UNLV's Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies and a Virginia firm have been awarded a cooperative agreement by the U.S. Department of Energy to conduct an 18-month, $2.8 million risk assessment and risk management evaluation of environmental management activities in Nevada.
The DOE selected the team composed of members from the Harry Reid Center and the firm of E. J. Bentz & Associates in a national competition. The team's proposal was one of three selected for the award out of some 30 proposals.
In addition to evaluating environmental activities, the team will also be required to transfer what it learns to other states.
Called the Nevada Risk Assessment/Management Program (NRAMP), it is part of a national effort by the DOE to develop new sources of information and approaches to risk assessment and risk management. The overall objective of the project will be to evaluate risks associated with radioactive and hazardous waste remediation activities in Nevada and increase public awareness of such risks.
More specifically, the team plans to work to develop credible independent assessments of risks at radioactive and hazardous waste sites in Nevada and other states, as well as to evaluate and prioritize options in Nevada for waste site restoration and future land use. It also plans to utilize appropriate methods and results from similar studies conducted in other states and share its results of the evaluation of Nevada sites.
The Harry Reid Center proposed to conduct the NRAMP by building on its current role in public discussions of the future of the Nevada Test Site. The center is currently collaborating with the Governor's Nevada Test Site Community Reuse Organization, the Nevada Test Site Contractors Association, and the Nevada Test Site Community Advisory Board.
The Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies is the largest research laboratory and conference center at UNLV. It was started in 1981 with the principal mission of conducting multidisciplinary academic and applied research on environmental problems and developing environmental monitoring technology.
For further information or to volunteer to work on the project, call Bill Andrews, the NRAMP principal investigator, at 895-3382.
