The Department of Energy (Department) faces an environmental remediation task of unprecedented scope
and technical complexity. Current estimates are that the clean-up effort will eventually cost more than $230
billion and take decades to complete. At your direction, the Department recently completed a comprehensive
evaluation of its remediation effort with a goal of finding a way to reduce associated costs, as well as the time
needed to complete the task. Given the nature of the work, the effort will likely involve many as yet untested
technologies. In this vein, the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management has established a priority
to identify breakthrough technologies with the potential to dramatically reduce the Department's remediation
mortgage costs.
