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Building an Effective Environmental Management Science Program Initial Assessment (1996) / Chapter Skim
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THE VALUE OF RESEARCH TO THE CLEANUP MISSION
Pages 10-12

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
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From page 10...
... As noted in the introduction of this report, Congress directed DOE to develop a science program that would utilize the "existing basic research infrastructure within the Department and the Office of Energy Research" and would take "advantage of [federal] laboratory and university expertise." EM already supports activities that could be classified as research or research and development (R&D)
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From page 11...
... The program is "m~ssion-directed" in that research wall be supported only in certain highpriority areas dictated by DOE's cleanup challenges. The program is "basic" in that it is focused on the investigation of fundamental physical, chemical, geological, and biological processes and phenomena, with no specific technology in mind and no established time horizon for payoff.5 The committee believes that a properly structured and managed m~ssion-directed, basic research program can produce knowledge that would add significant value to EM's technology development efforts.
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From page 12...
... spend between about 7 and 12 percent of net sales on R&D.7 The committee emphasizes that DOE's investment in the EMSP wall not solve all of its cleanup problems and needs to be viewed as "risky" in financial terms, in that there is no absolute guarantee of any quantifiable return and, moreover, it may be difficult to track precisely the returns on dollars invested. However, in He context of a long-term mission of EM, where many of the most serious remediation problems are technically challenging and exorbitantly expensive to solve with current knowledge and technologies the investment in basic research is viewed by the committee as both prudent alla urgent.
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Key Terms

  • secondary wastes
  • significant value
  • wastes generated
  • add significant
  • potential payoffs

  • technically challenging
  • track precisely
  • seldom understood
  • uncertainties involved
  • taxpayer funds

  • congress directed
  • produce knowledge
  • conference report
  • quantifiable return
  • absolute guarantee

  • dollars invested
  • understood precisely
  • transport phenomena
  • previous section
  • largest civil

  • exorbitantly expensive
  • help characterize
  • fundamental physical
  • report language
  • help stimulate

  • directed doe
  • nation lacks
  • flow processes
  • supporting basic
  • analytical methods


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