Portsmouth Site educational outreach seeks to inform and motivate area students to pursue opportunities in scientific and technical fields.

PORTSMOUTH SITE ANNUAL SCIENCE ALLIANCE

More than 1,700 students participated in the Portsmouth Site’s Science Alliance event.

PORTS Science Alliance 2017

The annual Science Alliance event brings more than 1,500 high school juniors from the surrounding four counties to the Portsmouth site for a unique, interactive science fair dedicated to areas related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Now in its 10th year, the event includes scientific demonstrations and provides information related to careers associated with STEM fields, the academic requirements necessary to pursue those careers, and information from regional universities that offer those programs. 

Representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board, the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, regional universities, Centrus Energy Corporation and site contractors join DOE in operating the demonstration areas and executing the event. Some of the interactive demonstrations include biology, recycling, innovation, geology, groundwater monitoring, emergency management and much more.

SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO REGIONAL SCIENCE BOWL

DOE South Central Ohio Regional competition 2017

The annual South Central Ohio Regional Science Bowl is an academic competition made up of teams from the four-county Region of Influence of the Portsmouth Site.  Regional science bowls are conducted throughout the nation for high school and middle school students with each regional winner advancing to the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C.

Science Bowl matches consist of two teams made up of four participants and an alternate.  The teams play eight-minute halves and answer questions related to biology, chemistry, earth science, energy, mathematics and physics.  At the South Central Ohio Regional, teams compete in morning pool play before being seeded into a single-elimination tournament based on pool play performance.

PPPO’s Portsmouth site executes the event with assistance from Shawnee State University, the Portsmouth SSAB, the Portsmouth Civic Forum and site contractors. More than 305,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl® throughout its 29-year history, and it is one of the nation’s largest science competitions.

ANNUAL SITE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT SUMMARY

Waverly High School students participate in the Student ASER Summary Project activities.

Ohio University’s PORTSfuture project sponsors and helps to develop an Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) Summary in collaboration with staff and students from area high schools. The ASER Summary is drawn from information found in the most recent DOE technical ASER and presentation materials developed by the high school staff and students throughout the school year. The goals when producing the ASER Summary are to educate regional high school students about activities and future career opportunities at the PORTS site and develop materials that will facilitate area residents learning more about DOE’s work at the PORTS site.
The Annual Site Environmental Reports are prepared to summarize environmental activities, primarily environmental monitoring, at the Portsmouth Site. The report fulfills a requirement of DOE Order 231.1B, Environment, Safety and Health Reporting, for preparation of an annual summary of environmental data to characterize environmental management performance. The Annual Site Environmental Report also provides the means by which DOE demonstrates compliance with the radiation protection requirements of DOE Order 458.1, Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment.