• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

DOE: National labs, including ORNL, helped found study of ecology

Posted at 7:27 pm August 6, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 2 Comments

Ecologist Dan Nelson hauling in a gill net as part of the fish population survey of the Clinch River Study. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy)

Ecologist Dan Nelson hauling in a gill net as part of the fish population survey of the Clinch River Study. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Researchers at federal sites such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory first developed many of the concepts and tools that ecologists still use today, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

“The study of ecology is likely to evoke images of recycling signs or the ‘blue marble’ Earth from space associated with the environmental movement of the 1960s,” the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science said in an article published online on June 28. “But in reality, ecology as a field largely developed to meet the need to monitor radioactive contamination in the Atomic Age.”

The federal government had a major knowledge gap after World War II, according to the article, which was written by Shannon Brescher Shea, senior writer/editor in DOE’s Office of Science. Specifically, the United States government needed to know more about the consequences of nuclear weapons use and production, from the effects of fallout to waste disposal.

The Atomic Energy Commission’s national laboratories were logical places to answer these questions, the article said.

“As the home of the Manhattan Project, these labs had the resources to figure out how nuclear contaminants can move through plants, animals, and natural systems as well as how radiation affects cellular behavior within these systems,” the article said.

Advertisement

The scientists went far beyond what they called “radioecology.” They tackled broader questions about the building blocks of natural systems. The researchers were at federal sites that became the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

“Of course, the less fortunate side of this story is that many of the discoveries were a byproduct of radioactive contamination of the environment,” DOE said. “One of the tragedies of the Atomic Age is that in the early years, scientists poorly understood and, for the most part, grossly underestimated the effects of radioactivity on both humans and the environment. One unfortunate result was a great deal of damage to the environment around Atomic Energy Commission sites.”

But it was also partly the work of AEC-supported scientists in radioecology that increased awareness of radiation’s effects and hazards, according to DOE.

“This research helped lead to new, more environmentally conscious standards and practices for handling radioactive materials,” the department’s article said. “This work also helped lead to a better understanding of certain beneficial uses of radiation, such as radioactive tracers in medicine and a variety other fields.”

You can learn more in this story about ecological roots here. The DOE article has more information about the work at Oak Ridge, Hanford, and Savannah River, as well as the legacy of the national laboratories.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Jerry Olson and Stanley Auerbach of Oak Ridge National Laboratory show Orlando Park, a biology professor at Northwestern University, the agricultural plot on upper White Oak Lake Bed. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy)

Jerry Olson and Stanley Auerbach of Oak Ridge National Laboratory show Orlando Park, a biology professor at Northwestern University, the agricultural plot on upper White Oak Lake Bed. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory via U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: AEC, Atomic Energy Commission, Dan Nelson, DOE, ecology, fallout, Jerry Olson, nuclear weapons use, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, Orlando Park, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, radiation, radioactive materials, radioactivity, radioecology, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Shannon Brescher Shea, Stanley Auerbach, U.S. Department of Energy, waste disposal

Advertisements


 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More U.S. Department of Energy News

Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium … [Read More...]

Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation

Submitted The Y-12 National Security Complex flipped the switch on a new era as crews finalized the process of moving the entire site’s electrical supply to the new Pine Ridge substation. In June, the Building … [Read More...]

DOE picks Idaho for nuclear test reactor

The U.S. Department of Energy has decided to build a nuclear test reactor at Idaho National Laboratory to study fuels and materials. Besides INL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory had been considered as a potential site … [Read More...]

DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tours began running again on July 11, and they are scheduled to continue through … [Read More...]

Crews prepare former ORNL reactors for demolition

The U.S. Department of Energy and cleanup contractor UCOR are preparing to demolish research reactor facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Crews are nearing the final stages of deactivation inside two former … [Read More...]

More DOE

Recent Posts

  • ORAU launches new app with a variety of resources available, including hundreds of STEM internships, fellowships and research opportunities
  • Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion
  • Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation
  • Man sentenced to 8 years after fleeing, crashing, attempting carjackings
  • Three Ohio residents die in two-vehicle crash
  • DOE picks Idaho for nuclear test reactor
  • TBI investigating man’s death
  • Luminarias to feature peace messages
  • Oak Ridge tennis court dance is Thursday
  • DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today