[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Sunshine Act Meetings]
[Page 10424]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4676]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------


DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD

    Pursuant to the provisions of the ``Government in the Sunshine 
Act'' (5 U.S.C. Sec. 552b), notice is hereby given of the Board's 
meeting described below. The Board will also conduct a public hearing 
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2286b to gather additional information on 
technical issues underlying the Board's Recommendation 94-1.

TIME AND DATE: 8:30 a.m. March 6, 1995.

PLACE: Ramada Inn, 8773 Yates Drive, Westminster, Colorado 80030.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

    1. Safety issues of storing unstable plutonium residues and 
available processing technologies.
    2. Current practices for storing plutonium.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: Robert M. Andersen, General 
Counsel, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, 
NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004, (800) 788-4016. This is a toll-
free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board repeatedly expressed the view that 
the Department of Energy needs to accelerate its current schedule for 
converting certain unstable nuclear defense-related materials to forms 
suitable for safe storage. The Board's most recent effort to address 
this potential threat to the public health and safety was expressed in 
its Recommendation 94-1, dated May 26, 1994. In that recommendation we 
stated, among other things, that:
    The halt in production of nuclear weapons and materials to be used 
in nuclear weapons froze the manufacturing pipeline in a state that, 
for safety reasons, should not be allowed to persist unmediated. The 
Board has concluded from observations and discussions with others that 
imminent hazards could arise within two to three years unless certain 
problems are corrected.
    We are especially concerned about specific liquids and solids 
containing fissile material and other radioactive substances in spent 
fuel storage pools, reactor basins, reprocessing canyons, processing 
lines, and various buildings once used for processing and weapons 
manufacture.
    It is not clear at this juncture how fissile materials produced for 
defense purposes will eventually be dealt with long term. What is clear 
is that the extant fissile materials and related materials require 
treatment on an accelerated basis to convert them to forms more 
suitable for safe interim storage.
    Recommendation 94-1 in its entirety is on file at DOE's Public 
Reading Room, Front Range Community College, 3645 West 112 Avenue, 
Westminster, CO 80020, and at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety 
Board's Washington office. It is also set forth in the Federal Register 
at 59 FR 28848.
    In accord with the powers granted to the Board, a public hearing 
will be conducted by the Board in an open meeting. The board has 
invited recognized experts in the field of plutonium treatment and 
storage to testify at this hearing in order to assist the Board and to 
inform the public as to proper treatment of plutonium residuals. The 
experts are expected to answer Board questions based on their 
experience and technical knowledge and to provide additional documents 
as necessary. This hearing is an information-gathering function. 
Examination of those appearing before us will be limited to the 
questions put to them by the Board. An opportunity will be available 
for comments by members of the interested public at the conclusion of 
testimony by the experts.
    A transcript of this proceeding will be made available by the Board 
for inspection by the public at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety 
Board's Washington office and at the DOE's Public Reading Room, Front 
Range Community College, 3645 West 112 Avenue, Westminster, CO 80020.
    The Board intends further meetings and hearings on these matters. 
The Board will announce these by separate Federal Register notice.
    The Board reserves its right to further schedule and otherwise 
regulate the course of these meetings and hearings, to recess, 
reconvene, postpone or adjourn the meeting, and otherwise exercise its 
power under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

    Dated: February 22, 1995.
John T. Conway,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 95-4676 Filed 2-22-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3670-01-M