The Coast Guard military base on Kodiak Island, Alaska, is the largest Coast Guard base in the world. By taking a leadership role in a pilot program to streamline Federal financing and procurement for energy saving projects, the Coast Guard is saving more than $220,000 a year in energy costs at this base. Using the Super ESPC (Energy Savings Performance Contracting) program, the Coast Guard was able to quickly contract with an experienced contractor with energy savings expertise. Working with ERI, one of FEMP's (Federal Energy Management Program) approved energy services contractors, the Coast Guard determined areas of potential energy savings and designed a retrofit to upgrade inefficient equipment and infrastructure. When energy-efficient modifications are complete, the base will be 30% more cost effective.

The purpose is to increase the basic scientific understanding of technetium chemistry to better understand the behavior of technetium in chemical environments relevant to DOE. Two important areas in need of study are the behavior of technetium in highly alkaline solutions similar to high-level nuclear waste, and its behavior in different waste forms. This research program addressed these two needs. Two separate approaches were used in this program. The first focus was to understand the basic solution chemistry of technetium, which underlies its behavior in the highly alkaline environment of the nuclear waste tanks located at the Savannah River and Hanford Sites. The specific problems at these sites are related to the anomalous oxidation state of technetium (Schroeder 1995). Although, at high pH, technetium should exist in its highest oxidation state as TcO{sub 4}{sup {minus}}, soluble, lower-valent technetium species have been observed in certain wastes. The specific unknowns that this program sought to answer are the nature of lower valent technetium species that can be formed in highly alkaline solution and whether pertechnetate undergoes radiolytic reduction in highly alkaline solution when nitrate is present in excess. The second focus area is the behavior of technetium immobilized in various waste forms. …