DOE Grant Supports Continued UK Research, Outreach
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 18, 2016) — The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded a grant to the University of Kentucky to develop publicly available information related to the environmental cleanup of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Western Kentucky.
The five-year, $2.5 million grant will also continue public outreach initiated under a previous DOE grant, including informing stakeholders on cleanup activities and future use of the DOE site. This work involves UK’s Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and the Environment (KRCEE).
Rodney Andrews, director of UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), says the funding allows CAER to continue partnering with UK’s College of Design to envision potential cleanup strategies for the Paducah Site.
“This new DOE grant to support KRCEE is a great example of how CAER is working to improve education, research and outreach in Paducah,” Andrews said.
The grant will support educational outreach programs, including work with students at high schools, who prepare student summaries of DOE’s Annual Environmental Reports for the Paducah site to communicate complex cleanup information to the public.
“The Department of Energy values this university partnership that provides important research and outreach supporting the cleanup of our gaseous diffusion plants,” said Robert Edwards, acting manager of DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. “This institution of higher learning plays an important role in helping DOE and the community address challenges and identify opportunities associated with these historic sites."
A recent addition to the KRCEE program, which is continued under the recently awarded grant, is the Virtual Symposium, a portal featuring presentations covering recent activities completed by both UK and Ohio University, which received a similar grant related to the cleanup of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site.
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