[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45147-45148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21535]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Implementation Plan for the Environmental Impact Statement for a
Multi-Purpose Canister System for Management of Civilian and Naval
Spent Nuclear Fuel
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces the availability of the
Implementation Plan for the Environmental Impact Statement for a
proposed Multi-Purpose Canister System for Management of Civilian and
Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel. The purpose of the Implementation Plan is to
report the results of the public scoping and public participation
processes and to serve as a plan for the preparation of the
Environmental Impact Statement. The Implementation Plan also describes
the alternatives and issues to be evaluated in the Environmental Impact
Statement.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Multi-
Purpose Canister Environmental Impact Statement, please contact: Gerald
J. Parker, Multi-Purpose Canister Environmental Impact Statement
Manager, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (RW-45), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Room 7F-075,
Washington, D.C. 20585, 202-586-5679.
To request copies of the Implementation Plan, please call 1-800-
672-3304.
For general information on the Department's National Environmental
Policy Act review process, please contact: Carol M. Borgstrom,
Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585, 202-
586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On October 24, 1994, the Department of Energy issued a Notice of
Intent in the Federal Register (55 FR 53442) to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement for the fabrication and deployment of a
multi-purpose canister-based system for the management of civilian
spent nuclear fuel (MPC Environmental Impact Statement). In the Notice
of Intent, the Department identified the proposed action as the
fabrication and deployment of certain components of a multi-purpose
canister-based system. Specifically, the proposed action includes two
sizes of MPCs (a 125-ton and a 75-ton MPC), with associated rail
transportation casks and on-site transfer casks. The proposed action
would provide a standardized container system to handle, store,
transport and dispose of spent nuclear fuel in order to minimize or
eliminate the need for the spent nuclear fuel to be removed from
canisters or casks during storage and transportation, and, to the
extent practicable, be compatible with disposal. DOE requested comments
on the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement.
The Notice of Intent established a public scoping period which
began October 24, 1994, and ended January 6, 1995. However, the
Department found it practicable to consider all comments received by
March 31, 1995. The Department held public scoping meetings in Las
Vegas, Nevada on November 21, 1994; Chicago, Illinois on November 30,
1994; and Washington, D.C. on December 7, 1994, to provide an
opportunity for public participation by interested individuals,
organizations, and other governmental agencies. During the public
scoping period, about 400 commenters provided a total of 2,832
comments, either by participating in the meetings or by submitting
comments via response forms, letters, postcards, toll-free telephone
messages, facsimiles, electronic mail, or electronic bulletin board to
the Department. In response to comments received during scoping from
the Department of the Navy, the scope of the MPC Environmental Impact
Statement has been expanded to include consideration of the use of
MPCs, and alternatives to the MPC-based system, for naval spent nuclear
fuel. The Department of the Navy will be a cooperating agency in
preparing this EIS, in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.6 and 10 CFR
1021.342.
MPC Environmental Impact Statement Alternatives
The alternatives to be evaluated in the MPC Environmental Impact
Statement address future dry storage, transportation, and disposal
needs, and include the fabrication and deployment of a range of single-
and dual-purpose cask and canister hardware systems, and a multi-
purpose canister hardware system. The alternative hardware systems
differ in whether they are based on single-unit, heavily-shielded
``casks'' that feature bolted lids, or on relatively thin-walled
``canisters'' that are sealed by welding and used with separate,
specialized overpacks for purposes of storage, transportation, or
disposal.
The five alternatives to the proposed action that will be evaluated
in this EIS are: (1) A ``no-action'' alternative, which is the current
technology comprising different systems of specialized single- and
dual-purpose canisters and casks that have been certified by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission or are currently undergoing
certification; (2) the current technology supplemented by high-capacity
rail transportation casks; (3) a system of transportable storage casks;
(4) a system of dual-purpose canisters; and (5) a system utilizing only
the small (75-ton) MPCs. Alternatives (4) and (5) were added in
response to comments received during the public scoping period.
Areas to be Addressed
The MPC Environmental Impact Statement will address potential
environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternatives in three
general areas: (1) manufacturing, (2) handling and storage activities
at facilities, and (3) transportation. The analysis of the potential
environmental impacts of these three areas of activity will emphasize
those impacts which discriminate among the alternatives.
Manufacturing
Because the actual sites where manufacturing would take place have
not been chosen, the analysis of potential manufacturing impacts will
be based on the environmental settings of typical or representative
manufacturing facilities (those facilities that currently produce
hardware identical or similar to the proposed or alternative hardware
systems), as well as a qualitative site-specific analysis at two known
potential manufacturing locations.
[[Page 45148]]
Handling and Storage
The evaluation of at-reactor handling and storage activities will
be based on representative site data derived from data collected at
existing spent fuel storage locations. Site-specific National
Environmental Policy Act documents for commercial reactor sites already
have been issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Handling
and storage activities for naval spent nuclear fuel at the Idaho
National Engineering Laboratory will be addressed in the Naval Spent
Nuclear Fuel Appendix to the MPC Environmental Impact Statement. The
analysis in the MPC Environmental Impact Statement of potential impacts
at a repository will consider the use of the MPC and alternative
hardware systems only for surface activities, since ultimate
disposition impacts can be meaningfully assessed only in connection
with proposed repository acceptance criteria. Such criteria will be
analyzed in a separate Environmental Impact Statement that the
Department will prepare for the candidate repository at Yucca Mountain,
Nevada.
Transportation
The impacts of transportation activities for each alternative will
be assessed using existing transportation impact models for shipments.
Transportation evaluations would consider shipments between each
existing storage location and two hypothetical Monitored Retrievable
Storage facility locations, and subsequently to the candidate
repository facility at Yucca Mountain, or between each existing storage
location directly to the candidate repository facility. Representative
routes will be chosen between origination and destination sites for
purposes of assessing the potential risks involved in such
transportation, including use of a potential rail spur at Yucca
Mountain.
Availability of Implementation Plan
Copies of the Implementation Plan are being provided to Federal
agencies, Indian tribal organizations, State and local government
agencies, public interest groups, manufacturers of equipment,
transportation interests, industry and utility organizations,
regulators, and members of the general public who indicated an interest
in receiving a copy or who participated in the public scoping
processes. The Implementation Plan will be provided upon request to
additional parties who express interest by calling 1-800-672-3304.
Copies of the Implementation Plan also have been placed in the
Department of Energy reading rooms identified below. Please contact the
individual reading rooms for information on their hours of operation
and the availability of the Implementation Plan.
Department of Energy Freedom of Information Public Reading Rooms
Albuquerque Operations Office:
National Atomic Museum, Building 20358, Wyoming Boulevard, P.O. Box
5400, Albuquerque, NM 87185-5400, Attn: Diane Leute (505) 845-4378
Los Alamos Community Reading Room, 1450 Central, Suite 101, Los
Alamos, NM 87544, Attn: Tim Ribe (505) 665-2127
Bartlesville Project Office/National Institute for Petroleum and Energy
Research, BPO/NIPER Library, U.S. Department of Energy, 220 North
Virginia Avenue, P.O. Box 2128, Bartlesville, OK 74003, Attn: Josh
Stroman (918) 337-4371
Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, 905 N.E.
11th St., P.O. Box 3621-ALP, Portland, OR 97208, Attn: Gene Tollefson
(503) 230-6877
Chicago Operations Office, Document Department, University of Illinois
at Chicago, 801 South Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60607, Attn: John
Shuler (312) 413-2594 or 996-2738
Dallas Support Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 1420 W. Mockingbird
Lane, Suite 400, Dallas, TX 75247, Attn: Gailene Reinhold (214) 767-
7185
Golden Field Office, DOE Public Reading Room, 14869 Denver West
Parkway, Golden, CO 80401, Attn: Chris Powers (303) 275-4742
Headquarters Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Room 1E-190, Forrestal
Bldg., 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, Attn: Carolyn
Lawson (202) 586-3142
Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Public Reading Room, 1776 Science Center
Drive, Idaho Falls, ID 83402, Attn: Carl Robertson (208) 526-0271
Morgantown Energy Technology Center, METC Library, U.S. Department of
Energy, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26505,
Attn: Matt Marsteller (304) 291-4183
Ohio Field Office, FOI Public Reading Room, 1 Mound Road, Miamisburg,
OH 45342, Attn: Jane Greenwalt (513) 865-4468
Richland Operations Office, Washington State University, Tri-Cities
Branch Campus, 100 Sprout Road, Richland, WA 99352, Attn: Terri Traub
(509) 376-8583
Rocky Flats Field Office, Public Reading Room, Front Range Community
College Library, 3645 West 112th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80030, Attn:
Will-Ann Lamsens (303) 469-4435
Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading
Room, 2621 Losee Road, Building B-3, North Las Vegas, NV 89030, Attn:
Cynthia Ashley (702) 295-1623 or -0848
Oak Ridge Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading
Room, 55 Jefferson Circle, Room 112, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, Attn: Amy L.
Rothrock (acting) (615) 241-4780
Oakland Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading
Room, EIC, 8th Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612-5208, Attn:
Lauren L. Noble (510) 637-1762
Savannah River Operations Office, Gregg-Granite Library, University of
South Carolina-Aiken, 171 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, Attn:
Paul Lewis (803) 641-3320
Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, U.S. Department of Energy,
Building 922/M210, Wallace Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236,
Attn: Ann C. Dunlap (412) 892-6167
Southeastern Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Legal
Library, Samuel Elbert Building, 2 South Public Square, Elberton, GA
30635-2496, Attn: Joel W. Seymour (706) 213-3800
Southwestern Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Public
Reading Room, 1 West 3rd St., P.O. Box 1619, Tulsa, OK 74101, Attn:
Marti Ayers (918) 581-6804
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Project Management Office, U.S. Department
of Energy, SPRPMO/SEB Reading Room, 900 Commerce Road, New Orleans, LA
70123, Attn: Ulysses Washington (504) 734-4243
Superconducting Super Collider Termination Project Office, U.S.
Department of Energy, 2550 Beckleymeade Avenue, Dallas, TX 75237, Attn:
Gina Dan (214) 708-2526
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
The Department expects to issue the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for public comment in December 1995; public hearings on the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be scheduled and announced at
that time.
Issued in Washington, D.C., this 27th day of August, 1995.
Lake H. Barrett,
Deputy Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.
[FR Doc. 95-21535 Filed 8-29-95; 8:45 am]
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