[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 231 (Friday, November 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60693-60694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30451]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement on the Disposal of the S1C Prototype Reactor Plant

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Naval Reactors (Naval 
Reactors) has completed and filed with the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the 
Disposal of the S1C Prototype Reactor Plant. The Final Environmental 
Impact Statement was prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969; Council on Environmental 
Quality regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508); and DOE 
NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021). The Final 
Environmental Impact Statement and its supporting references will be 
available to the public at the Windsor, Connecticut Public Library. The 
Final Environmental Impact Statement is also available by mail upon 
request.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The S1C Prototype reactor plant is located on the 10.8 acre Windsor 
Site in Windsor, Connecticut, approximately 5 miles north of Hartford. 
The S1C Prototype reactor plant first started operation in 1959 and 
served for more than 30 years as both a facility for testing reactor 
plant components and equipment and for training Naval personnel. As a 
result of the end of the Cold War and the downsizing of the Navy, the 
S1C Prototype reactor plant was shut down in 1993. Since then, the S1C 
Prototype reactor plant has been defueled, drained, and placed in a 
stable protective storage condition.

Alternatives Considered

1. Prompt Dismantlement--Preferred Alternative

    This alternative would involve the prompt dismantlement of the 
reactor plant. All structures would be removed from the Windsor Site, 
and the Windsor Site would be released for unrestricted use. To the 
extent practicable, the resulting low-level radioactive metals would be 
recycled at existing commercial facilities that recycle radioactive 
metals. The remaining low-level radioactive waste would be disposed of 
at the DOE Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The Savannah River 
Site currently receives low-level radioactive waste from Naval Reactors 
sites in the eastern United States. Both the volume and radioactive 
content of the S1C Prototype reactor plant low-level waste fall within 
the projections of Naval Reactor waste provided to the Savannah River 
Site, which are included in the Savannah River Site Waste Management 
Final Environmental Impact Statement dated July 1995.

2. Deferred Dismantlement

    This alternative would involve keeping the defueled S1C Prototype 
reactor plant in protective storage for 30 years before dismantling it. 
Deferring dismantlement for 30 years would allow nearly all of the 
cobalt-60 radioactivity to decay away. Nearly all of the gamma 
radiation within the reactor plant comes from cobalt-60.

3. No Action

    This alternative would involve keeping the defueled S1C Prototype 
reactor plant in protective storage indefinitely. Since there is some 
residual radioactivity with very long half lives such as nickel-59 in 
the defueled reactor plant, this alternative would leave this 
radioactivity at the Windsor Site indefinitely.

4. Other Alternatives Considered

    These alternatives include permanent on-site disposal. Such on-site 
disposal could involve building an entombment structure over the S1C 
Prototype reactor plant or developing a below ground disposal area at 
the Windsor Site. Another alternative would be to remove the S1C 
Prototype reactor plant as a single large reactor compartment package 
for offsite disposal. Each of these alternatives was considered but 
eliminated from detailed analysis.

Public Comments on Draft Environmental Impact Statement

    Naval Reactors held a public hearing on the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement in Windsor, Connecticut. Comments from 28 individuals 
and agencies were received in either oral or written statements at the 
hearing or in comment letters. Nearly all of the commenters expressed a 
preference for the prompt dismantlement alternative. Most comments 
resulted in either no changes or minor clarifications in the final 
environmental impact statement. The comments which resulted in the more 
significant changes are discussed briefly below. All of the comments 
and the Naval Reactors responses are included in an appendix to the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement.
    Some comments requested additional detail on the process, surveys, 
and criteria identified in the draft environmental impact statement for 
unrestricted release of the site under either the prompt dismantlement 
or deferred dismantlement alternatives. In response to these comments, 
appendices are included in the final environmental impact statement 
which provide additional details on these matters.
    Several comments questioned whether the cost and volume of 
radioactive waste generated for each alternative included site 
remediation as well as reactor dismantlement. The draft environmental 
impact statement discussed the overall site remediation impacts; 
however the quantitative cost and waste volume discussions focused on 
the dismantlement of the reactor plant, which is where essentially all 
of the radioactivity is located. The final environmental impact 
statement includes impacts from all efforts anticipated from the time 
of the record of decision until completion of each alternative (in the 
cases of prompt and deferred dismantlement, this is through transfer of 
the property to another owner). The most significant changes reflected 
in the final environmental impact statement are cost, volume (but not 
number of shipments) of radioactive waste, and the volume and number of 
shipments of non-radioactive, non-hazardous solid waste. These changes 
did not change significantly the estimated impact of the alternatives 
on the environment or the health and safety of the workers or the 
public.

[[Page 60694]]

Preferred Alternative

    Because prompt dismantlement would result in unrestricted release 
of the Windsor Site at the earliest time with little occupational 
radiation exposure risk to the workers, and given that impacts 
associated with prompt dismantlement have a higher degree of certainty, 
Naval Reactors has identified prompt dismantlement as the preferred 
alternative.

Availability of Copies of the Final Environmental Impact Statement

    The Final Environmental Impact Statement has been distributed to 
interested Federal, State, and local agencies, and to individuals who 
have expressed interest. Copies of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement and its supporting references are available for inspection at 
the Windsor Public Library at 323 Broad Street, Windsor, CT 06095. 
Requests for copies of the Final Environmental Impact Statement should 
be directed to Mr. C. G. Overton, Chief, Windsor Field Office, Office 
of Naval Reactors, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 393, Windsor, CT 
06095; telephone (860) 687-5610.

    Issued at Arlington, VA this 22nd day of November 1996.
F.L. Bowman,
Admiral, U.S. Navy, Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
[FR Doc. 96-30451 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
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