The Department of Energy should reinstate forums for discussing new technology at Hanford and other nuclear sites to improve cleanup and cut costs, says the Hanford Advisory Board.

Once the forum is in place, DOE should look at providing more incentives for its contractors to consider using technology they do not own, the HAB said in a letter sent to DOE.

Board members are concerned it may be more profitable for contractors to focus on proprietary technology rather than technology developed by contractors at other DOE sites, the Department of Defense, universities or industry.

Beginning in the mid-'90s Hanford and other sites had Site Technology Coordination Groups, but those monthly forums for discussion were disbanded in 2003. When the Hanford group stopped meeting, the HAB "saw a loss of momentum and coordination for addressing the identified needs of the Hanford site," the board wrote in advice sent to James Rispoli, DOE assistant secretary for environmental management.

"We also lost the only forum for stake holders to learn about technology needs and discuss technology priorities for the site," said the letter.

The group discussed possible technologies that could speed up cleanup, improve worker safety and reduce the cost of work, the HAB said. It also served as a way to share information among other DOE sites about successful technologies that might be adapted.

The advisory board previously asked DOE to reinstate the group in 2004, but DOE declined. The state said then that the group should meet less often and with a narrower focus on the most promising technologies.

But it brought a powerful voice to DOE headquarters staff on technology needed at Hanford and helped bring technologies and funding to Hanford, said Jane Hedges, nuclear waste program manager for the state Department of Ecology.

The issue is timely after DOE released its Science and Technology Roadmap this spring listing technologies that need to be developed for an efficient completion of cleanup at DOE sites, including Hanford.

But the roadmap will be meaningless without funding, said Nick Ceto, Hanford project manager for the Environmental Protection Agency.