UW News

March 7, 2002

Hanford cleanup information available on the Internet

People with Internet access and an interest in the Hanford cleanup are invited to help University of Washington researchers evaluate a new Web tool. The Decision Mapping System is designed to help people participate in decisions related to Hanford — a former plutonium production facility.

To participate, go to http://nalu.geog.washington.edu/dms/tour.html. Explore the site and then fill out an anonymous questionnaire. It will take about 40 minutes to tour the site’s maps, timelines, value trees and hyperlinks, and to take the survey. Anyone with access to the Internet is eligible to participate in the study. Researchers ask that the survey be completed by March 15.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the information people need to participate in decision-making processes at Hanford. An important aspect of the research is a focus on “decision transparency;” or, in other words, what allows people to understand what is being done, where and why? Figuring out transparency can contribute to many kinds of democratic decision-making processes, including the Hanford cleanup, according to researchers.

This study is supported by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) — part of the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine‘s Department of Environmental Health — under a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information, contact Christie Drew at the University of Washington, (206) 616-7413, or e-mail: cdrew@u.washington.edu.

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