The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and Technology was again among the R&D 100 Award winners in 1996. Since 1963, R&D Magazine has sponsored an annual competition that recognizes 100 of the most technologically significant new products and processes from around the world. The winners are selected from thousands of national and international entries by an independent panel of experts and by the editors of R&D Magazine. Technologies submitted for consideration are judged on their broad-based impact on society as opposed to solving very specialized problems. Former winners include such breakthroughs as the flashcube, the digital wristwatch, antilock brakes, the liquid crystal display, the halogen lamp, the fax machine, the touch-sensitive screen, the Kodak Photo CD, the Nicoderm antismoking patch, and Taxol anticancer drug. Recipients say that winning an R&D 100 Award helps them commercialize their technologies. They mention benefits such as media exposure and publicity and increased partnering opportunities. One winner said, "The award represents advertising that money can't buy if your partner is a small business." The awards were presented to the winners at an October 1996 banquet in Philadelphia. The following OST-funded technologies were R&D 100 Award winners for 1996. PHOSter system This trademarked system, developed by Savannah River Technology Center, provides supplemental nutrients to microorganisms that degrade volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, toluene, or naphthalene in soil and ground water (see Initiatives, December 1996). Air containing small amounts of phosphate ester is injected into the site, speeding up the bioremediation process. Initial demonstrations indicate reductions of at least 50 percent in remediation time for appropriate sites. Catalyzed electrochemical oxidation This catalytic wet oxidation process uses electricity to break down hazardous organic compounds into inert material, such as water and carbon dioxide, while containing and concentrating metals from contaminated soils. This safe and cost-effective process can treat multicomponent hazardous waste produced by hospitals, research laboratories, and chemical and pharmaceutical companies. This technology has been performed on organic waste spiked with radionuclide surrogates and mercury at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and on Rocky Flats waste to treat organic liquids and solids. Catalyzed electrochemical oxidation was developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and ECOSystems. Crystalline silicotitanates Crystalline silicotitanate, or CST, is an inorganic ion-exchange material that removes radioactive cesium and strontium from high-level waste tank solutions (see Initiatives, June 1996). CST comes in fine powder (IONSIV IE-910) and pellet (IONSIV IE-911) forms and works by exchanging sodium ions for radioactive ions. The tank waste flows through the ion-exchange column and back to the tank, minus cesium. After use, cesium-loaded CST can be vitrified as high-level waste or placed in storage for vitrification at a later date. Because CST removes radioactive molecules, it will greatly reduce the volume of material that must be stored as high-level waste. CST was used to process 25,000 gallons of Melton Valley Storage tank waste at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Sandia National Laboratories, Texas A&M University, and UOP Molecular Sieves collaborated on the development of CST. Room temperature, chemically bonded phosphate ceramics This waste stabilization process uses metal oxides and phosphoric acid solution, which react and form very hard and dense ceramics for durable waste forms. Results to date indicate that this process, while being exceptionally simple and cost effective, is also applicable to a wide variety of DOE wastes. This material was developed by Argonne National Laboratory-East.