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Breadcrumb

  1. Research
  2. Sustainable Energy
  3. Environmental Management
  4. Environmental Remediation

Environmental
Remediation

Advancing Hanford soil
and groundwater cleanup
with technical solutions

PNNL researchers developed time-lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to monitor groundwater remediation performance in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site. ERT technology allows PNNL researchers and members of the project team to monitor the subsurface migration of an injected phosphate amendment in real time.  In collaboration with Hanford Site contractor CHPRC, the team is now injecting a phosphate chemical solution to enhance remediation of groundwater and soil contaminated with uranium.  PNNL’s ERT monitoring capability is instrumental in evaluating the performance of Hanford remediation activities such as this.

Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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PNNL has been providing technical solutions for more than 50 years to help address one of the nation's most complicated environmental situations: the safe cleanup of legacy waste resulting from nuclear weapons development and nuclear energy research.

By integrating scientific understanding with applied engineering, PNNL helps develop and implement technologies that protect people and the environment from the risks of contamination. Our core environmental remediation competencies—in the nature and extent of contamination, remedial design, remedial systems engineering, and end states—provide an understanding of how contaminants will behave in the environment. 

 

PNNL's computational geophysicists developed the Real-Time Four-Dimensional Subsurface Imaging technology to remotely and automatically sense large areas of the subsurface, allowing environmental remediation experts to ‘see’ contamination that is so deep it’s impractical to dig up.
PNNL’s integrated experimental and modeling approach generates critical, location-specific information about how to approach subsurface contamination and meet environmental remediation objectives at Hanford and other complex sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multidisciplinary science and engineering

PNNL’s science-based and risk-informed solutions offer the technical defensibility and objectivity in the management of DOE's nuclear legacy. Our diverse expertise includes subsurface science, the deep vadose zone, nuclear chemistry, earth systems science, environmental engineering, risk and decision science, imaging and modeling, characterizing contaminants, assessing contaminant transport, and ecological restoration.

As an enduring research partner, PNNL’s depth of scientific and technical expertise remains crucial to Hanford cleanup and supports similar work at other contaminated DOE sites.

PNNL researchers use expertise in subsurface science and remediation to characterize subsurface contaminants and assess contaminant transport—helping to restore the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State to a safe, clean environment.

Brochures

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PNNL Environmental Remediation

File

PNNL Environmental Management Sector Overview

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PNNL SOCRATES overview brochure

Featured Research

JANUARY 4, 2023
Spotlight

Environmental Science Internships Spark Future Careers

Read
High school intern Jordan Perkins holds a laptop showing the RemPlex website, standing next to mentor researcher Chris Johnson.
OCTOBER 20, 2022
Spotlight

Watching the Cold War’s Environmental Footprint Shrink

Read
TRAC: Tracking Restoration and Closure title graphic
JULY 19, 2022
Spotlight

Agile Waste Cleanup

Read
Central Plateau area at Hanford
SEE MORE RELATED HIGHLIGHTS

Recent News

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

PNNL Earth Scientist Publishes Synopsis of Gulf Coast Restoration Needs

Read
woman with long brown hair standing outside by a river
JULY 28, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

PNNL Papers Receive Recognition from Waste Management Symposia

Read
WM Symposia 2022
MAY 24, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Pearce Named Honorary Professor with the University of Manchester

Read
Carolyn Pearce was named the IDREAM EFRC Director in March 2021
SEE MORE RELATED NEWS

Related Research

Materials Sciences Subsurface Science Waste Processing Radiological & Nuclear Detection

Facilities

Radiochemical Processing Laboratory Applied Process Engineering Laboratory Applied Subsurface Science and Characterization Laboratory Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory 318 Building Oil Laboratory at PNNL-Sequim

Related Divisions

Earth Systems Science Division - Group
Coastal Sciences Division

Related Links

Center for the Remediation of Complex Sites (RemPlex)Aquifer Injection Modeling ToolboxE4D: PNNL's 3D electrical resistivity software for subsurface imagingEnvironmental JusticeINduced Spectral Interrogation Technology for the Environment (INSITE)Multi-Species Reactive Transport Simulation Software for Groundwater SystemsPHOENIX: PNNL-Hanford Online ENvironmental Information eXchangeRemediation Performance AssessmentSOCRATES: Suite of Comprehensive Rapid Analysis Tools for Environmental SitesSTOMP: Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases computer analytics toolUNSAT-H: Unsaturated Soil Water and Heat Flow ModelVisual Sample Plan

Contacts

Tom Brouns
Manager, Environmental Management Sector; Director, RemPlex
tom.brouns@pnnl.gov
509-372-6265
David Peeler
Deputy Sector Manager, Environmental Management
david.peeler@pnnl.gov
509-372-6225
Inci Demirkanli
Subsurface Scientist; Deputy Director of Environmental Remediation Applications, RemPlex
inci.demirkanli@pnnl.gov
(509) 371-7138

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