[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 173 (Thursday, September 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46790-46792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-22608]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
Construction and Operation of a Tritium Extraction Facility at the 
Savannah River 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) for construction and operation 
of a Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF) pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 USC 4321 et 
seq.). In the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Tritium Supply and 
Recycling Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement issued 
December 5, 1995, and published in the Federal Register on December 12, 
1995 (60 FR 63878), DOE decided to construct and operate a Tritium 
Extraction Facility (TEF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) as part of a 
dual track strategy to ensure a supply of tritium to support the 
continuing nuclear weapons stockpile of the United States. One of the 
strategy tracks is the Commercial Light Water Reactor (CLWR) 
alternative, and the other is an accelerator system for tritium 
production. The primary tritium source will be selected within three 
years of the ROD issuance. The TEF would be built at SRS, and would be 
capable of extracting tritium both from CLWR targets and from an 
alternate design for accelerator targets. (The primary accelerator 
design would use a different technology to extract tritium.) This site-
specific EIS would analyze the environmental impacts of construction 
and operation of the proposed TEF.
    DOE has also decided to prepare an EIS for Accelerator Production 
of Tritium (APT) at the SRS. That EIS will be the subject of a separate 
Notice of Intent (NOI), but will have scoping meetings concurrent with 
the TEF process.

DATES: The public scoping period will be open until November 1, 1996. 
Written comments submitted by mail should be postmarked by that date to 
ensure consideration. DOE will consider comments mailed after that date 
to the extent practicable. DOE will conduct public scoping meetings to 
assist in defining the appropriate scope of the EIS and identifying 
significant environmental issues to be addressed. Meetings for the TEF 
EIS and the APT EIS will be held concurrently, with separate workshops 
possible depending upon attendance levels. Notices of the dates, times, 
and locations of the scoping meetings will be announced in the local 
media at least 15 days before the meetings.

ADDRESSES: Please direct written comments or suggestions on the scope 
of the EIS, requests to speak at the public scoping meetings, and 
questions concerning the project to: Mr. Andrew R. Grainger, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Savannah River Operations Office, P.O. Box 5031, 
Aiken, S.C. 29804-5031, 1-800-242-8269, E-mail: [email protected]. 
Mark the envelopes: ``Tritium Extraction Facility EIS Comments''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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. 20585-0119, telephone 202-
586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SRS is an 800 square kilometer (300 
square mile) controlled access area located in

[[Page 46791]]

southwestern South Carolina. The Site is approximately 25 miles 
southeast of Augusta, Georgia, and 20 miles south of Aiken, South 
Carolina. Since its establishment, the mission of the SRS has been to 
produce nuclear materials that support the defense, research, and 
medical programs of the United States.
    With the end of the Cold War and the reduction in the size of the 
U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, there is no longer a requirement to 
produce new nuclear materials for defense purposes, with the exception 
of tritium. As a result, activities at SRS have shifted from nuclear 
material production to cleanup and environmental restoration. All 
production reactors are permanently shut down. However, a new source of 
tritium is needed to support the nuclear weapons stockpile well into 
the twenty-first century. Tritium has a relatively short half life 
(12.3 years) and therefore must be periodically replenished in each 
weapon in the stockpile.
    The Department evaluated the programmatic need for a new tritium 
source in a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for 
Tritium Supply and Recycling (DOE/EIS-0161, October 1995). Based on the 
findings in the PEIS and other technical, cost, and schedule 
evaluations, the Department issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on 
December 5, 1995 (60 FR 63877, December 12, 1995). In the ROD, the 
Department decided to pursue a dual-track approach on the two most 
promising tritium supply alternatives: (1) To initiate purchase of an 
existing commercial reactor (operating or partially complete) for 
conversion to a defense facility, or purchase of irradiation services 
with an option to purchase the reactor; and (2) to design, build, and 
test critical components of an accelerator system for tritium 
production. Within a three-year period, the Department would select one 
of these approaches to serve as the primary source of tritium. The 
other alternative, if feasible, would continue to be developed as a 
backup tritium source. SRS was selected as the location for an 
accelerator, should one be built. Under the ROD, the tritium recycling 
facilities at SRS would be upgraded and consolidated and a tritium 
extraction facility would be constructed at SRS to support both of the 
dual-track options.
    The Department's strategy for compliance with NEPA has been, first, 
to make decisions on programmatic alternatives as described and 
evaluated in the Tritium Supply and Recycling PEIS. This evaluation was 
intended to be followed by site-specific analyses to implement the 
selected programmatic decisions. The decisions made in the December 5, 
1995 ROD have resulted in the Department proposing to prepare the 
following NEPA documents:
    1. An EIS for the Selection of One or More Commercial Light Water 
Reactors for Tritium Production;
    2. An EIS for the Construction and Operation of an Accelerator for 
the Production of Tritium at the Savannah River Site;
    3. An Environmental Assessment for the Tritium Facility 
Modernization and Consolidation at the Savannah River Site; and
    4. An EIS for the Construction and Operation of a Tritium 
Extraction Facility at the Savannah River Site.
    The EIS proposed by this Notice of Intent is the fourth of the 
proposed NEPA documents listed above.
    Proposed Action: The Department proposes to construct and operate a 
TEF at the SRS. The overall mission of the TEF would be to extract 
tritium gas from targets irradiated in a CLWR or an accelerator, and 
deliver weapons-quality tritium to the Tritium Loading Facility, also 
known as the Replacement Tritium Facility, Building 233-H, at the SRS. 
The TEF would also be capable of extracting tritium from the 
accelerator alternate target design (lithium-6 aluminum alloy), if 
required. (The primary design for the accelerator calls for use of 
helium-3 gas as a target material and for continuous removal of tritium 
in a tritium separation facility co-located with the accelerator.) The 
proposed action includes co-location of the TEF with Building 233-H, 
and the design of the TEF for an operating life of about 40 years. 
Under the proposed action, the TEF would share common plant support 
facilities with Building 233-H. Construction of the TEF would require 4 
to 5 years. The TEF would be a hardened concrete industrial structure, 
partially below ground.
    Alternatives to the Proposed Action: DOE has identified two 
preliminary alternatives to the proposed action. Comments on these 
alternatives, or identification and comment on other reasonable 
alternatives, are welcome.
    The No Action alternative is not to build the proposed Tritium 
Extraction Facility. Under this alternative, the facility would not be 
constructed. At the SRS, tritium can be extracted from heavy water 
reactor targets in the Tritium Extraction, Concentration and Enrichment 
Facility (Building 232-H), but there are no facilities in operation to 
fabricate or irradiate heavy water reactor targets. Currently, the 
Tritium Extraction, Concentration and Enrichment Facility cannot 
extract tritium safely from light water reactor targets or the 
accelerator alternate targets (lithium-6 aluminum alloy) without 
process modifications, in sufficient quantities to meet stockpile 
demands. Therefore, under this alternative, the stockpile demands for 
tritium could not be met if the existing commercial reactor option is 
selected for tritium production, or if the alternative target is used 
in the accelerator.
    The second alternative is to make substantial modifications to 
Building 232-H, the Tritium Extraction, Concentration and Enrichment 
Facility. This facility is currently in use for tritium extraction but 
would require modification to attain safety and environmental 
performance requirements for tritium extraction from light water 
irradiated targets. Under this alternative, this existing facility 
would be modified to receive and handle remotely the light water 
reactor or accelerator-irradiated targets; no new building would be 
constructed. Additionally, a new furnace would be needed to achieve the 
required extraction temperatures and comply with current environmental 
requirements.
    Identification of Environmental and Other Issues: The Department 
has identified the following issues for analysis for proposed and 
alternative actions in the EIS. Additional issues may be identified as 
a result of the scoping process.
    1. Public and Worker Safety, Health Risk Assessment: radiological 
and nonradiological impacts of the proposed action and alternatives, 
including projected effects on workers and the public from 
construction, normal operations, and accidents.
    2. Impacts from releases to air, water, and soil.
    3. Impacts to plants, animals, and habitat, including impacts to 
wetlands and threatened or endangered species and their habitat.
    4. The consumption of natural resources and energy including water, 
natural gas, and electricity.
    5. Socioeconomic impacts to affected communities from construction 
and operation labor forces and support services in the SRS area.
    6. Environmental justice: disproportionately high and adverse human 
health or environmental effects on minority and low-income populations.
    7. Impacts to resources such as historically, archaeologically, 
scientifically, or culturally important sites.
    8. Compliance with all applicable Federal, state, and local 
statutes and regulations; required Federal and state

[[Page 46792]]

environmental consultations and notifications; and DOE Orders on waste 
management, waste minimization initiatives, and environmental 
protection.
    9. Cumulative impacts from the proposed action and other past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable actions at SRS.
    10. Potential irreversible and irretrievable commitments of 
resources.
    Public Scoping Process: DOE will conduct public scoping meetings to 
assist in defining the appropriate scope of the EIS and to identify 
significant environmental issues to be addressed. Because another EIS 
for a separate tritium-related activity at SRS is commencing 
simultaneously (the APT; see the notice in today's Federal Register), 
the public scoping meetings for the TEF will be held concurrently with 
the public scoping meetings for the APT EIS. DOE will begin each 
scoping meeting with an overview of tritium activities at SRS. 
Following the initial presentation, DOE will hold workshops on the APT 
and the TEF. These will either be separate workshops or a combined 
workshop depending on attendance levels. There will be two sessions at 
each meeting location. Copies of handouts from the meetings will be 
available to those unable to attend by writing Mr. Grainger at the 
address above, or by calling 1-800-242-8269.
    Public notices of the dates, times, and locations of the scoping 
meetings will be announced in the local media at least 15 days before 
the meetings. DOE is committed to providing opportunities for the 
involvement of interested individuals and groups in this and other DOE 
planning activities.
    The public, organizations, and agencies are invited to present oral 
and written comments concerning (1) the scope and issues of the EIS, 
and (2) the alternatives the EIS should analyze. Please address written 
comments to Mr. Grainger at the address indicated above.
    Organizations and individuals wishing to participate in the public 
meeting can call 1-800-242-8269 between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM. Eastern 
Standard Time, Monday through Friday, or submit their requests to Mr. 
Grainger at the address indicated above. DOE requests that anyone who 
wishes to speak at the scoping meeting preregister by contacting Mr. 
Grainger, either by phone or in writing. Preregistration should occur 
at least two days before the designated meeting. Persons who have not 
preregistered to speak may register at the meeting and will be called 
on to speak as time permits.
    Related Documentation: Completed and ongoing environmental reviews 
and public comments and concerns may affect the scope of this EIS. 
Background information is listed below on past, present, and future 
activities at the SRS.
    Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Tritium 
Supply and Recycling, DOE/EIS-0161, 1995. This PEIS presents a 
programmatic environmental analysis for selection of the CLWR option, 
as well as the analysis for the APT technology, both of which would 
require the TEF to support the lithium-6 aluminum alloy target 
alternative.
    Final Interim Management of Nuclear Materials Environmental Impact 
Statement, DOE/EIS-0220, 1995. This EIS contains information on DOE 
waste management activities which could be affected by TEF waste 
streams.
    Final Savannah River Site Waste Management, DOE/EIS-0217, 1995. The 
EIS contains information on SRS waste management activities which could 
be affected by TEF waste streams.
    Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile 
Stewardship and Management, DOE/EIS-0236, February, 1996. The 
cumulative analysis of this PEIS includes the impacts at the Savannah 
River Site from the Tritium Supply and Recycling Programmatic EIS for 
the construction of an accelerator, an upgraded tritium recycling 
facility, and an extraction facility.
    Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation 
of an Accelerator for the Production of Tritium at the Savannah River 
Site (see notice in today's Federal Register).
    Environmental Assessment for the Tritium Facility Modernization and 
Consolidation (anticipated). The environmental assessment is to include 
the impacts of modernizing and consolidating the existing tritium 
recycling facilities at the Savannah River Site.
    This information is available in these DOE public reading rooms: 
DOE Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585, phone 
202-586-6020; and DOE Public Document Room, University of South 
Carolina, Aiken Campus, University Library, 2nd Floor, 171 University 
Parkway, Aiken, S.C. 29801, phone 803-648-6851.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., this 29th day of August, 1996.
Peter N. Brush,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 96-22608 Filed 9-4-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P