Total Online Access Data System

The Department of Energy is responsible for cleaning up and then conducting ongoing surveillance and maintenance of 113 contaminated sites across the nation. The long-term cost associated with surveillance and maintenance of these sites is estimated to be approximately $100 million per year for the indefinite future; over the total life of these sites, stewardship cost could easily reach $10 billion. Given the remote locations of these sites, one approach to reducing these long-term costs is to reduce the amount of hands-on human involvement in the surveillance and maintenance process. This project will develop a data management system that (1) provides for the safe storage, retrieval, and use of important data and records; (2) is designed with sufficient flexibility and longevity to survive for an extended period of time without technical obsolescence; and (3) supplants or minimizes the need for humans to verify or evaluate site/facility conditions. Phase I will demonstrate the feasibility of (1) transferring data from an existing Department of Energy environmental database into a prototype surveillance and maintenance data management system, (2) transmitting data from a wide variety of surveillance and maintenance field-based instruments, and (3) using a novel hemispheric visual immersion technology in a remote field situation for historical documentation.