During the week of March 5 through 9, staff from DOE-LM gathered in Phoenix, Arizona, to participate in the 43rd Annual Waste Management Conference.
April 19, 2017
minute read time
LM staff group together at the LM information booth before the afternoon technical program.
During the week of March 5 through 9, staff from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) gathered in Phoenix, Arizona, to participate in the 43rd Annual Waste Management Conference, the premier international conference for providing education and information exchange on global radioactive waste management.
LM helped make this year’s conference a success by providing session co-chairs, panelists, paper authors, a member to the Program Advisory Committee, and a staffed informational booth in the exhibit hall. LM staff discussed topics ranging from long-term stewardship at a former uranium mill tailings site in Riverton, Wyoming, to best practices in project communications. Other topics presented by LM employees included using prescribed fire to manage the Fernald, Ohio, On-Site Disposal Facility vegetated cap, launching a research archive for Formerly Utilized Remedial Action Program site records, and engaging the public through interpretation at legacy sites.
The Waste Management conference promotes global innovation and collaboration, which was reflected by the attendance of roughly 2,000 engineers, scientists, managers, and students from over 30 countries. A comprehensive and technical program delivered over 130 sessions and panels, 450 papers, poster sessions, networking events and an extensive exhibition. This year’s featured DOE sites—the Richland, Washington, Hanford site and the West Valley, New York, site—provided special panel and paper sessions on site-specific topics. There were also reserved sessions on used fuel, decontamination and decommissioning, procurement and contracting, safety, cleanup of legacy sites worldwide, robotics, and International Atomic Energy Agency topics. The conference showcased Japan as their featured country and included an exhibit hall pavilion, as well as focus sessions on the revitalization of Fukushima and its status of nuclear fuel cycle activities.
Across the board, LM received positive feedback from attendees and was regarded
as a well-respected organization at the conference. For those in attendance unfamiliar with LM, it was a chance to provide education on the Department’s responsibility for long-term historical documentation, stewardship of legacy sites, and protection of human health and the environment.
Overall, the conference provided LM attendees a great opportunity to share and exchange ideas, technical information and solutions with the world’s leading experts in the nuclear waste industry.