Initiatives interviewed Dave Geiser, acting lead of the Department of Energy's International Technology Exchange Program, on January 5, 1995 and Susan Johnson on December 23, 1994.

The International Technology Exchange Program in the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM) supports environmental remediation in the United States through international activities. It is a difficult balance, according to Dave Geiser, acting director of the international exchange staff. "Congress tells us to focus, focus, focus on our domestic cleanup mission. The administration, on the other hand, has environmental export objectives." So, as Geiser pointed out, while EM has a lot of expertise to offer internationally, "everything we do has to benefit domestic cleanup."

Keeping that mission in mind, the international program is building relationships with foreign countries that have technologies and experts that could expand the number of cleanup methods available in the United States. At the same time, the program works with U.S. businesses developing innovative environmental technologies that could be tested and marketed abroad. With representation in several international organizations, DOE and EM also are helping to shape the direction of remediation standards, practices, and research throughout the world.

In its five-year history, EM has established agreements for science and technology projects in developed countries including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia, which have facilities and technical expertise comparable to the United States. International technology transfer agreements are also in place with newly industrialized nations such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Taiwan, and Mexico, which offer expanding markets for U.S. technology products. The international program also works with less developed countries like Argentina and Chile, which represent emerging markets for U.S. technologies.

With a staff of four and a $3 million budget, the international program can't do it all alone. Instead, the program provides information and resources that enable DOE operations offices and sites to take the lead on many of the international activities. Also, the program is committed to establishing international agreements and partnerships only when the benefit to DOE is equal to what the agency puts in.

From within the Office of Technology Development, the International Technology Exchange Program provides products and services throughout the Office of Environmental Management. Geiser explained that "EM, not just the Office of Technology Development, has a tremendous opportunity to indirectly support the administration's foreign policy goals." Geiser said a good example is the work being done to accept the return of foreign spent nuclear fuel. The administration has committed to bringing weapons grade nuclear fuel back to the United States as a non-proliferation measure. Technical experts at EM, with coordination assistance from the international program, have the know-how to make it so, even though the effort is a sideline to EM's domestic environmental cleanup mission.

The International Technology Exchange Program's activities fall into three main areas: science and technology cooperation, technology transfer, and coordinating EM involvement with international organizations.

Dave Geiser discusses international program activities with a member of his staff.

International science and technology cooperation
In 1994, there were about a dozen demonstrations of foreign technologies at DOE sites and five demonstrations of DOE-developed technologies in foreign countries. During 1995, the international program plans to support even more demonstrations of EM technologies abroad. Since the process of setting up an overseas demonstration has never been documented, the international program staff is working on a handbook that will describe the steps to follow and lessons learned.

One EM-sponsored demonstration held in 1994 involved a team of DOE scientists who measured the migration of hazardous chemical and radionuclide contaminants at the Chelyabinsk site in Russia, one of the most contaminated sites in the world. Dumping of highly radioactive wastes into lakes and rivers there has been the standard practice since the 1940s. It is estimated that contaminants are flowing in the subsurface toward a river and then to drinking water wells. The EM-Russian team is using advanced sampling and analysis technologies to collect data to pinpoint the location and movement of the plume of contaminants.

The demonstration at Chelyabinsk tested a technology specific to environmental contamination problems in a limited number of situations, so it does not have a broad market potential. According to Geiser, "Any DOE program is going to have its science and technology success stories [like Chelyabinsk], but we also have commercial successes." These stories will be highlighted in a publication Geiser plans to complete in 1995.

The international program is not only helping EM exchange environmental technologies; it also supports scientist exchanges. Since 1990, EM's Russian program has hosted 90 scientists and officials from the Former Soviet Union to the United States. Individual visits have lasted as long as a year. EM also has sponsored 120 visits of DOE officials to the Former Soviet Union. Johnson has observed that foreign scientists are hungry for the knowledge that exists in the United States, but they also "bring specialized knowledge with them to the United States." For example, Russian scientists are more advanced in their understanding of separations technology to treat radioactive wastes. Rather than work independently to conduct the same research, DOE's technology development program can leap ahead by learning from Russian colleagues.

International Technology Transfer
In addition to putting more effort into conducting overseas demonstrations, Geiser plans to focus increased attention in environmental technology transfer in the coming years. Sue Johnson, a program manager with the international program, is responsible for much of this work.

Geiser cautioned, "DOE doesn't help private business win contracts abroad, we just work with businesses to develop technologies that will be competitive abroad and then help businesses find other sources of marketing assistance." The EM Industry Partner Communique, a publication that will help industries make the right connections, is in the works. It represents the international program's first attempt to reach out to the business community working with EM to encourage them to go abroad. The Communique will provide information about what is available, where the EM-related markets are, and which export strategies have worked. The publications will also ask for feedback from industries that are already involved in international export trade.

To provide businesses opportunities to promote their innovative technologies to potential foreign customers, the international program also supports international conferences. According to Geiser, "In the past, most DOE conferences have focused on science and technology rather than business. In '95 we plan to bring in the Department of Commerce [to help businesses successfully launch into the international environmental market.]"

In 1995, DOE will be a sponsoring agency for three international conferences where hundreds of papers will be presented. The Fifth International Conference on Radioactive Waste Management and Environmental Remediation will be in Berlin, Germany, September 3-9, 1995. The International Symposium and Trade Fair on the Cleanup of Manufactured Gas Plants will be in Prague, the Czech Republic, September 19-21, 1995. The Fifth International TNO/KfK Conference on Contaminated Soils will be held from October 30 to November 4, 1995 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

There are approximately 250 businesses involved with EM's technology development program. Additional businesses interested in working with the International Technology Exchange Program to explore the international potential of an environmental technology must first demonstrate the domestic value of the technology to DOE. That can be done by submitting proposals for Program Research and Development Agreements and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements or in response to a Research Opportunity Announcement or Requests for Proposals (see "Technology development partnerships," Initiatives, November 1994).

International coordination
The international program coordinates EM's involvement in international organizations such as the Nuclear Energy Agency, International Atomic Energy Agency, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. According to Geiser, through active participation in these and other international organizations, EM is gaining greater influence over world standards, practices, and research direction that affect cleanup in the United States, the mission that guides all activities of the International Technology Exchange Program.

Information about other DOE international conferences and International Technology Exchange Program publications will appear in future issues of Initiatives.