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The INL’s collaborative research efforts to study how fluids move in fractured rock have moved from large-scale field studies, such as at Box Canyon just outside the INL’s boundaries, into the Subsurface Science Research laboratory.

The Idaho National Laboratory’s Subsurface Science Research (SSR) is a major research undertaking to expand the understanding of subsurface contaminant fate and transport.

The primary motivation for the SSR is to develop the scientific basis and new technology needed for the Department of Energy to remediate and monitor sites having radioactive and chemical contaminants in the ground as a result of research to develop weapons and peacetime uses of nuclear energy.

It is designed to help safeguard our groundwater supplies by applying science to a better understanding of subsurface processes and how they control the movement and degradation of contaminants over time. Protecting aquifers from contamination is a national priority because more than fifty percent of the U.S. population depending on groundwater for their drinking water.

Responsibility for preventing surface and groundwater contamination is given to several federal agencies — the Departments of Energy, Interior, and Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Army Corps of Engineers, etc. — as well as states, counties, and municipal agencies. Due to The growing threat of aquifer contamination in our industrialized society, each of these organizations needs to dramatically improve technology to advert damage to our water supplies.

Federal agencies are not the only ones who address nationwide environmental management issues; the broad range of scientific inquiry includes: geology, geophysics, hydrology, biology, chemistry, and computational science. A world-class review board, collaboration with government agencies, and recommendations from the National Research Council also helps the INL program.