[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 17, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37247-37251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18109]


[FR Doc. 96-18076 Filed 7-16-96; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Intent to Prepare An Environmental Impact Statement 
Concerning Interim Storage of Plutonium at the Rocky Flats 
Environmental Technology Site

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), in accordance with the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural 
Provisions of NEPA and the DOE NEPA implementing regulations. DOE has 
identified a need to provide safe interim storage of approximately 10 
metric tons of plutonium at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology 
Site (RFETS). The plutonium at RFETS is in the form of both metals 
(including plutonium-bearing weapons components known as ``pits'') and 
oxides. The 10 metric ton amount includes the current plutonium 
inventory at RFETS as well as the additional inventory projected to be 
generated from future processing of plutonium residues into more stable 
forms suitable for safe storage. DOE intends to prepare an EIS to 
evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with reasonable 
alternative means of providing the needed storage.

DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this 
NOI and will continue until August 16, 1996. Written comments 
postmarked by that date will be considered in the preparation of the 
Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 
Comments

[[Page 37248]]

postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent 
practicable.
    A public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, 1996, from 
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at RFETS, Building 60 (located immediately off 
State Highway 93 at the RFETS west entrance).

ADDRESSES: Written comments or suggestions on the scope of the Rocky 
Flats Plutonium Storage EIS, including issues to be addressed, should 
be submitted to: Ms. Dorothy Newell, NEPA Document Manager, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Rocky Flats Field Office, Office of Material 
Stabilization and Disposition (Building 460), P.O. Box 928, Golden, CO 
80402-0928, (Facsimile number 303-966-2497).
    Envelopes should be marked ``Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS''.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Rocky 
Flats Plutonium Storage EIS, please contact: Ms. Dorothy Newell, NEPA 
Document Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Rocky Flats Field Office, 
Office of Material Stabilization and Disposition (Building 460), 
Telephone number: 303-966-3521.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: 
Ms. 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, Telephone number: 202-586-4600 or leave a 
message at 800-472-2756.
    Addresses of reading rooms where additional Rocky Flats Plutonium 
Storage EIS information is available are listed in the Public Scoping 
Process section, below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOE announces its intent to prepare an 
EIS pursuant to NEPA (42 USC 4321, et seq.), in accordance with the CEQ 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 
Parts 1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA implementing regulations (10 CFR Part 
1021). DOE has identified the need to provide for safe interim storage 
of the approximately 10 metric tons of plutonium metals (including 
pits, which are plutonium-bearing weapons components) and oxides 
currently at the RFETS or projected to be generated from future 
processing of plutonium residues into more stable forms suitable for 
safe storage. DOE intends to prepare an EIS to evaluate the potential 
environmental impacts associated with alternative reasonable means of 
providing the needed storage.
    DOE also announces its decision to defer completion of a RFETS 
Site-wide EIS (SWEIS), pending completion of a new cleanup agreement 
among DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of 
Colorado for RFETS, and pending decisions that may result from issuance 
of the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (WM 
PEIS) (DOE/EIS-0200-D, Draft EIS issued August 1995). At the time of 
the publication of the Notice of Intent (59 FR 40011, August 5, 1994) 
for the Rocky Flats SWEIS, the Department anticipated that the SWEIS 
would analyze reasonable alternatives regarding waste management, 
cleanup, economic conversion, and special nuclear materials (which 
include plutonium and highly enriched uranium) management activities at 
RFETS. Because future activities proposed at RFETS are expected to be 
heavily influenced by the terms of the new cleanup agreement and the 
programmatic decisions resulting from the WM PEIS, DOE has determined 
that it is preferable to defer completion of the SWEIS until these 
decisions are made.

Purpose and Need

    RFETS, a Federal Government-owned, contractor-operated facility 
located near Golden, Colorado, began operations in 1952. RFETS's 
primary mission was the production of component parts for nuclear 
weapons. Although weapon component production ceased in 1989, RFETS 
still has a plutonium metal and oxide inventory (including pits) of 9.8 
metric tons stored in six major buildings. In addition, current plans 
for processing plutonium-bearing residues into a more stable form 
suitable for storage will result in approximately 0.45 metric tons of 
plutonium oxide: 0.15 metric tons derived from stabilization of 
solutions and 0.3 metric tons from stabilization of solid residues.
    As discussed further below, the Department needs to improve the 
storage arrangements for plutonium metals and oxides at RFETS. Although 
DOE is engaged in a programmatic (Department-wide) evaluation of 
alternatives for the long-term storage and disposition of plutonium, no 
decisions regarding long-term storage and disposition have yet been 
made. The analysis being undertaken by DOE in the Rocky Flats Plutonium 
Storage EIS for interim storage of plutonium metals and oxides at RFETS 
will serve to ensure that decisions on safe and cost-effective interim 
storage can be made and implemented in the event that long-term storage 
and disposition decisions, or the implementation of these decisions, 
should be delayed for any reason.

Background

    A number of the buildings at RFETS, including those storing the 
site's plutonium inventory, are several decades old. In early 1994, 
RFETS began consolidating its entire plutonium metal and oxide 
inventory into Building 371, the newest and most structurally sound 
building at the site. DOE examined issues associated with the 
consolidation and safe storage of plutonium in Building 371 at levels 
above the building's historic limit in the Consolidation and Interim 
Storage of Special Nuclear Material at the Rocky Flats Environmental 
Technology Site Environmental Assessment (DOE/EA-1060, June 1995). In 
addition to enhancing the safety of plutonium storage at RFETS, this 
consolidation, when completed, will also reduce costs associated with 
operations, maintenance, and security of storage facilities.
    In its Recommendation 94-3 (September 1994), the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board, which oversees nuclear safety at DOE sites, 
questioned the suitability of Building 371 for storage of the RFETS 
plutonium inventory, in light of the uncertainty of the duration of the 
storage mission at RFETS. Recommendation 94-3 questioned the ability of 
Building 371 to withstand certain accident scenarios, especially 
earthquakes, that could potentially lead to the release of plutonium 
and pose a hazard to workers, the public, and the surrounding 
environment. The Board recommended that DOE formulate an integrated 
program plan to address the civil engineering, structural, seismic, and 
safety issues related to the storage activities in Building 371 and to 
specify building upgrades and improvements consistent with the 
building's storage mission. In response to the Board's recommendations, 
DOE initiated studies of safer and more cost effective plutonium 
storage methods at RFETS in parallel with its ongoing consolidation 
efforts. These studies provide much of the foundation for the 
preliminary alternatives identified below for ensuring safe interim 
storage of the RFETS plutonium inventory.
    When the Notice of Intent for the SWEIS was published in 1994, DOE 
intended that the SWEIS would examine the environmental impacts 
associated with RFETS special nuclear materials management activities 
(including safe storage), waste management, cleanup, and economic 
conversion activities. With the exception of plutonium metal and oxide 
storage issues, the remaining activities

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to be analyzed in the SWEIS are likely to be influenced by the new 
RFETS cleanup agreement and decisions based on completion of the 
Department's WM PEIS (discussed under ``Related Documentation,'' 
below). The RFETS cleanup agreement is intended to establish a process 
for setting enforceable cleanup milestones and accelerating cleanup 
actions. The WM PEIS (Draft EIS issued August 1995) addresses 
nationwide Departmental management alternatives for various categories 
of waste, and RFETS is considered in that document as a potential 
treatment, storage, and/or disposal location for some waste types. Upon 
completion of the RFETS cleanup agreement (planned for the summer of 
1996) and issuance of Records of Decision for individual waste types 
for the WM PEIS (scheduled for early 1997), it is expected that the 
purpose and need, scope, and proposed actions for the RFETS SWEIS will 
be better defined. Therefore, completion of the SWEIS will be deferred, 
pending completion of the cleanup agreement and decisions resulting 
from the WM PEIS.
    With regard, however, to the storage of RFETS plutonium metals and 
oxides, a decision on a course of action to ensure the continued safe 
interim storage of this material is required sooner than, and 
independently of, the waste management and land use decisions on which 
the planned SWEIS analysis would focus. For this reason, DOE has 
decided to proceed at this time to analyze storage alternatives in the 
Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS rather than deferring this analysis 
to the SWEIS. However, any decisions made following completion of the 
Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS will be included as appropriate in 
the cumulative impacts analysis in the SWEIS.
    The Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS will analyze alternatives for 
the safe interim storage of RFETS plutonium metals and oxides. Long-
term storage and disposition options for these materials are being 
analyzed in DOE's Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile 
Materials Programmatic EIS (S&D PEIS)(DOE/EIS-0229-D, Draft EIS issued 
February 1996). Under the No Action alternative in the S&D PEIS, RFETS 
weapons-usable fissile materials would remain at the RFETS. Other 
alternatives considered in the S&D PEIS include the transportation and 
storage of this material to six other DOE sites: the Hanford Site in 
Washington, the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, the Pantex Plant 
in Texas, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Nevada Test 
Site, and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee. Any decisions 
resulting from the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS will be consistent 
with the decisions made as a result of the S&D PEIS analysis. The draft 
S&D PEIS was issued for public review in February 1996. The final S&D 
PEIS is scheduled to be completed in November 1996, and the Record of 
Decision is scheduled for December 1996, before the Record of Decision 
for the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS.

Public Scoping Process

    To ensure that the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS addresses the 
full range of issues and alternatives related to the safe interim 
storage of RFETS plutonium metals and oxides, DOE invites all 
interested persons to submit relevant oral or written comments to Ms. 
Dorothy Newell at the address listed above. DOE also invites all 
interested persons to present oral and/or written comments at the 
public scoping meeting scheduled for August 6, 1996. All written and 
oral comments will be recorded and given equal weight in preparation of 
the draft Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS.
    Persons desiring to speak at the meeting are requested to submit 
their written requests by mail or facsimile to Ms. Dorothy Newell, at 
the address or number listed above, at least two working days before 
the meeting. Persons who register at the meeting will be called on to 
speak as time permits, after the pre-registered speakers. This meeting 
is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, 1996, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., 
at RFETS, Building 60 (located immediately off State Highway 93 at the 
RFETS west entrance). Written comments also will be accepted at the 
meeting, and speakers are encouraged to provide written versions of 
their oral comments for the record.
    DOE is committed to providing opportunities for the involvement of 
interested individuals and groups in the preparation of the EIS. DOE 
will publish additional notices of the date, time, and location of the 
public scoping meeting in local newspapers well in advance of the 
scheduled meeting date. If it becomes necessary to change the date, 
time, or location of the public scoping meeting, the changes will be 
announced in appropriate media.
    DOE will record and prepare transcripts of the oral comments 
received during the public scoping meeting. Interested persons will be 
able to review the transcripts, written comments, reference material, 
related NEPA documents, and background information on RFETS during 
normal business hours at the following locations:

U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Room, Room 1E-190, 
Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585, Telephone: 202-586-6020
U.S. Department of Energy, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site 
Public Reading Room, Front Range Community College Library, 3645 West 
112th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80030, Telephone: 303-469-4435
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Citizens Advisory Board, 
9035 Wadsworth Parkway, Suite 2250, Westminster, CO 80021, Telephone: 
303-420-7855.

Preliminary Alternatives

    Discussed below are the preliminary alternatives identified for 
safe interim storage of RFETS plutonium metal and oxide. DOE welcomes 
comments on these or other reasonable alternatives and on the 
identification of a preferred alternative.
    Alternative 1--No Action: As required by Council on Environmental 
Quality and DOE regulations, the No Action alternative provides a 
reference point against which the environmental impacts associated with 
the other alternatives analyzed can be compared. In general, the No 
Action alternative consists of the continuation of ongoing storage 
activities and stabilization activities, and the initiation of any new 
activities for which NEPA analysis has already been completed.
    Specifically, the No Action alternative consists of the continued 
consolidation of plutonium metals and oxides from other buildings into 
Building 371, and completion of immediate safety upgrades, such as 
installation of fasteners between beams and repairs to fire doors, in 
Building 371. The No Action alternative also includes the continuation 
of RFETS activities associated with the stabilization and repackaging 
of plutonium metals and oxides in compliance with DOE's Criteria for 
Safe Storage of Plutonium Metal and Oxide. These criteria include 
standards for material form, container specifications, packaging, and 
surveillance and inspection.
    Alternative 2--On-Site Storage: In addition to the stabilization 
and repackaging activities and the immediate safety upgrades addressed 
in Alternative 1, this alternative would encompass the following two 
subalternatives:
    a. New Storage Vault--A new storage vault would be constructed to 
store the entire RFETS plutonium metals and oxides inventory. Until the 
vault would be ready for operation, DOE would

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continue to consolidate plutonium metals and oxides into Building 371 
and undertake minimal structural and system upgrades in addition to 
those identified under Alternative 1.
    b. Building 371 with Seismic Upgrades--DOE would continue to 
consolidate plutonium metals and oxides into Building 371 and would 
enhance the building's safety envelope with seismic and safety system 
upgrades. Upgrades to Building 371 under this subalternative would be 
more extensive than those defined for Alternative 1 or 2(a).
    Alternative 3--Off-site Storage: This alternative incorporates the 
activities considered in Alternative 1 and provides for the interim 
storage of the RFETS plutonium metal and oxide at another DOE site. 
RFETS plutonium metals and oxides, packaged in accordance with the DOE 
Criteria for Safe Storage of Plutonium Metal and Oxide, would be 
shipped to one or more of the six sites that are being considered for 
long-term storage and disposition in the S&D PEIS and that have 
available storage capacity to meet the interim storage needs for the 
RFETS materials.

Preliminary Issues To Be Addressed

    The Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS will address the impacts of 
alternatives to the extent necessary to make a reasoned choice among 
the alternatives. The following preliminary issues are presented to 
facilitate public discussion of the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS. 
This presentation is not intended to be all inclusive.
    1. Public and Occupational Safety and Health. The potential 
radiological and non-radiological impacts of the plutonium storage 
alternatives, including projected effects on workers and the public 
from routine operations and potential accidents.
    2. Environmental Media. Potential impacts on soil, water, and the 
air.
    3. Sensitive Environmental Resources. Potential impacts on plants, 
animals, and habitat, including impacts to flood plains, wetlands, and 
threatened and endangered species and their habitat.
    4. Resource Consumption. Potential impacts from consumption of 
natural resources and energy, including water, natural gas, and 
electricity.
    5. Socioeconomic. Potential impacts on local communities, including 
labor force employment and support services.
    6. Environmental Justice. Potential for disproportionately high and 
adverse impacts of DOE activities on minority and low-income 
populations.
    7. Cultural Resources. Potential impacts on cultural resources, 
such as historic, archeological, scientific, or culturally important 
sites.
    8. Regulatory Compliance. The impacts of the alternatives on 
compliance of RFETS with applicable Federal and state laws and 
regulations.
    9. Cumulative Impacts. The impacts of alternatives in conjunction 
with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions 
regardless of agency (Federal or non-Federal) or persons undertaking 
such other actions.
    10. Potential Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitment of 
Resources. The potential irreversible and irretrievable commitments of 
resources that would be involved in each alternative.

Related Documentation

    Documents that have been or are being prepared that may relate to 
the scope of the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS include the 
following:
    1. Consolidation and Interim Storage of Special Nuclear Material at 
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site Environmental Assessment 
(DOE/EA-1060) and Finding of No Significant Impact, issued June 1995. 
This Environmental Assessment addressed the stabilization and 
repackaging of plutonium metals and oxides and their consolidation into 
Building 371. These activities are in the baseline for the No Action 
alternative for the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS.
    2. Actinide Solution Processing at the Rocky Flats Environmental 
Technology Site Environmental Assessment (DOE/EA-1039) and Finding of 
No Significant Impact, issued June 1994. This Environmental Assessment 
addressed the processing of approximately 30,000 liters of residue 
solutions at the RFETS. Decisions made as a result of this analysis are 
in the baseline for the No Action alternative and will generate 
approximately 0.15 metric tons of plutonium oxides, the storage of 
which will be considered in the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS.
    3. Solid Residue Treatment, Repackaging, and Storage Environmental 
Assessment (DOE/EA-1120) and Finding of No Significant Impact, issued 
April 1996. This Environmental Assessment addressed the stabilization 
of the solid residue inventory and its packaging to meet the interim 
safe storage criteria. Decisions made as a result of this analysis are 
in the baseline for the No Action alternative and will generate 
approximately 0.3 metric tons of plutonium oxides, the storage of which 
will be considered in the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS.
    4. Draft Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile 
Materials Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (S&D PEIS) (DOE/
EIS-0229-D, February 1996). This EIS analyzes the potential 
environmental impacts associated with approaches to long-term storage 
and disposition of the Department's weapons-usable fissile materials, 
including plutonium. Under the S&D PEIS No Action alternative, RFETS 
plutonium metals and oxides would remain at the RFETS. Under all other 
alternatives, RFETS material would be stabilized and packaged in 
accordance with the DOE Criteria for Safe Storage of Plutonium Metal 
and Oxide and transferred to another selected DOE site. The alternative 
sites include the Hanford Site in Washington, the Idaho National 
Engineering Laboratory, the Pantex Plant in Texas, the Savannah River 
Site in South Carolina, the Nevada Test Site, and the Oak Ridge 
Reservation in Tennessee. Any decisions resulting from the Rocky Flats 
Plutonium Storage EIS will be consistent with DOE decisions made as a 
result of the S&D PEIS. The S&D PEIS Record of Decision is scheduled to 
be issued in December 1996.
    5. Rocky Flats Site-wide Environmental Impact Statement Notice of 
Intent (59 FR 40011, August 5, 1994). This Notice announced DOE's 
intention to prepare a SWEIS for RFETS. A SWEIS is a broad-scope, 
programmatic NEPA document that identifies and assesses individual and 
cumulative environmental effects of ongoing and reasonably foreseeable 
future actions. The Notice described the intended scope of the RFETS 
SWEIS as providing a basis for selection of a site-wide strategic 
approach for nuclear materials storage, waste management, cleanup, and 
economic conversion, as well as project-level decisions for land use, 
management of nuclear materials, deactivation of RFETS facilities, 
decontamination and decommissioning of existing facilities, and 
possible on-site and off-site transportation of radioactive, hazardous, 
and mixed waste. For the reasons noted above, the scope of the SWEIS is 
being modified so that issues associated with the safe interim storage 
of RFETS plutonium will be analyzed in the Rocky Flats Plutonium 
Storage EIS, and completion of the SWEIS has been deferred pending 
completion of a new RFETS cleanup agreement and decisions based on 
completion of the WM PEIS.
    6. Draft Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (WM PEIS) (DOE/EIS-0200-D, August 1995). The WM PEIS 
considers programmatic aspects of

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managing DOE waste; alternatives regarding the treatment, storage, and/
or disposal of low-level, low-level mixed, hazardous, transuranic, and 
high-level waste are analyzed. While waste may be generated under the 
alternatives discussed in the Rocky Flats Plutonium Storage EIS, DOE 
expects that the amount would be small. Therefore, the Rocky Flats 
Plutonium Storage EIS will not materially impact the scope of the WM 
PEIS. Records of Decision based on the WM PEIS are scheduled for early 
1997. Decisions to be made as a result of the Rocky Flats Plutonium 
Storage EIS will be coordinated with the decisions resulting from the 
WM PEIS.
    7. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 94-3, 
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Implementation Plan: Task 3, 
Study Site Storage Alternatives. Material Form and Packaging 
Alternatives (Deliverable 3-2a, November 22, 1995). As part of DOE's 
Implementation Plan for Board Recommendation 94-3, this study analyzes 
whether changes in material form and packaging could be used, in 
conjunction with building and location alternatives, to control the 
risk of interim storage of excess plutonium and highly enriched uranium 
at RFETS.
    8. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 94-3, 
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Implementation Plan: Task 3, 
Study Site Storage Alternatives, Interim Plutonium Storage Vault 
Alternatives Evaluation (Deliverable 3-2b, November 21, 1995). As part 
of DOE's Implementation Plan for Board Recommendation 94-3, this study 
identifies feasible facility alternatives for the interim storage of 
the RFETS plutonium and highly enriched uranium inventories.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 11 day of July 1996.
Tara O'Toole,
Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 96-18109 Filed 7-16-96; 8:45 am]
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