildings and disposing of

180,000 metric tons of scrap metal.

Several themes in the area of Facility

Decontamination and Decommissioning

were identified from research needs

statements. These are summarized

below:

• Characterization: Improved

characterization and monitoring and

certification of contaminated equipment

and facilities with emphasis on real

time characterization in the field.

• Contaminant removal: Advances in

the removal of contamination from

equipment and facilities, particularly

metallic structures and equipment, and

concrete structures. Other gaps in the

knowledge base exist in containment

technologies to prevent radioactive

emissions and spread of contamination

during deactivation and

decommissioning; improved knowledge

for safe removal of hazardous materials,

including asbestos and lead; and remote

handling and operations and ideas that

could increase worker safety and

productivity.

• Reduction of waste: Methods for

reduction of waste volume produced by

decontamination and decommissioning.

The aforementioned areas of emphasis

does not preclude, and DOE strongly

encourages, any innovative or creative

ideas contributing to solving EM D&D

challenges mentioned throughout this

Notice.

Background

The United States involvement in

nuclear weapons development for the

last 50 years has resulted in the

development of a vast research,

production, and testing network known

as the nuclear weapons complex. The

Department has the challenge of

deactivating 7,000 contaminated

buildings and decommissioning 900

contaminated buildings that are

currently on DOE’s list of surplus

facilities. It is also responsible for

decontaminating the metal and concrete

within those buildings and disposing of

180,000 metric tons of scrap metal. As

stated earlier, deactivation refers to

ceasing facility operations and placing

the facility in a safe and stable condition

to prevent unacceptable exposure of

people or the environment to

radioactive or other hazardous materials

until the facility can be

decommissioned. Typically,

deactivation involves removal of fuel

and stored radioactive and other

hazardous materials and draining of

systems. Decommissioning is the

process of decontaminating or removing

contaminated equipment and structures

to achieve the desired end state for the

facility. Desired end states include

complete removal and remediation of

the facility, release of facility for

unrestricted use, or release of facility for

restricted use. Decontamination is the

removal of unwanted radioactive or

hazardous contamination by a chemical

or mechanical process.

Decontamination and

Decommissioning (D&D) is centered

around four main areas of surplus

facilities. These are Reactor Facilities,

Processing Facilities, Laboratory

Facilities, and Infrastructure and

Supporting Activities that pertain to all

types of surplus facilities.

Reactor facilities include production,

test, and research reactors and their

associated buildings. These facilities

represent a significant portion of DOE’s

D&D mortgage. The decontamination

and decommissioning of these reactors

could expose workers to high levels of

radiation and hazardous material using

currently-available, labor-intensive

technologies.

Processing facilities includes

plutonium, uranium, tritium, lithium

processing facilities, and gaseous

diffusion plants. Decommissioning of

these facilities could benefit from

innovative science in the areas of in-situ

characterization and analysis, less costly

waste disposal options, automated

systems for containment and

dismantlement, and material recycling.

Laboratory facilities include hot cells,

gloveboxes, and analytical laboratories.

Hot cells and gloveboxes have a highradiation environment with highlycontaminated equipment.

Decommissioning of these facilities

could benefit from innovative science in

the areas of debris removal, wet and dry

decontamination methods, waste

segregation and volume reduction, and

remote and robotic dismantlement

techniques.

Infrastructure and Supporting

Activities includes innovative science

in the areas of worker safety and

protection; concrete and metal recycle;

pollution prevention; and final waste

forms.

This research agenda has been

developed for Fiscal Year 1998, along

with a development process for a long

term program within EM, with the

objective of providing continuity in

scientific knowledge that will

revolutionize technologies and clean-up

approaches for solving DOE’s most

complex environmental problems. The

following are descriptions of the Facility

Decontamination and Decommissioning

challenges which are intended to help
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices 61311

align research and researchers in these

efforts. Also included in bullet form are

the specific science research challenges.

Characterization

Improvement of Characterization,

Monitoring, and Certification of

Contaminated Equipment and Facilities

Improvements are needed in the area

of remote characterization and remote

surveying, including improved means to

obtain samples remotely from difficultto-access places such as underground

tanks and piping systems and in areas

having high radiation fields or other

hazardous situations. Rapid automated

characterization and certification of

levels of surface radioactive

contamination on scrap metal is needed;

that is, systems which can differentiate

between contaminated and noncontaminated equipment and methods

to aid in material segregation. Also,

advances in engineering sciences

associated with development of

miniaturized and micro-equipment,

robotics, and control theories are

needed to support remote inspection

needs. A method is needed to trace and

plot the exact spatial location of

underground piping and unknown

buried or embedded objects. Improved

remote and non-intrusive methods are

needed to verify the existence or

absence of contamination in drains,

pipes, and associated equipment. Nondestructive characterization mapping

methods are needed. Improved

radiological characterization and

certification of contaminated equipment

and facilities are also needed. Improved

methods and techniques are needed to

detect the presence of asbestoscontaining materials in the field in realtime or near real-time. Improved

methods and ideas are needed to detect

and quantify contaminants that have

penetrated below the surface of porous

materials such as concrete and transite.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Research to advance the state-ofthe-art for radiation-hardened

microelectronics, sensors, samplecollection systems, and controls in

robotics for remote characterizations in

difficult-to-access places and in areas

having high radiation fields or other

hazardous situations.

• Applications of new principles and

innovations to support the development

of sensors, detectors, or monitors for

rapid automated characterization and

certification of levels of radionuclides,

asbestos, lead, dioxin, or other toxic

substances that may exist on the surface

of scrap metal, equipment, and

facilities, or be introduced into the

atmosphere during cleanup operations.

• Research to expand knowledge of

the principles of energy beam-material

interactions, including energy coupling,

mass removal by vaporization and

ablation, particle generation, gas

dynamics, solid vapor entrainment, and

transport processes, for characterizing

and removing contamination from

surfaces.

Deactivation.

Improved methods and ideas to

reduce the cost to survey and maintain

facilities awaiting deactivation or

decommissioning, including automated,

non-intrusive monitoring of facilities for

structural integrity and contaminant

migration. Improved methods and ideas

should minimize labor and cost to

survey and maintain facilities.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Exploration of computational and

artificial intelligence approaches for

robotics technology to enhance material

packing, disposition, or recycling and

thereby help reduce the health risks to

workers, as well as the costs and time

associated with decontamination and

decommissioning.

Contaminant Removal

Improved Methods for Removing

Contamination from Surfaces, including

Metals, Concrete, and Non-Porous

Surfaces

In contaminated facilities, much of

the concrete, paint, or similar materials

are contaminated only on the surface or

to a relatively shallow depth (for

concrete, typically less than one inch).

Fundamental studies associated with

diffusion of species into and out of

porous materials are needed to design

innovative approaches to cleaning of

porous materials. Historically, such

materials have been handled by

mechanically removing the paint by

sanding/blasting on the surface layers of

concrete through a scrabbling operation.

These processes are slow and costly and

directly expose the workers to radiation

fields. Dust control is also a problem. In

addition to surface contamination,

concrete often contains expansion joints

or cracks where contamination may

have penetrated deeper. Jackhammers

are typically used to remove concrete

from these cracks or seams in an attempt

to remove the contamination. This is a

labor intensive operation. It is desired

that new or significantly improved ideas

be developed to decontaminate these

concrete structures and painted areas,

and reduce the amount of secondary

waste. In addition, improved methods

and ideas are needed to remove greater

than one-inch depth of concrete surface.

Improved understanding of

radionuclide and heavy metal adhesion

and adsorption to material surfaces is

needed. Fundamental studies associated

with structure bonding of materials is

advantageous to develop new or

improved removal methods. Steel or

other metals are often encountered in a

variety of shapes and sizes in

contaminated nuclear facilities. Since

the decontamination of metal often

results in the generation of large

volumes of secondary waste, the metal

is disposed of as radioactive waste

rather than expend funds on

decontaminating and surveying the

metal. New or significantly improved

decontamination techniques are needed

for stainless steel, copper, nickel, iron,

carbon steel structural members, and

galvanized siding that could lead to

recycling the metal into products for use

within DOE, or free releasing the metal

to the commercial scrap metal market.

The decontamination process should be

cost effective and safe and should not

generate large volumes of a secondary

waste, which would be difficult or

expensive to dispose of. Improved

methods and ideas are needed for insitu decontamination of contaminated

pipes.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Research to develop understanding

of the formation and dissolution of

surface films, including structure,

speciation, composition and energetics.

• Elucidation of the mechanisms of

radionuclide and metal adhesion,

adsorption, and structural bonding to

material surfaces, including work

specific to Pu and other actinides.

• Exploration of principles of

ultrasonic irradiation and cavitation to

evaluate potential for destroying organic

contaminants, accelerating reaction

rates, enhancing catalysis, and cleaning

surfaces.

• Research on the nature and design

of ligands that can photo-release

radionuclides, metals, and contaminants

from surfaces.

• Elucidation of the principles of

biological approaches to surface

cleaning and diagnostics.

Containment Methods/Techniques to

Prevent spread of Contamination.

Cleanup, decommissioning,

dismantling, and construction activities

will require containment methods to

prevent the spread of contamination

offsite or to uncontaminated areas onsite. Containment of the airborne

contamination during disassembly and
61312 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices

demolition activities is also a problem.

Fundamental chemical research is

desired for development of fixatives and

auto-forming barriers to support

development of cost effective

containment technology. Fundamental

chemical research is needed in the

development of cost effective reactant or

binding agents. Improved and easily

portable containment systems are also

needed. Research is needed to improve

personal protective equipment to

improve the level of worker protection,

productivity, and comfort with

emphasis on reducing heat stress to

workers and ability to safely and

comfortably work at heights and in

confined or restricted spaces.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Research to support the

development of fixatives, binding

agents, and auto-forming barriers for

effective containment on surfaces.

• Scientific and engineering research

to support development of easily

portable systems for containing

environmental contaminants.

Remote Decontamination and

Decommissioning Handling and

Operations, including Demolition

Improved methods of remote

demolition are needed: fast, costeffective ways of dismantling metal

structures, piping, machinery, and

concrete structures. The goal is to

reduce the requirement of hands-on

dismantlement by D&D workers while

reducing the cost of such operations.

Basic science is needed to improve the

ability of robotic devices to function in

harsh environments such as high

radiation, high temperature, and/or

abrasive environments.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Work to improve the ability of

robotic devices to function in harsh

environments such as high radiation,

high temperature, and/or abrasive

environments.

Improvement of Decontamination

Techniques for Process Equipment and

Facilities Dismantlement

Research into ways to decontaminate

complex process equipment and

techniques to recycle materials or

reduce waste are needed. Improved

methods and ideas are needed to

dismantle or cut metallic and other

materials in the form of metallic

equipment and piping, concrete

structures, asbestos-containing

materials, and other construction

materials.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Research to remove limitations on

achievable power levels in, and ease of

control of, remotely operable focused

heat sources, such as electron and laser

beams.

• Research to establish criteria and

methods for the identification and

isolation of components which require

further treatment.

Reduction of Waste

Reduction of Wastes Produced by

Decontamination and Decommissioning

Many wastes are generated in the

process of decommissioning a

contaminated nuclear facility.

Typically, large amounts of concrete,

metal, and construction materials (e.g.,

roofing, asphalt, asbestos, lumber, tile,

siding, and sometimes electronic

equipment) are encountered as waste.

Improved methods are needed for

volume reduction of decommissioning

waste such as metallic equipment,

piping, conduit, concrete structures,

metallic support structures, and

asbestos-containing materials. Recycling

or reuse of these materials would result

in significant reductions in the volume

of waste. Improved techniques or ideas

are needed that could dismantle or

decontaminate equipment and

structures while minimizing the

generation of secondary waste.

Some examples of specific science

research challenges include but are not

limited to:

• Research on fracture mechanisms in

various types of materials.

• Elucidation of the principles of the

diffusive and advective transport of

chemical species in porous or fractured

material.

• Engineering research to couple

existing surface decontamination

methods with diagnostic and control

technologies to discriminate between

contaminated and non-contaminated

areas on heterogeneous surfaces.

• Research to support development of

computational and artificial intelligence

approaches for robotics technology to

enhance material packing, disposition,

or recycling and reduce the risks, costs

and time associated with

decontamination and decommissioning.

Details of the programs of the Office

of Environmental Management and the

technologies currently under

development or in use by

Environmental Management Program

can be found on the World Wide Web

at http://www.em.doe.gov and at the

extensive links contained therein. These

programs and technologies should be

used to obtain a better understanding of

the missions and challenges in

environmental management in DOE

when considering areas of research to be

proposed.

References for Background Information

Note: World Wide Web locations of these

documents are provided where possible. For

those without access to the World Wide Web,

hard copies of these references may be

obtained by writing Mark A. Gilbertson at the

address listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section.

DOE. 1997. Accelerating Cleanup: Focus

on 2006, Discussion Draft

http://www.em.doe.gov/acc2006

DOE. 1997. Research Needs Collected

for the EM Science Program—June

1997.

http://www.doe.gov/em52/needs.html

DOE. 1997. U. S. Department of Energy

Strategic Plan

http://www.doe.gov/policy/

doeplan.htm

DOE. 1996. Decontamination and

Decommissioning Focus Area

Rainbow Book

http://em-52.em.doe.gov/ifd/rbbooks/

D&D/ddrb.htm

DOE. 1996. Decontamination and

Decommissioning Focus Area

Annual Report

DOE. 1996. Estimating the Cold War

Mortgage: The 1996 Baseline

Environmental Management Report.

March 1996. U.S. Department of

Energy Office of Environmental

Management, Washington, D.C.

http://www.em.doe.gov/bemr96/

index.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Environmental

Restoration EM–40.

http://www.em.doe.gov/er/index.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Nuclear Material

and Facility Stabilization EM–60.

http://www.em.doe.gov/menu/

?nucmat.html

DOE. 1996. Office of Science and Risk

Policy EM–52 and Environmental

Management Science Program.

http://www.em.doe.gov/science/

DOE. 1996. Office of Science and

Technology EM–50.

http://em-50.em.doe.gov/

DOE. 1996. Office of Waste Management

EM–30.

http://www.em.doe.gov/menu/

?wstmgmt.html

DOE. 1996. Spent Nuclear Fuel. DOEOwned SNF Technology Integration

Plan U.S. Department of Energy,

Washington, DC. DOE/SNF–PP–

002, May 1996.

http://tikal.inel.gov/tip—int.htm

DOE. 1996. Taking Stock: A Look at the

Opportunities and Challenges

Posed by Inventories from the Cold

War Era. The U.S. Department of
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 221 / Monday, November 17, 1997 / Notices 61313

Energy, Office of Environmental

Management, Washington, DC.

http://www.em.doe.gov/takstock/

index.html

DOE. 1995. Closing the Circle on the

Splitting of the Atom: The

Environmental Legacy of Nuclear

Weapons Production in the United

States and What the Department of

Energy is Doing About It. The U.S.

Department of Energy, Office of

Environmental Management, Office

of Strategic Planning and Analysis,

Washington, D.C.

http://www.em.doe.gov/circle/

index.html

National Research Council. 1997.

Building an Environmental

Management Science Program:

Final Assessment. National

Academy Press, Washington, DC.

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/

books/envmanage/

National Research Council. 1995.

Improving the Environment: An

Evaluation of DOE’s Environmental

Management Program. National

Academy Press, Washington, D.C.

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/

books/doeemp/

Secretary of Energy Advisory Board.

Alternative Futures for the

Department of Energy National

Laboratories. February 1995. Task

Force on alternative Futures for the

Department of Energy National

Laboratories, Washington, D.C.

http://www.doe.gov/html/doe/

whatsnew/galvin/tf-rpt.html

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology

Assessment. Complex Cleanup: The

Environmental Legacy of Nuclear

Weapons Production, February

1991. U.S. Government Printing

Office, Washington, D.C. NTIS

Order number: PB91143743. To

order, call the NTIS sales desk at

(703) 487–4650.

http://www.wws.princeton.edu:80/

∼ota/disk1/1991/9113—n.html

National Science and Technology

Council. 1996. Assessing

Fundamental Science, Council on

Fundamental Science.

http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/ostp/

assess/

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance Number for this program is

81.049, and the solicitation control

number is ERFAP 10 CFR part 605.

Issued in Washington, DC November 12,

1997.

John Rodney Clark,

Associate Director for Resource Management,

Office of Energy Research.

[FR Doc. 97–30121 Filed 11–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. EC98–5–000]

American Ref-Fuel Company of

Hempstead, Air Products Ref-Fuel of

Hempstead, Inc., Duke/UAE Ref-Fuel

LLC, and Duke/UAE of Hempstead

LLC; Notice of Filing

November 10, 1997.

Take notice that American Ref-Fuel

Company of Hempstead, Air Products

Ref-fuel of Hempstead, Inc., Duke/UAE

Ref-Fuel LLC, and Duke/UAE

Hempstead LLC on November 5, 1997,

tendered for filing, at the request of

Commission staff, a Purchase

Agreement reflecting the disposition for

which Commission approval is sought

in this docket.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest said filing should file a motion

to intervene or protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 18 CFR 385.214). All such motions

or protests should be filed on or before

November 17, 1997. Protests will be

considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–30067 Filed 11–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. EC98–6–000]

American Ref-fuel Company of Essex

County, Air Products Ref-fuel of Essex

County, Inc., Duke/UAE Ref-Fuel LLC,

and Duke/UAE Essex LLC; Notice of

Filing

November 10, 1997.

Take notice that American Ref-fuel

Company of Essex County, Air Products

Ref-fuel of Essex County, Inc., Duke/

UAE Ref-Fuel LLC, and Duke/UAE

Essex LLC, on November 5, 1997,

tendered for filing, at the request of

Commission staff, a Purchase

Agreement reflecting the disposition for

which Commission approval is sought

in this docket.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

protest said filing should file a motion

to intervene or protest with the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 385.214). All such motions or

protests should be filed on or before

November 17, 1997. Protests will be

considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–30068 Filed 11–14–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. RP97–145–006]

Crossroads Pipeline Company; Notice

of Compliance Filing

November 10, 1997.

Take notice that on November 6,

1997, Crossroads Pipeline Company

(Crossroads) tendered for filing as part

of its FERC Gas Tariff, Tariff Sheet Nos.

76 and 76.1.

Crossroads asserts that this filing is

being made to comply with the letter

order of October 24, 1997, which

accepted Tariff Sheet Nos. 26, 39, 66

and 76 effective November 1, 1997 and

directed that Sheet Nos. 76 and 76.1 be

corrected to reflect the correct versions

of Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB)

standards. The October 24, 1997 order

also directed that a typographical error

be corrected on the electronic version of

Sheet No. 76.1, which had previously

been accepted and made effective

August 1, 1997.

Crossroads states that the purpose of

its filing is to reflect the correct versions

of the standards approved by GISB and

correct the typographical error.

Crossroads states further that copies

of the filing were served on its current

firm and interruptible customers and

interested state commissions.

Any person desiring to protest this

filing should file a protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,