Re: University of Georgia To Build Lab Near Chernobyl

[Jim Graham <jgram@lamar.colostate.edu>]

I am posting this for a friend who just vacated the Alternate Radiation Safety
Officer position at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

SREL was established by the UNIVERSITY of Georgia in the late 50's, just a few
years after SRS was started. I wrote the Radiation Safety Program for SREL and
the newly created International Radioecology Lab in Chernobyl. Both programs
must comply with 10CFR835 since SREL is operated under a cooperative agreement
with DOE. One of the significant laboratories operated by SREL is the PAR Pond
Radioecology Lab. The PAR lab was set up to specifically investigate
radionuclide transport through the environment, thus SREL has the expertise to
run a lab at Chernobyl. Ecologists and other scientists have been studying
various aspects of the contamination problems at Chernobly at least the last ten
years.

A portion of the Augusta Chronicle article follows.



Scientists to study nuclear accident site

                  Web posted

                  By Brandon Haddock
                  Staff Writer

                  For more than two years, Ronald Chesser pushed for a permanent

                  laboratory near the site of the world's worst nuclear
accident.

                  On Friday, the University of Georgia ecologist saw the results
of his labors.
                  UGA officials, acting in concert with the U.S. Department of
Energy and
                  the Ukrainian government, signed an agreement to create an
international
                  radioecology laboratory near the doomed Chernobyl nuclear
power plant in
                  the Ukraine.

                  ``This is a momentous day for me, and it should be for most of
the people in
                  this room who worked to make the laboratory a reality,'' Dr.
Chesser said
                  during a brief signing ceremony at the conference center of
the Savannah
                  River Ecology Laboratory. The University of Georgia operates
the
                  laboratory, located at the Savannah River Site, for the Energy
Department.

                  Karen Holbrook, UGA's senior vice president for academic
affairs and
                  provost, and Joe Key, UGA vice president for research, signed
the
                  agreement Friday. Ukrainian officials signed the agreement
Sept. 12.

                  The agreement followed an earlier one signed July 22 by Vice
President Al
                  Gore and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. That agreement
established
                  the political framework for the laboratory; Friday's agreement
between
                  UGA and Ukrainian officials laid forth the specifics of how
the laboratory
                  will be equipped, staffed and operated, said Rosemary Forrest,
public
                  relations coordinator for the Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory.

--
James C. Graham - Radiation Safety Officer
Environmental Health Services
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-6021
Off: 970-491-3736  Fax: 970-491-4804
jgram@lamar.colostate.edu


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