[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1610]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 26, 1994]



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Finding of No Significant Impact: Interim Storage of Plutonium 
Components at the Pantex Plant, Amarillo, TX

AGENCY: United States Department of Energy.

ACTION: Finding of No Significant Impact for the Interim Storage of 
Plutonium Components at the Pantex Plant.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the Council on Environmental Quality regulations 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, 40 CFR 1500 et 
seq., and the United States Department of Energy's implementing 
procedures, 10 CFR 1021, the Department of Energy has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (DOE/EA-0812, January 1994) to evaluate the 
potential environmental impacts of increased interim storage of 
plutonium components (pits) at the Pantex Plant located in Carson 
County about 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas.
    The Environmental Assessment analyzed the potential environmental 
impacts of interim storage of up to 20,000 pits at the Pantex Plant 
until decisions can be implemented on the long-term storage of 
plutonium required for national security purposes and on the 
disposition of surplus plutonium. In response to comments received from 
State and local officials and other stakeholders, the Department has 
decided to store no more than 12,000 pits at Pantex until it completes 
a site-wide environmental impact statement covering all current and 
proposed facilities and activities at Pantex. A Record of Decision for 
this environmental impact statement will be issued by November 15, 
1996. The Department's interim storage decision will enable 
approximately three more years of nuclear weapons dismantlement 
activities at Pantex. The Department now envisions that the Pantex 
Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement will address all storage 
requirements, including alternative locations, for all plutonium, 
highly enriched uranium, tritium, and classified weapons components 
that result from Pantex dismantlement activities. Scoping meetings for 
this Environmental Impact Statement will be held in Amarillo, Texas, 
and at other sites that might be affected by the activities at Pantex 
by June 30, 1994. In addition, the Reconfiguration Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement is scheduled to be completed in 1995. It 
will analyze all reasonable long-term pit storage alternatives and 
discuss the disposition options the Department is considering, and the 
Record of Decision will include decisions on pit storage locations. The 
Pantex Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement will take into account 
any decisions resulting from the Reconfiguration Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement.
    The Department of Energy provided a pre-approval review copy of the 
Environmental Assessment to the State of Texas in December 1992. 
Subsequently, the State provided the pre-approval Environmental 
Assessment to interested and affected members of the public. State and 
public comments were submitted to the Department for consideration 
during February and March, 1993. In response to these comments, the 
Department reviewed and revised the Environmental Assessment and added 
a Comment Response Document. This revised pre-approval Environmental 
Assessment was issued on November 11, 1993, for public review and 
comment.
    The Department then held a public meeting on December 6, 1993, in 
Amarillo, Texas, to discuss the revised Environmental Assessment and 
Comment Response Document and to respond to comments from State and 
local officials and the public. Subsequent to the public meeting, the 
Department accepted written comments on the revised pre-approval 
Environmental Assessment until December 20, 1993. The Environmental 
Assessment was expanded to include the Department's response to the 
comments received on the revised Environmental Assessment.
    Based upon the analyses in the Environmental Assessment and after 
careful consideration of all comments from State and local officials 
and members of the public, the Department of Energy has determined that 
storage of no more than 12,000 pits at Pantex does not constitute a 
major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human 
environment, within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy 
Act. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required and 
the Department issues this Finding of No Significant Impact.

ADDRESSES AND FURTHER INFORMATION: Persons requesting additional 
information regarding this action or desiring a copy of the 
Environmental Assessment should contact: Mr. Thomas Walton, Public 
Affairs Officer, Amarillo Area Office, P.O. Box 30030, Amarillo, Texas 
79120, (806) 477-3120.
    Copies of the Environmental Assessment are available for public 
review at the following Department of Energy reading rooms:

U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room, 
Forrestal Building, room 1E-190, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-6020.
U.S. Department of Energy, Reading Room, Amarillo College, Lynn 
Library/Learning Center, P.O. Box 447, Amarillo, Texas 79178, (806) 
371-5400.
U.S. Department of Energy, Reading Room, Carson County Library, P.O. 
Box 339, Panhandle, Texas 79068, (806) 537-3742.

    For general information regarding the Department of Energy National 
Environmental Policy Act process, please contact: Ms. Carol M. 
Borgstrom, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of National Environmental 
Policy Act Oversight, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585, (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pantex Plant is located in Carson 
County, about 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas, and central to the 
panhandle of Texas. As a component of the national nuclear weapons 
research, development, and production complex administered by the 
Department of Energy, the primary mission of Pantex is the assembly, 
disassembly, and surveillance of nuclear weapons. Within the 
disassembly portion of the Department of Energy mission, weapons are 
returned to Pantex from the Department of Defense, disassembled and the 
plutonium pits stored at Pantex.
    Two factors combine to create the need for increased interim 
storage of pits. First, decisions to reduce the size of the nuclear 
weapons stockpile have accelerated the accumulation of pits. These pits 
need to be stored on an interim basis until decisions can be 
implemented on the long-term storage of plutonium required for national 
security purposes and on the disposition of surplus plutonium.
    Second, pits are no longer being shipped from Pantex to the Rocky 
Flats Plant, near Golden, Colorado, to be recycled. This function was 
temporarily halted at the Rocky Flats Plant in 1989 to make 
improvements in the operations and facilities. In January 1992, pit 
recycle operations were suspended indefinitely. Subsequently, the 
Department has decided to no longer maintain a nuclear component 
production capability at the Rocky Flats Plant.
    Proposed Action Described in the Environmental Assessment and 
Decision: The proposed action as described in the Environmental 
Assessment was to provide additional storage beyond the present pit 
storage capacity (6,800 pits) for up to 20,000 pits for an interim time 
period. In response to comments received from State and local officials 
and other stakeholders, the Department has decided to increase the 
interim storage of pits at Pantex under this Finding of No Significant 
Impact to no more than 12,000 pits. There would not be a need to 
construct or demolish any additional facilities; nor would there be any 
increased generation or management of wastes, uncontained plutonium 
handling, or plutonium processing as a result of this decision. The 
Department will implement this decision in the same manner as described 
in the proposed action for storage of 20,000 pits with one exception, 
the number of magazines that will be utilized. Approximately 31 
magazines will be used instead of 49. The operations will remain the 
same in that inspections and inventories of pits will be carried out in 
the same manner, the method of storage will remain as described in the 
proposed action, and the number of pits stored in each magazine will 
remain the same.
    Two types of magazines exist at Pantex. There are 18 Modified-
Richmond magazines, and 42 Steel Arch Construction magazines. 
Currently, Steel Arch Construction magazines are not utilized for pit 
storage. Dismantlement activities at Pantex will continue and pit 
storage will be expanded to include the Zone 4 Steel Arch Construction 
magazines consistent with the Environmental Assessment and the Final 
Safety Analysis Report for Zone 4 and all magazines will use the 
preferred interim storage configurations in the Environmental 
Assessment. The preferred interim storage configurations are either 
multiple stacking of containers placed horizontally on pallets or a 
single layer of containers placed vertically on the floor with aisles 
to facilitate access for inventory and surveillance activities. Because 
of its overall advantages, storage eventually will be accomplished 
using the multiple stacked configuration. After successful completion 
of the Department's Operational Readiness Review for horizontal 
stacking, scheduled for mid-February 1994, storage using this 
configuration will begin. Until then, storage will be undertaken using 
the vertical configuration previously described. The number of pits 
that could be held within each of the 18 Modified-Richmond magazines 
will increase from 378 pits to a maximum of 440 as accomplished by 
using a horizontal palletized multiple stacking configuration. In 
addition, each Steel Arch Construction magazine will hold up to 384 or 
392 pits, in the vertical single-layer or horizontal palletized 
multiple stacking configurations, respectively.
    These two configurations represent the limiting cases for the 
numbers of pits held in a single Modified-Richmond or Steel Arch 
Construction magazine. In the vertical configuration, individual pit 
containers may rest on casters rather than on the concrete floor of 
magazines. This will facilitate inventory operations and worker safety, 
and accommodate operational needs. In addition, some Steel Arch 
Construction magazines will be reserved for assembled weapons and 
component staging activities that have taken place in the past, and 
will continue in these facilities.
    Each pit is clamped in a holding fixture and inserted in a storage 
container comprised of a carbon or stainless steel drum lined with a 
nominal three inches of insulating and cushioning material. The pallets 
for the horizontal multiple stacking configuration are designed to 
ensure structural integrity and stability. An electric forklift with 
shielding for radiation protection will be used for storage, retrieval, 
and inventory operations for the horizontal palletized stacking 
configuration. The shielded forklift has a passive guidance system 
(e.g., rail guides, wire guides, etc.,), which prevents the forklift 
from veering from the aisle, and is equipped with a lateral motion, 
turret-type fork assembly, which allows palletized pit containers to be 
stacked and retrieved.
    Alternatives: The Environmental Assessment considers the 
alternatives of No Action, Combination of the Proposed Action Storage 
at Pantex with Storage at Other Department of Energy Sites (Savannah 
River Site, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Hanford Site), 
Supplement No-Action Alternative Storage Capacity with Storage at Other 
Department of Energy Sites, and Interim Storage at a Department of 
Defense Facility. Based on the analysis in the Environmental 
Assessment, none of the alternatives would provide sufficient increased 
interim storage capacity for pits while continuing disassembly 
operations at the anticipated rate, and none would meet other 
programmatic objectives, i.e., to provide an approach that is timely 
and cost effective and utilizes to the maximum extent practicable 
existing facilities and infrastructures.
    Environmental Impacts: Routine Operating Conditions: Under normal 
operating conditions, the storage of up to 12,000 pits would result in 
only minor releases of air pollutants associated with equipment engines 
and a minor increase in particulates (dust) associated with forklift 
operations in moving security blocks and pit containers to the 
magazines. There would be no impact to water resources, flood plains, 
wetlands, cultural resources, or other site features. No new facilities 
are required to increase storage capacity. Consequently, there would be 
no environmental impact due to the need for construction or significant 
modification of facilities.
    The primary impact of routine operations is occupational radiation 
exposure to workers involved in placement of pits into storage and 
periodic inspections and inventories of pits stored on an interim 
basis. Increasing the number of pits from 6,000 to 12,000 will increase 
the estimated cumulative personnel exposure by approximately 14 percent 
(from 67.8 person-rem per year as reflected in Appendix F of the 
Environmental Assessment to approximately 80.4 person-rem per year). 
For all operations at the Pantex Plant, worker radiation doses are 
maintained below the annually established Pantex operating limit of 1 
rem per year. This limit is well below the federally mandated limit of 
5 rem per year. Limiting the number of pits stored at Pantex on an 
interim basis to a maximum of 12,000 pits would reduce the cumulative 
Personnel Exposure (person-rem/yr) estimated to occur from the proposed 
action in Appendix F of the Environmental Assessment from 92.4 person-
rem per year to 80.4 person-rem per year. The reduction would result 
from reducing the total number of magazines inventoried on an annual 
basis from 40 magazines per year to 24 magazines per year. The handling 
procedures and rate of fill of the magazines described in the 
Environmental Assessment remain unchanged. Individual exposures would 
be maintained well within Federal and Department guidelines. Emphasis 
will be placed on ensuring that doses to workers will be minimized 
through implementation of ``As Low As Reasonably Achievable'' 
practices.
    Additionally, the level of penetrating radiation expected to result 
from storage of up to 12,000 pits would result in no measurable effect 
on exposure to an individual occupying a position for an entire year at 
the nearest Pantex site boundary. Such a level would be 
indistinguishable from natural background radiation. No adverse health 
effects would be expected among the general public as a result of 
routine operations from this action.
    Abnormal Events/Accidents: The Department of Energy analyzed a 
series of potential accidents in the Environmental Assessment. By using 
conservative assumptions (i.e., those that tend to overestimate 
potential impacts), the Department of Energy attempted to bound all 
reasonably foreseeable adverse impacts. The Department of Energy 
analyzed impacts from abnormal events having a probability of 
occurrence of greater than one in a million (1 x 10-6).
    Potential accident-initiating events considered in the Safety 
Analysis Report of the Zone 4 magazines were reviewed for potential 
impact. Included were earthquakes, external explosions, forklift 
accidents, missiles, tornados, and aircraft crashes. The potential for 
consequences for an abnormal event/accident range from negligible to 
marginal. No consequences to the public or the environment would be 
anticipated. The workers in the immediate vicinity of the accident site 
could receive a marginal radiation dose. An analysis performed of the 
likelihood of an aircraft crash into a Modified-Richmond or Steel Arch 
Construction magazine in Zone 4 indicated an annual probability of less 
than 1 x 10-6 per year.
    Because the Ogallala Aquifer is the primary water source for most 
of the Texas Panhandle, and in response to the expressed interest of 
State and local officials and the public regarding possible 
contamination of the aquifer, the Department of Energy performed 
additional analyses on potential impacts to the aquifer. The analyses 
describe the potential for aquifer contamination should plutonium be 
released to the environment within an 80-km radius of the Pantex Plant. 
No accident or routine operating condition with a probability greater 
than 1 x 10-6 was identified that could result in a plutonium 
release having an impact on the Ogallala Aquifer. In the unlikely event 
of an accident that resulted in a release of plutonium, it is expected 
that the majority of the radioactivity (90 percent) deposited on the 
soil surface would remain in that top layer of soil. Because plutonium 
is relatively immobile in soils similar to those found at and near the 
Pantex site, no effects to the Ogallala Aquifer would be expected.
    Determination: Based upon the analyses in the Environmental 
Assessment, and after careful consideration of comments received, the 
Department of Energy has determined that the storage of no more than 
12,000 pits at Pantex does not constitute a major Federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. 
Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement is not required and the 
Department issues this Finding of No Significant Impact.
    Any new Finding of No Significant Impact, if that should prove 
necessary, that relies on the Environmental Assessment for Interim 
Storage of Plutonium Components at the Pantex Plant will be issued only 
after consultation with State and affected stakeholders regarding DOE's 
views of the need for a revised Finding of No Significant Impact and 
after a public meeting in Amarillo to consider the proposed Finding of 
No Significant Impact. If a new Finding of No Significant Impact is 
issued, it will respond to comments received during the consultation 
and public meeting process.

    Issued at Washington, DC, this January 19, 1994.
Tara O'Toole,
Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 94-1610 Filed 1-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P