During FY 2000, DoE worked on a demonstration of technologies to clean up dense, nonaqueous phase liquid solvents at Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, Florida. At the end of the fiscal year, the demonstration had removed 5,000 kilograms (kg) of solvents at a cost of $5.1 million, of which DoE has funded $3.1 million. DoE developed these technologies, and the test data will benefit DoE sites in terms of cost and performance data. Agencies who are cofunding this demonstration of technologies include the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Environmental Protection Agency, and three private companies.

DoE continued to support NASA’s space exploration program by maintaining the program and facility infrastructure for providing radioisotope power sources and heater units and developing new, advanced power systems covering a range of power levels required to meet more stringent power system requirements for future missions. DoE personnel initiated safety analyses to support potential use of radioisotope heater units on the Mars 2003 mission and radioisotope power systems on the Europa Orbiter mission. DoE competitively contracted with several potential system contractors to develop a conceptual design of a radioisotope Stirling power system, which adds heat through a wall to an expanding gas at high temperature to perform work. One of these contractors will be selected to proceed with the development and demonstration of the radioisotope Stirling power system for potential use on the Europa Orbiter, Solar Probe, and Mars 2007 missions. Finally, a bench-scale demonstration was completed of a process to recover Plutonium-238 scrap for reuse as an energy source for future NASA missions.