[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 121 (Friday, June 23, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32661-32663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15469]



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


DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Amended Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Continued Operation of the Pantex Plant and 
Associated Storage of Nuclear Weapon Components

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Amended Notice of Intent.

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Notice of Intent for 
the preparation of a site-wide Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 
the Continued Operation of the Pantex Plant and Associated Storage of 
Nuclear Weapon Components (59 FR 26635, May 23, 1994). In that notice, 
alternatives involving the potential relocation of selected Pantex 
Plant operations to other sites were not fully defined. DOE published 
an EIS Implementation Plan (DOE/EIS-0225-IP, December 1994) which 
defined the proposed scope of the EIS and the process of identifying 
potential alternate sites. DOE has now identified the potential 
reasonable alternate sites for relocation of selected Pantex Plant 
operations which will be analyzed in the EIS, and is issuing this 
amended Notice of Intent to announce these modifications to the scope 
of the EIS and to solicit public comments regarding these changes.

DATES: DOE invites the general public, other government agencies, and 
all other interested parties to comment on the amended scope and 
content of this EIS. DOE is soliciting additional oral and written 
comments, suggestions, requests for information, and requests for 
public meetings no later than July 24, 1995. These comments will 
receive equal consideration to comments presented during the June 1994 
scoping period. [[Page 32662]] 

Oral Comments

    All interested parties are invited to record their comments, 
suggestions, and requests concerning this EIS by calling the Pantex 
Plant EIS Hotline at 1-800-788-0306. The Hotline will give instructions 
on how to record your comments.

Written Comments

    Written comments to assist DOE in identifying significant 
environmental issues and the appropriate scope of this EIS, questions 
concerning the Pantex Plant or the other sites involved, requests to be 
placed on the Pantex Plant EIS mailing list, requests for copies of the 
Implementation Plan, requests to be placed on the EIS distribution 
list, and requests for public meetings should be directed to: Ms. 
Nanette Founds, U.S. Department of Energy, Albuquerque Operations 
Office, P.O. Box 5400, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-5400.
    Written comments, suggestions, and requests can be submitted using 
the Pantex Plant EIS Faxline at 1-800-822-5499. Facsimiles should be 
marked: Pantex Plant EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on DOE's NEPA process, 
please contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy 
and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, 202-586-4600 or 1-800-472-2756.

ADDRESSES: In addition to those locations listed in the original Notice 
of Intent, copies of all written comments, transcripts of all oral 
comments, and copies of the Implementation Plan will be prepared and 
retained by DOE for inspection by the public at the following 
additional locations:

Pantex SWEIS Public Information Center, c/o Tetra Tech, Inc., 6900 I-40 
West, Suite 260, Amarillo, Texas 79106, 806-355-9480
U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading Room, Washington State 
University, 100 Sprout Road, Richland, WA 99352, 509-376-8583

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Program Changes

    The Implementation Plan (Plan) summarized the comments received 
during scoping in June 1994, described the scope of the EIS, the 
alternatives that were planned to be evaluated, and the methodology for 
preparing the EIS. After publication of the Plan in December 1994, the 
proposed action and alternatives for relocating some of the Pantex 
Plant operations were modified. These modifications are described 
below:
    Relocating Pantex Plant Weapons Operations: In the Plan, DOE 
proposed to analyze the impacts of relocating some or all of the Pantex 
Plant operations to one or more sites. The Nevada Test Site was 
identified as the only alternate site for relocation of Pantex 
operations involving disassembly, modification, maintenance, or quality 
assurance of nuclear weapons components. Since the publication of the 
Plan, DOE has begun planning a
    Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic EIS (60 FR 31291, 
June 14, 1995) that will address the nuclear weapons complex 
requirements in the year 2005 and beyond. One of the anticipated 
alternatives of this Programmatic EIS is the possible relocation of the 
Pantex nuclear weapons operations to another site. Any decision on 
relocation of Pantex nuclear weapons operations will be made in the 
Record of Decision for the
    Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic EIS and not the 
Pantex site-wide EIS. Therefore, the Pantex site-wide EIS will not 
examine the impacts at any other site of relocating the Pantex nuclear 
weapons operations to that site. However, for completeness of analysis, 
the Pantex site-wide EIS will evaluate the impacts at Pantex of 
relocating these operations to another site. (See Implementation Plan, 
Section 3.2.3, Option A.)
    Relocating Plutonium Pits Interim Storage Operations: The Pantex 
site-wide EIS will analyze alternatives to the interim storage of 
plutonium pits from disassembled weapons at Pantex pending decisions on 
their disposition. Initially, DOE identified four DOE sites as 
potential alternate pit storage locations pending future site 
identification activities. These were: The Nevada Test Site; The 
Savannah River Site in South Carolina; the Oak Ridge Reservation in 
Tennessee; and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Based 
on further examination of more than 70 DOE and Department of Defense 
(DOD) sites, DOE has modified the list of alternative sites for 
relocating interim storage of plutonium pits. The Pantex site-wide EIS 
will now analyze relocating interim pit storage from Pantex to each of 
the following candidate sites: the Nevada Test Site; the Hanford 
Reservation, the Savannah River Site, and DOD's Manzano Facility at 
Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The Oak Ridge Reservation and 
the Los Alamos National Laboratory have been eliminated as reasonable 
interim pit storage sites due to inadequate storage space.
    Analysis of Storage of Depleted Uranium: DOE currently ships 
depleted uranium components from disassembled weapons to the Oak Ridge 
Reservation for routine processing and storage. The Plan identified 
four alternate sites for interim storage of depleted uranium components 
(See Implementation Plan, Section 3.2.3., Option B-3). However, DOE has 
determined that there are currently no reasonable alternative sites for 
the receipt of depleted uranium from disassembled weapons in the 5 to 
10 year period covered by the Pantex Site-Wide EIS because of the lack 
of facilities to perform the routine processing (demilitarization or 
recycling) of this material at any site other than the Oak Ridge 
Reservation. Therefore, the processing and storage of depleted uranium 
will not be addressed in the Pantex site-wide EIS.
    Potential New Missions: Pantex has been identified as a reasonable 
alternative location for actions being analyzed in other DOE EISs. 
Pantex is one of the reasonable alternatives for the proposed new 
tritium facility in the Tritium Supply and Recycling Programmatic EIS 
(60 FR 14433, March 17, 1995). Pantex is also under consideration for 
long-term plutonium component storage in the Long-Term Storage and 
Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Programmatic EIS (59 FR 
31985, June 21, 1994). In addition, Pantex may be identified as an 
alternative for other defense missions during preparation of the 
Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic EIS. The Pantex site-
wide EIS will consider the potential receipt of such new activities in 
its cumulative impact analysis; however, decisions on where to locate 
these new missions will be made on the basis of the programmatic EISs, 
and not on the basis of the Pantex site-wide EIS.

Subsequent Document Preparation

    After the completion of this additional public scoping process, DOE 
will prepare an addendum to the Implementation Plan and make it 
available in the public reading rooms. The addendum will record the 
results of the additional comment period. DOE intends to complete the 
draft EIS in December 1995 and will announce its availability in the 
Federal Register. DOE will solicit comments from the public, 
organizations, and other agencies on the draft EIS, and will consider 
all comments in its preparation of the final EIS.

    [[Page 32663]] Issued in Washington, DC, on June 19, 1995.
Tara O'Toole,
Assistant Secretary Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 95-15469 Filed 6-22-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P