[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 84 (Thursday, May 1, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23770-23772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11244]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Second Record of Decision for a Dry Storage Container System for 
the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969; the Council on Environmental Quality 
regulations implementing NEPA procedures, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508; Chief 
of Naval Operations Environmental and Natural Resources Program Manual, 
OPNAV Instruction 5090.1B; and the Department of Energy NEPA 
regulations (10 CFR Part 1021); the Department of the Navy and the 
Department of Energy, as a Cooperating Agency, announce their decisions 
regarding the location of temporary dry storage facilities for naval 
spent nuclear fuel and special case waste at the Idaho National 
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The need for these 
decisions was identified in the final Environmental Impact Statement 
for a Container System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel 
(EIS) dated November 1996. The Department of Energy (DOE), which 
participated as a cooperating agency, formally adopted that final EIS 
on October 9, 1996 (designated as DOE/EIS-0251). The need for the 
decisions was also identified in the first Record of Decision (ROD) (62 
FR 1095, January 8, 1997) for that EIS, in which the Department of the 
Navy and the Department of Energy announced their decision regarding 
selection of a dual-purpose canister system for the loading, storage, 
transport, and possible disposal of naval spent nuclear fuel following 
examination.
    In this second ROD, the Navy and DOE announce their decision that 
the naval spent nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the 
Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) will be loaded into dual purpose 
canisters at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF). Both the ICPP and the 
NRF are located on the INEEL in southeastern Idaho. The Navy and DOE 
also announce the additional decision that all dual purpose canisters 
loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and special case waste will be 
stored at a site adjacent to the Expended Core Facility (ECF) at the 
NRF. The storage of these canisters containing naval spent nuclear fuel 
at the NRF will occur regardless of whether the contained fuel had 
previously been stored at the ICPP, or had been received at INEEL 
before or after the dry storage facility at the NRF commenced 
operations. This Record of Decision neither decides nor presumes that 
naval special case waste will be shipped to a geologic repository or a 
centralized interim storage facility as will naval spent nuclear fuel.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the final EIS and other information related to 
this second Record of Decision or the first Record of Decision are 
available in the public reading rooms and libraries identified in the 
Navy's Federal Register notice that announced the availability of the 
Final EIS (61 FR 59423, November 22, 1996). For further information on 
the Navy's utilization of a dry storage container system for naval 
spent nuclear fuel, or to receive a copy of the final EIS and the first 
ROD, contact William Knoll, Department of the Navy, Code NAVSEA 08U, 
2531 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22242-5160, (703)603-6126. 
For information on the DOE's NEPA process, please contact Carol M. 
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.

Introduction

    More than 40% of the Navy's principal combatant warships are 
nuclear powered. Since 1955, U.S. nuclear powered warships have steamed 
safely more than one hundred ten million miles and accumulated over 
4,800 reactor years of safe operation. Continued operation of the 
Navy's nuclear powered warships remains a vital element of the Navy's 
ability to fulfill its national security mission in support of our 
nation's defense.
    The Navy creates spent nuclear fuel through the operation of its 
nuclear powered warships and training reactors. When a warship is 
refueled for continued service or is defueled because it is being 
inactivated, its spent nuclear fuel is removed at a shipyard. 
Similarly, naval spent nuclear fuel is removed from afloat and land-
based training reactors when they are refueled or deactivated. In all 
cases, the naval spent nuclear fuel is transported to the INEEL in 
southeastern Idaho where it is examined at the Expended Core Facility 
(ECF) located at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF). This examination is 
essential to verify the performance of current naval nuclear fuel and 
to support the effort to design naval fuel with longer lifetimes. After 
examination, the naval spent nuclear fuel is transferred to the Idaho 
Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) for storage in water pools pending 
final disposition. Currently, there are approximately 13 metric tons of 
heavy metal of naval spent nuclear fuel at the INEEL. A total of 
approximately 65 metric tons of heavy metal of naval spent nuclear fuel 
will exist by the year 2035.
    The Navy is committed to ensuring that post-examination naval spent 
nuclear fuel is managed in a fashion which: (1) facilitates ultimate 
safe shipment to a permanent geologic repository or centralized interim 
storage facility outside the State of Idaho once one becomes available; 
(2) protects the environment while being temporarily stored at the 
INEEL; (3) is consistent with the DOE Programmatic Spent Nuclear Fuel 
Management and INEL Environmental Restoration and Waste Management 
Programs Final Environmental Impact Statement (April 1995) and Records 
of Decision dated May 30, 1995 and February 28, 1996; and (4) complies 
with the Settlement Agreement/Consent Order among the State of Idaho, 
the DOE, and the Navy, which is discussed in this Record of Decision 
under LEGAL AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS.
    Until a geologic repository or centralized interim storage facility

[[Page 23771]]

outside the State of Idaho (discussed in Section 2.8.2 of the final 
EIS) is available, the Navy is committed to a number of actions to 
ensure uninterrupted operation of the Navy's nuclear powered fleet. 
These actions include transfer of all naval spent nuclear fuel at the 
INEEL out of wet storage facilities into dry storage, completion of a 
Dry Cell expansion project at the ECF, completion of Hot Cell facility 
upgrades at the ECF, construction of an ECF dry storage container 
loading station, and performance of certain environmental restoration 
work at the NRF. The high integrity and rugged nature of naval spent 
nuclear fuel make it exceptionally well suited for safe transport, 
storage, and ultimate disposal after service. It is expected that the 
naval spent nuclear fuel will be stored at the INEEL until the time 
that a geologic repository or centralized interim storage facility is 
ready to accept it, and in any event not later than 2035.
    To aid in determining the dry storage container system to be used 
in managing naval spent nuclear fuel, the Department of the Navy, with 
the Department of Energy (DOE) participating as a cooperating agency, 
prepared the final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container 
System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel (EIS) dated 
November 1996 (61 FR 59435, November 22, 1996). (The Department of 
Energy formally adopted that final EIS and designated it as DOE/EIS-
0251.) In the first Record of Decision (ROD)(62 FR 1095) for that EIS, 
the Department of the Navy and the Department of Energy, as a 
cooperating agency, announced their decision regarding selection of a 
dual-purpose canister system for the loading, storage, transport, and 
possible disposal of naval spent nuclear fuel following examination. 
The EIS and the first ROD identified that a decision was still needed 
on the location(s) for the loading, into dual purpose canisters, of 
that naval spent nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the 
Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP). Those documents further stated 
that a decision was also needed on the location(s) for temporary 
storage of the dual purpose canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear 
fuel and special case waste.

Decisions

    The Navy and DOE have determined the location where naval spent 
nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the ICPP will be 
loaded into dual purpose canisters, and the location where all dual 
purpose canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and special case 
waste will be temporarily stored prior to the naval spent nuclear fuel 
being shipped to a permanent geologic repository or centralized interim 
storage facility outside of the State of Idaho when one becomes 
available. In this second Record of Decision, the Navy and DOE announce 
the decision to load the naval spent nuclear fuel which is, or which 
will be, stored at the ICPP, into dual purpose canisters at the Naval 
Reactors Facility (NRF). Both the ICPP and the NRF are located on the 
INEEL in southeastern Idaho. The Navy and DOE also announce the 
additional decision that all dual purpose canisters loaded with naval 
spent nuclear fuel and special case waste will be stored at a developed 
area on the INEEL site to the east of the Expended Core Facility (ECF) 
at the NRF. This storage of canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear 
fuel at the NRF will occur regardless of whether the fuel had 
previously been stored at the ICPP, or had been received at INEEL 
before or after the dry storage facility at the NRF commenced 
operations. This location offers several important advantages, 
including immediate proximity to existing fuel handling facilities, 
rail access, and trained personnel. In addition, use of the site 
adjacent to ECF eliminates the need to develop previously undisturbed 
areas. Development of these undisturbed sites would incur increased 
adverse environmental impacts while offering no technical or other 
advantage. This Record of Decision neither decides nor presumes that 
naval special case waste will be shipped to a geologic repository or a 
centralized interim storage facility as will naval spent nuclear fuel.
    When evaluating options for the above decisions, the Navy and DOE 
considered existing facilities at INEEL and currently undeveloped 
locations potentially not above the Snake River Aquifer. The technical 
feasibility of building a dry storage facility within INEEL at a point 
removed from above the Snake River Plain Aquifer was considered in the 
final EIS. Only two potential locations were identified, one along the 
west boundary of INEEL and the other in the northwest corner of the 
INEEL reservation. However, analyses in the final EIS indicate that 
neither of these locations is hydrologically removed from above the 
Snake River Plain and both would be closer to seismic faults than 
existing INEEL facilities. The State of Idaho, in its comments on the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the 
Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel, agreed that the seismic 
disadvantages of these locations would, in all probability, eliminate 
them from further consideration.
    In addition, both of these locations are technically less desirable 
than locations at the NRF and the ICPP. A facility located at either of 
these remote sites would be closer to the site boundaries 
(approximately 1 mile from the INEEL boundary at its closest point) and 
the local population than existing INEEL facilities. Environmental 
impacts would result from construction of a road and possibly a rail 
spur to the location as well as construction of facilities at the 
location. An evaluation of these areas indicates that the development 
of a dry storage facility at either of these remote locations might 
have a greater impact on Native American cultural resources and 
ecological resources than providing for dry storage at a previously 
developed site adjacent to the ECF at the NRF or at an ICPP site.
    A number of factors were considered in evaluating potential sites 
at the NRF and the ICPP for loading of naval spent nuclear fuel into 
canisters and the storage of the loaded canisters. These factors 
included: (1) The effort required for the Navy to achieve compliance 
with quality assurance requirements, such as verification of individual 
spent fuel unit identity and condition, recording of each spent fuel 
unit's permanent location in a storage canister, and the control of the 
resultant records; (2) minimization of the number of organizations 
needing to interact in connection with obtaining certifications for 
transportation of canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and 
for the acceptability of those loaded canisters for placement in a 
permanent geologic repository or a centralized interim storage facility 
outside the State of Idaho when one becomes available; (3) simplicity 
of procedures and facilities involved in loading and storage of the 
canisters; (4) operational flexibility, since facilities which would be 
built at ECF to accommodate the return of naval spent nuclear fuel from 
the ICPP for loading into dry storage canisters would be more easily 
used to support possible future emergent naval spent nuclear fuel 
loading or unloading/reloading needs than facilities which had been 
built at the ICPP; (5) the potential for delays and emergent problems 
caused by performing dry storage canister loadings of both naval and 
non-naval spent nuclear fuel at a single facility; (6) the amount of 
handling of the naval spent nuclear fuel required; (7) cost; (8) the 
time needed to load the existing inventory of naval spent nuclear fuel 
into dry storage canisters; (9) environmental

[[Page 23772]]

consequences, which were similar and small for both the NRF and the 
ICPP sites, thus both would be environmentally preferred to the remote 
undeveloped sites considered; and (10) the expected condition of the 
naval spent nuclear fuel which would be handled in the loading process. 
The evaluations of these factors supported the selection of the NRF as 
the location for loading the naval spent nuclear fuel from the ICPP and 
for storage of loaded canisters.

Mitigation

    The DOE and the Navy have orders and regulations for conduct of 
spent nuclear fuel management operations and have adopted stringent 
controls for minimizing occupational and public radiation exposure. The 
policy of these programs is to reduce radiation exposures to as low as 
reasonably achievable (ALARA). Singly and collectively, these measures 
minimize potentially significant adverse environmental impacts from 
spent nuclear fuel management activities, including those associated 
with dry storage. The Navy and the DOE have not identified a need for 
additional mitigation measures.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

    The first Record of Decision for the DOE Programmatic Spent Nuclear 
Fuel Management and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Environmental 
Restoration and Waste Management Programs Final Environmental Impact 
Statement was published on May 30, 1995 (60 FR 28680). On October 17, 
1995, the Federal District Court entered a Consent Order that resolved 
all issues related to the EIS raised by the State of Idaho and the 
Governor of Idaho. The Consent Order incorporated as requirements all 
of the terms and conditions of the parties' Settlement Agreement, 
including a reduction in the number of spent nuclear fuel shipments 
coming to the State of Idaho.
    The settlement agreement among the State of Idaho, the U.S. Navy, 
and the DOE included obligations to request funding for a dry storage 
container loading station and to commence moving DOE spent nuclear fuel 
currently in water pool storage into dry storage by July 1, 2003. 
Proposed actions by the Navy will commence placing naval spent nuclear 
fuel into dry storage on a schedule consistent with that required of 
the DOE in the Settlement Agreement/Consent Order and will be in full 
compliance with the requirements of that agreement.
    No on-site land use restrictions due to Native American treaty 
rights would exist for any of the alternatives. The INEEL site does not 
lie within any of the land boundaries established by the Fort Bridger 
Treaty.
    The Department of the Navy and DOE are mandated to comply with 
various laws, regulations and other requirements applicable to the 
management of naval spent nuclear fuel. The Department of the Navy 
Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the 
Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel, in Chapter 8, identifies the 
major applicable laws and regulations. The selected dry storage loading 
and temporary storage locations provide for compliance with these and 
other applicable laws and regulations governing actions within the 
Navy's and DOE's responsibilities.

Public Involvement

    On October 24, 1994, the DOE published a Notice of Intent in the 
Federal Register (59 FR 53442) to prepare an EIS for a multi-purpose 
canister system for the management of civilian spent nuclear fuel. As 
part of the public scoping process, the scope of the EIS for the multi-
purpose canister system was broadened to include naval spent nuclear 
fuel. This determination was included in the Implementation Plan whose 
availability was announced in the Federal Register on August 30, 1995 
(60 FR 45147). However, DOE halted its proposal to fabricate and deploy 
a multi-purpose canister based system and ceased preparation of that 
EIS.
    On December 7, 1995 the Department of the Navy published a notice 
in the Federal Register (60 FR 62828) assuming the lead responsibility 
for an Environmental Impact Statement evaluating container systems for 
the management of naval spent nuclear fuel. The Department of the Navy 
assumed the lead responsibility from the DOE and narrowed the focus of 
the EIS to include only naval spent nuclear fuel. Despite the narrowing 
of the focus to only naval spent nuclear fuel and the change in lead 
agency, the range of container alternatives being considered did not 
change. Thus, the EIS did not require another scoping process. The DOE 
participated as a cooperating agency rather than the lead agency in the 
preparation of the EIS.
    On May 1, 1996, the Navy distributed the Draft EIS. The Navy's 
Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS was published in the Federal 
Register on May 14, 1996 along with the locations and dates of the 
public hearings. The Draft EIS was widely distributed to public 
officials, tribal officials, and state agencies in the areas of 
potential interest, as well as to individuals requesting the document. 
The public comment period for the EIS was originally scheduled to be 45 
days, but a 15-day extension was granted based on a request from the 
State of Nevada. During the public comment period, six public hearings 
were held and both written and oral comments were received. Oral and 
written comments were received from 51 parties, representing: federal, 
state, and local agencies and officials; special interest groups; and 
individuals. No substantive changes to the Draft EIS were needed as a 
result of public comments, although several clarifications and 
editorial changes were made in response to comments.
    A new Chapter 11 was added to the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement in which each comment was reprinted in its entirety, followed 
immediately by individual responses to each of the major points. The 
Environmental Protection Agency formally announced the availability of 
the final EIS on November 22, 1996 (61 FR 59435). The Navy also 
announced the availability of the final EIS on November 22, 1996 (61 FR 
59423).

Approval

    This Record of Decision constitutes the Navy's and The Department 
Of Energy's final action with regard to a location where the naval 
spent nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the Idaho 
Chemical Processing Plant will be loaded into dual purpose canisters. 
It also constitutes final action for a location for the temporary dry 
storage of all dual purpose canisters containing naval spent nuclear 
fuel and special case waste.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. this 16th day of April 1997.
Richard Danzig,
Acting Secretary of the Navy.

Alvin L. Alm,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, U.S. Department of 
Energy.
[FR Doc. 97-11244 Filed 4-30-97; 8:45 am]
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