[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 245 (Thursday, December 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67001-67003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-32198]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Storage 
and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials (S&D Final PEIS) 
(DOE/EIS-0229). In accordance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality regulations 
(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and the Department's NEPA Implementation 
Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021), the Department has prepared the S&D PEIS 
to evaluate alternatives for the storage of weapons-usable fissile 
materials and the disposition of surplus plutonium.

DATES: A Record of Decision on the Storage and Disposition program will 
be issued no earlier than January 13, 1997. The Department will 
consider and reflect, as appropriate, in the Record of Decision any 
comments received before issuance of the Record of Decision.

ADDRESSES: To request copies of the S&D Final PEIS, copies of the 
Summary, technical reports or other information; or to provide comments 
on the S&D Final PEIS write to: United States Department of Energy, 
Office of Fissile Materials Disposition, P.O. Box 23786, Washington, DC 
20026-3786. Written (Facsimile) and oral requests and comments can also 
be submitted using the toll free line at 1-800-820-5156. Facsimiles 
should be marked Storage and Disposition Final PEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on DOE's National 
Environmental Policy Act 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, D.C. 20585, 202-
586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of the S&D Final PEIS

    Copies of the S&D Final PEIS (over 4,000 pages in four volumes plus 
a summary) have been distributed to Federal, State, Indian tribal, and 
local officials; interested agencies; organizations; and individuals. 
The S&D Final PEIS summary is available, along with numerous other 
Fissile Materials Disposition Program documents on the program's 
Electronic Bulletin Board/World Wide Web Page (http://web.fie.com/
htdoc/fed/doe/fsl/pub/menu/any/). Copies of the S&D Final PEIS, summary 
and supporting technical reports are available to the public at the DOE 
Reading Rooms listed at the end of this notice.

Background

    On March 8, 1996, the Department published a Notice of Availability 
(NOA) in the Federal Register (61 FR 9443) on the Storage and 
Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for public review and comment. The NOA invited the 
public to comment on the draft PEIS during a 45 day comment period that 
was to end on May 7, 1996. Subsequently, in response to public 
requests, the Department announced in the Federal Register (61 FR 
22038; May 13, 1996) an extension of the comment period until June 7, 
1996. Public workshops on the draft PEIS were held in Denver, CO on 
March 26, 1996; Las Vegas, NV on March 28 and 29, 1996; Oak Ridge, TN 
on April 2, 1996; Richland, WA on April 11, 1996; Idaho Falls, ID on 
April 15, 1996; Washington, DC on April 17 and 18, 1996; Amarillo, TX 
on April 22 and 23, 1996; and North Augusta, SC on April 30, 1996.

Alternatives Considered

    Storage: The S&D Final PEIS assesses the environmental impacts of 
four alternatives, and a No Action alternative, for the storage of 
weapons-usable fissile materials. The action alternatives are Upgrade 
at Multiple Sites alternative, Consolidate Storage of Plutonium 
alternative, Collocation of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 
alternative and a combination of the other alternatives. The S&D PEIS 
also analyzed sub-alternatives. The candidate sites for implementation 
of the alternatives are Hanford, Nevada Test Site, Idaho National 
Engineering Laboratory, Pantex Plant, Oak Ridge Reservation, and 
Savannah River Site. Each of the these alternatives, except for the No 
Action alternative, would phaseout the storage of weapons-usable 
fissile materials at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.
    Disposition: The S&D Final PEIS assesses the environmental impacts 
of nine action alternatives in three categories and a No Action 
alternative for the disposition of up to 50 metric tons of plutonium 
that has been or in the future may be declared surplus to national 
security needs. The PEIS analyzed the Deep Borehole category (two 
alternatives--Direct Disposition and Immobilization); the 
Immobilization category (three alternatives--Vitrification, Ceramic 
Immobilization, and Electrometallurgical Treatment); and the Reactor 
category (four alternatives--Existing Light Water Reactors, Partially 
Completed Light Water Reactors, Evolutionary Light Water Reactors and 
CANDU Reactors) and the No Action alternative. The preferred 
alternative (a combination of the above alternatives) was also 
analyzed.

Preferred Alternative

    The Department's preferred alternative is to reduce, over time, the 
number of locations where plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) 
are stored, and to pursue a disposition strategy that allows for 
immobilization of the surplus plutonium in glass or ceramic forms and 
use of surplus plutonium in mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at existing domestic 
reactors.
    Regarding storage, the Department's preferred alternative involves:
     Phasing out storage of all weapons-usable plutonium at 
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) beginning in 1997; 
moving pits to Pantex, and moving Rocky Flats'

[[Page 67002]]

separated and stabilized non-pit materials to Savannah River Site (SRS) 
when the expansion of the planned Actinide Packaging and Storage 
Facility (APSF) is complete.
     Upgrading storage facilities at Zone 12 South at Pantex to 
store those pits currently stored at Pantex, and pits from RFETS, 
pending disposition. Storage facilities at Zone 4 would continue to be 
used for these pits prior to completion of the upgrade.
     In accordance with the Preferred Alternative in the Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile Stewardship 
and Management (Stockpile Stewardship and Management PEIS), store 
Strategic Reserve pits at Pantex in the facilities discussed above. To 
the extent not reflected above, store Strategic Reserve materials in 
accordance with the Preferred Alternative in the Stockpile Stewardship 
and Management PEIS.
     Expanding the planned APSF at SRS to store those surplus, 
non-pit plutonium materials currently at SRS and surplus non-pit 
plutonium materials from RFETS, pending disposition.
     Continuing current storage of surplus plutonium at 
Hanford, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and Los Alamos 
National Laboratory pending disposition.
     Taking No Action at the Nevada Test Site (NTS).
     Upgrading of storage facilities at the Y-12 Plant at Oak 
Ridge Reservation to store non-surplus HEU and surplus HEU pending 
disposition.
    Regarding surplus plutonium disposition, the Department's preferred 
alternative is to pursue a dual track strategy that allows for 
immobilization of plutonium in glass or ceramic forms and burning of 
the surplus plutonium as MOX fuel in existing reactors.
    The Department would retain using MOX fuel in Canadian Deuterium 
Uranium (CANDU) reactors in Canada in the event that a multilateral 
agreement to use CANDU reactors is negotiated among Russia, Canada, and 
the United States. DOE would engage in a test and demonstration for 
CANDU MOX fuel as appropriate and consistent with future cooperative 
efforts with Russia and Canada.
    The actual percentage and timing for disposition of the surplus 
plutonium using either or a combination of both of the technological 
approaches would depend on the results of international agreements, 
future technology development and demonstrations, site-specific 
environmental assessments, and detailed cost proposals to be completed 
within the next 2 years. The results of these efforts, as well as 
nonproliferation considerations and negotiations with Russia and other 
nations, will ultimately determine the timing and extent to which 
either or both technologies are deployed for disposition of surplus 
plutonium.
    Deployment of this strategy would involve the implementation of 
supporting actions which include constructing and operating a plutonium 
vitrification or ceramic immobilization facility at either Hanford or 
SRS (including use of the ``can in canister'' approach utilizing the 
already operational Defense Waste Processing Facility at SRS); 
constructing and operating a facility at either of these same sites for 
conversion of non-pit plutonium materials (metal and oxides) to oxide 
forms for immobilization; constructing and operating a pit disassembly/
conversion facility at Hanford, INEL, Pantex or SRS; and, constructing 
and operating a domestic, government-owned, MOX fuel fabrication 
facility at Hanford, INEL, Pantex, or SRS.
    The fundamental purpose of the surplus plutonium disposition effort 
is to irreversibly ensure that plutonium produced for nuclear weapons 
and now declared excess to national security needs is never again used 
for nuclear weapons. Both disposition approaches can achieve this goal 
and preserve the long-time U.S. policy of not using civilian reactors 
to produce fissile materials for nuclear weapons. Burning of surplus 
plutonium in existing reactors would not involve subsequent 
reprocessing of the spent fuel. Each of these technologies would 
dispose of surplus weapons plutonium in a manner which would help 
assure it would not again be used in nuclear weapons.

DOE Public Reading Rooms

    Copies of the S&D Final PEIS and summary as well as technical data 
reports and other supporting documents are available for public review 
at the following locations:
Department of Energy Headquarters
Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20825, 202-586-6020
Nevada Operations Office
U.S. Department of Energy, 2753 S. Highland Avenue, P.O. Box 98518, Las 
Vegas, Nevada 89193-8518, 702-295-1274
Oak Ridge Operations Office
Public Reading Room, 55 Jefferson Avenue, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, 
615-576-0887
Public Reading Room, 200 Administration Road, P.O. Box 2001, Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee 37831-8501
Rocky Flats Office
Front Range Community Reading Room, 3645 West 112th Avenue, 
Westminister, CO 80030, 303-469-4435
Amarillo Area Office
Reference Department, Lynn Library and Learning Center, Amarillo 
College, P.O. Box 447, Amarillo, TX 79178, 806-371-5400
U.S. Department of Energy Public Reading Room, Carson County Public 
Library, 401 Main Street, P.O. Box 339, Panhandle, Texas 79068, 806-
537-3742
Richland Operations Office
Washington State University, Tri-Cities Branch Campus, 300 Sprout Road, 
Room 130 West, Richland, WA 99352, 509-376-8583
Albuquerque Operations Office
Technical Vocational Institute, 525 Buena Vista, SE, Albuquerque, NM 
87106, 505-845-4370
National Atomic Museum Public Reading Room, Kirtland Air Force Base, 
Building 20358, Wyoming Boulevard, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87115, 505-
845-6670/4378
Los Alamos Area Office
Community Reading Room, Museum Park Office Complex, 1450 Central 
Avenue, Suite 101, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544, 505-665-2127 or 1-800-
543-2342
Savannah River Operations Office
Gregg-Granite Library, University of South Carolina-Aiken, 171 
University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, 803-725-1408
Sandia National Laboratory/CA
Livermore Public Library, 1000 S. Livermore Avenue, Livermore, CA 
94550, 510-373-5500
Idaho Operations Office
Idaho Public Reading Room, 1776 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, ID 
83402, 208-526-0271


[[Page 67003]]


    Issued in Washington, DC, December 13, 1996.
Gregory P. Rudy,
Acting Director, Office of Fissile Materials Disposition.
[FR Doc. 96-32198 Filed 12-18-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P