Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology

Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology
Name	Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology
Formation	1996
Type	Research center
Location	Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States Department of Energy national laboratory complex
Leader title	Director
Parent organization	Los Alamos National Laboratory

Contents

Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology The Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology (HCET) is a technology development and deployment center associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory that specializes in environmental remediation, characterization, and waste management technologies for the United States Department of Energy and international partners. The center links applied research from national laboratories such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with field operations involving agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and intergovernmental programs including the North American Development Bank and the Organization of American States.

Overview

HCET was established in response to initiatives originating in the 1990s involving the United States Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, collaborations with the Inter-American Development Bank, and directives tied to remediation lessons from events such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Three Mile Island accident. Early development involved partnerships with Battelle Memorial Institute, Bechtel Corporation, Fluor Corporation, and academic centers like University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University. Over time HCET incorporated innovations from researchers affiliated with Brookhaven National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and international laboratories including CERN collaborators on sensing technologies.

HCET’s mission aligns with mandates from the United States Congress and program offices such as the Office of Environmental Management (DOE) to accelerate deployment of remediation technologies, support regulatory compliance for agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, and foster technology transfer with organizations such as the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and the World Bank. Major programs have targeted in situ treatment methods developed with partners from Chevron Corporation and Shell plc, sensor networks co-developed with IBM and Hewlett-Packard, and training programs run alongside Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory outreach to institutions including University of Texas at El Paso and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

Research initiatives at HCET span geophysical characterization, remote sensing, robotics, and contaminant stabilization. HCET has adapted technologies from projects at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, European Space Agency, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for environmental monitoring, and has tested robotics platforms with groups such as Boston Dynamics and academic teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Contaminant detection programs leveraged analytical techniques developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, while treatment processes incorporated advances from DuPont research and university groups including Purdue University and University of Michigan. HCET has also piloted phytoremediation projects drawing on expertise from United States Department of Agriculture research units and collaborations with The Nature Conservancy.

HCET maintains extensive partnerships: federal laboratories and agencies like Argonne National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Environmental Protection Agency, and Federal Emergency Management Agency; academic partners including University of California, Los Angeles, University of Washington, and University of Colorado Boulder; industrial partners such as Bechtel, Jacobs Engineering Group, and AECOM; and international organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and Pan American Health Organization. Collaborative projects have involved multinational consortia with participants from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina focusing on transboundary contamination challenges and technology exchange through forums like the Summit of the Americas and Global Nuclear Energy Partnership dialogues.

HCET operations utilize laboratory and field facilities at Los Alamos National Laboratory including contamination test beds, radiological laboratories certified to National Institute of Standards and Technology standards, and pilot-scale treatment units co-located with Sandia National Laboratories test ranges. Field deployments have been staged at legacy sites such as Rocky Flats Plant, Mound Plant, and municipal sites under agreements with Department of Defense installations and state agencies including the New Mexico Environment Department and the State of Washington Department of Ecology. Instrumentation and computing infrastructure integrate supercomputing resources from Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and data platforms developed in partnership with Microsoft Research.

HCET efforts have influenced remediation strategies at high-profile locations like Hanford Site and Savannah River Site, contributed technologies adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency and international regulators, and supported emergency response exercises with Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security. HCET personnel and partner teams have been recognized in forums hosted by American Society of Civil Engineers, American Chemical Society, Society of American Military Engineers, and awarded project grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. The center’s work has been cited in technical assessments by organizations like the National Research Council and policy reviews coordinated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Category:Environmental research institutes Category:Los Alamos National Laboratory