Radiochemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Internal Dosimetry, Organic Chemistry and Repository Science Capabilities at CEMRC in Carlsbad, New Mexico

The Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center is a division of the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University. This 26,000 ft² radiochemistry facility includes environmental and general radiochemistry laboratories, a special plutonium-uranium lab, an in vivo bioassay facility, mobile laboratories, computing operations and offices. The facility can perform a wide range of environmental and radiochemistry work, characterization, monitoring, and feasibility studies in support of performance assessment, radiological and environmental training and education, subsurface flow and transport experiments, nuclear energy issues, and issues involving Homeland Security particularly those involving radiation dispersal devices (RDDs or dirty bombs).  CEMRC has partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), and Washington TRU Solutions (WTS) to create a unique facility with programs that include: environmental monitoring of almost any radiological and inorganic constituent; actinide chemistry and repository science particularly concerning the environmental behavior of Pu, Am, U and Np; dirty bomb mitigation research and training particularly for ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co, head space gas and volatile organic compound (VOC) analyses; in vivo and in vitro bioassay, whole body dosimetry, military small arms range clean-up, evaluation and design of innovative treatment technologies, and soil, water, air and waste characterization.

The Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office (DOE CBFO) currently operates the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, as a repository site for transuranic (TRU) waste generated as part of the nuclear defense research and production activities of the federal government (Figure 1).  The CEMRC facility (Figure 2) and staff provide support to WIPP, LANL, SNL and WTS primarily through site and environmental monitoring, in vivo bioassay, and scientific and laboratory support.

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Major Departments

Currently, the Center's scientific activities are organized into five major areas of specialization with corresponding assignment of staff roles and responsibilities. Although some of the Center's projects involve only one or two of the program areas, all of the program areas collaborate in carrying out the WIPP Environmental Monitoring project, and this type of integrative research is anticipated to characterize many of the Center's future projects.