Concepts Associated With Framework for Risk Analysis in Multimedia Environmental Systems. G. Whelan, K. J. Castleton, J. W. Buck, B. L. Hoopes, and M. A. Pelton, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA
For over 40 years, medium-specific models have been and will continue to be developed in an effort to understand and predict environmental phenomena. Most recently, they also have been combined for either sequential or concurrent assessments. In all of these approaches, individual components (or models) are "hard-wired" into the systems, and to a certain degree, the legacy of the original model that has to be forced into the system is compromised. Any changes to the models comes the difficulty of understanding the nuances of the new system so it can be appropriately applied. A mechanism now exists for decision-makers and users to link their preferred codes with others that are required to perform an appropriate assessment. The platform from which different models can be linked to communicate with each other is called the Framework for Risk Analysis in Multimedia Environmental Systems (FRAMES). FRAMES is an open-architecture, object-oriented framework that will provide an environmental database, help the user construct a Conceptual Site Model that is real-world based, allow the user to choose the most appropriate models to solve simulation requirements, and present graphical packages for analyzing results. FRAMES is intended to 1) provide a forum from which various models can interact with each other and 2) facilitate a "plug-and-play" atmosphere to site assessments. This will help the decision maker perform assessments more efficiently: cost-effective.
Support for this effort was supplied by the U.S. DOE-EM in Washington, D.C., US-EPA ORIA in D.C.
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