[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 48 (Monday, March 13, 1995)]
[Sunshine Act Meetings]
[Page 13513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6239]



      
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 48 / Monday, March 13, 1995 / 
Sunshine Act Meetings  
[[Page 13513]] 




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 93-5.

TIME AND DATE: 6:00 p.m., March 29, 1995.

PLACE: Federal Building Auditorium, 825 Jadwin Avenue, Richland, 
Washington 99352.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

    1. The importance of characterizing high-level radioactive waste 
to support safe storage, retrieval, pretreatment and immobilization 
programs, and the implications of program delays.
    2. The status of implementing Board Recommendation 93-5.
    3. The proposed change to the characterization strategy, 
including: the technical justification for changing strategies, and 
the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed strategy, with 
emphasis on characterization requirements for safe storage, 
retrieval, pretreatment, and immobilization.

Contact person for more information: Robert M. Anderson, 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 has repeatedly expressed the view 
that the Department of Energy needs to accelerate its current schedule 
for characterization of high-level radioactive waste in underground 
tanks at the Hanford Site. On July 19, 1993, the Board formally 
recommended to the Secretary of Energy (Recommendation 93-5) that DOE 
accelerate its actions to sample and characterize the Hanford tank 
wastes. The Secretary accepted the Board's recommendation; however, the 
Department's efforts to date to implement the Board's recommendation 
have been disappointing. The program for characterization of the waste 
is well behind schedule. The Board is informed that recent deferrals of 
a number of actions threaten to cause even further delays.
    In accordance with the powers granted to the Board, a public 
hearing will be conducted by the Board in an open meeting. The Board 
has requested staff members of the Department of Energy, Westinghouse 
Hanford Company, and representatives from other organizations to brief 
the Board on the current status of activities under the Secretary's 
implementation plan for Recommendation 93-5. These participants 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 the Board 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 the presentations and the 
Board's questioning of the participants.
    Anyone who wishes to comment, provide technical information or data 
may do so in writing, either in lieu of, or in addition to making an 
oral presentation. The Board Members may question presenters to the 
extent deemed appropriate. The Board will hold the record open until 
April 12, 1995, for the receipt of additional materials.
    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, D.C. office and at the DOE's Public Reading Room, 
Richland Operations Office, 100 Sprout Road, Room 130 West, Richland, 
WA 99352.
    Recommendation 93-5 in its entirety is on file at DOE's Public 
Reading Room, Richland Operations Office, 100 Sprout Road, Room 130 
West, Richland, WA 99352, and at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety 
Board's Washington, D.C. office. It is also set forth in the Federal 
Register at 58 FR 40409.
    The Board reserves its right to further schedule and otherwise 
regulate the course of this meeting and hearing, to recess, reconvene, 
postpone or adjourn the meeting, and otherwise excise its power under 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

    Dated: March 9, 1995.
John T. Conway,

Chairman.

[FR Doc. 95-6239 Filed 3-9-95; 2:24 pm]

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