[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 99 (Thursday, May 22, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28009-28014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13494]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Surplus Plutonium Disposition Environmental Impact Statement

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) on the disposition of United States' 
weapons-usable surplus plutonium. This EIS is tiered from the Storage 
and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (Storage and Disposition PEIS) (DOE/EIS-
0229), issued in December 1996, and the associated Record of Decision 
(62 FR 3014), issued on January 14, 1997.
    The EIS will examine reasonable alternatives and potential 
environmental impacts for the proposed siting, construction, and 
operation of three types of facilities for plutonium disposition. The 
first is a facility to disassemble and convert pits (a nuclear weapons 
component) into plutonium oxide suitable for disposition. As explained 
in the January 1997 Record of Decision, this pit disassembly and 
conversion facility will be located at either DOE's Hanford Site, Idaho 
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), Pantex 
Plant, or Savannah River Site (SRS). The second is a facility to 
immobilize surplus plutonium in a glass or ceramic form for disposition 
in a geologic repository pursuant to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. This 
second facility will be located at either Hanford or SRS, and include a 
collocated capability to convert non-pit plutonium materials into a 
form suitable for immobilization. The EIS will discuss various 
technologies for immobilization. The third type of facility would 
fabricate plutonium oxide into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. The MOX fuel 
fabrication facility would be located at either Hanford, INEEL, Pantex 
or SRS. MOX fuel would be used in existing commercial light water 
reactors in the United States, with subsequent disposal of the spent 
fuel in accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Some MOX fuel 
could also be used in Canadian deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactors 
depending upon negotiation of a future international agreement between 
Canada, Russia, and the United States. The EIS will also discuss 
decommissioning and decontamination (D&D) of the three facilities.
    This Notice of Intent describes the Department's proposed action, 
solicits public input, and announces the schedule for the public 
scoping meetings.

DATES: Comments on the proposed scope of the Surplus Plutonium 
Disposition EIS (SPD EIS) are invited from the public. To ensure 
consideration in the draft EIS, written comments should be postmarked 
by July 18, 1997. Comments received after that date will be considered 
to the extent practicable. DOE will hold interactive scoping meetings 
near sites that may be affected by the proposed action to discuss 
issues and receive oral and written comments on the scope of the EIS. 
The locations, dates and times for these public meetings are included 
in the Supplementary Information section of this notice and will be 
announced by additional appropriate means.

ADDRESSES: Comments and questions concerning the plutonium disposition 
program can be submitted by calling (answering machine) or faxing them 
to the toll free number 1-800-820-5156, or by mailing them to: Bert 
Stevenson, NEPA Compliance Officer, Office of Fissile Materials 
Disposition, U.S. Department of Energy, Post Office Box 23786, 
Washington, DC 20026-3786.
    Comments may also be submitted electronically by using the Office 
of Fissile Materials Disposition's web site. The address is http://
web.fie.com/fedix/fisl.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE 
NEPA process, please contact: Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 
Policy and Assistance, U.S. Department of Energy 1000, Independence 
Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585, 202-586-4600 or 1-800-472-2756.

[[Page 28010]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Storage and Disposition Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (PEIS) analyzed the potential environmental consequences of 
alternatives for the long-term storage (up to 50 years) of weapons-
usable fissile materials and the disposition of surplus plutonium. 
Surplus plutonium for disposition refers to that weapons-usable 
plutonium that the President has declared surplus to national security 
needs, as well as such plutonium that may be declared surplus in the 
future. As stated in the Record of Decision for the Storage and 
Disposition PEIS, the Department decided to pursue a hybrid approach 
that allows immobilization of surplus plutonium in glass or ceramic 
form and burning of some of the surplus plutonium as MOX fuel in 
existing, commercial light water reactors in the United States (and 
potentially in Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors in Canada 
depending on future international agreement). The Department decided 
that the extent to which either or both of these disposition approaches 
would ultimately be deployed would depend in part upon future NEPA 
review, although the Department committed to immobilize at least 8 
metric tons (tonnes) of currently declared surplus plutonium and 
reserved the option of immobilizing all surplus weapons plutonium. In 
the Record of Decision for the Storage and Disposition PEIS, the 
Department further decided to: (1) locate the immobilization facility 
(collocated with a plutonium conversion facility) at either Hanford or 
SRS; (2) locate a potential MOX fuel fabrication facility at either 
Hanford, INEEL, Pantex, or SRS; (3) locate a pit disassembly and 
conversion facility at either Hanford, INEEL, Pantex, or SRS; and (4) 
determine the specific technology for immobilization based in part on 
this follow-on disposition EIS.
    The processes, materials and technologies involved in surplus 
plutonium disposition are depicted in Figure 1.
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Proposed Action

    The Department proposes to determine whether to continue with both 
the immobilization and MOX approaches for surplus plutonium disposition 
and if so, to site, construct, and operate and ultimately D&D three 
types of facilities for plutonium disposition at one or more of four 
DOE sites, as follows:
     A collocated non-pit plutonium conversion and 
immobilization facility at either Hanford, near Richland, Washington, 
or SRS, near Aiken, South Carolina, with sub-alternatives for the 
technology and facilities used to form the immobilized plutonium.
     A pit disassembly/conversion facility at either Hanford; 
SRS; INEEL, near Idaho Falls, Idaho; or the Pantex Plant, near 
Amarillo, Texas.
     A MOX fuel fabrication facility at either Hanford, INEEL, 
Pantex, or SRS, with sub-alternatives for fabrication of Lead Test 
Assemblies for use in fuel qualification demonstrations.
    Construction of these facilities would be on previously disturbed 
land and could include the modification of existing facilities where 
practicable, to reduce local environmental impacts, reduce costs, and 
shorten schedules. In the pit disassembly and conversion facility, the 
Department proposes to disassemble surplus pits and convert the 
plutonium in them to an unclassified oxide form suitable for 
disposition. The Department also proposes to convert most non-pit 
plutonium materials to plutonium oxide at the plutonium conversion 
facility, which will be collocated with the immobilization facility.

Plutonium Disposition Decisions

    The Department expects to make the following decisions based upon 
the results of this EIS and other information and considerations:
     Whether to construct and operate collocated plutonium 
conversion and immobilization facilities, and if so, where (including 
selection of the specific immobilization technology).
     Whether to construct and operate a pit disassembly/
conversion facility, and if so, where.
     Whether to construct and operate a MOX fuel fabrication 
facility, and if so, where (including selection of the site for 
fabrication of Lead Test Assemblies).
    The exact extent to which the MOX approach would ultimately be 
deployed will depend on a number of factors, in addition to 
environmental impacts. These are likely to include cost, contract 
negotiations, and international agreements.

Alternatives

No Action

    A No Action alternative will be analyzed (Alternative 1) in the SPD 
EIS. Implementation of the No Action alternative would mean that 
disposition would not occur, and surplus weapons-usable plutonium, 
including pits, metals and oxides, would remain in storage in 
accordance with the Storage and Disposition PEIS Record of Decision.

Plutonium Disposition Alternatives

    The SPD EIS will analyze alternatives for the siting, construction 
and operation of the three facilities at various candidate sites as 
described in the Proposed Action. These facilities would be designed so 
that they could collectively disposition surplus plutonium (existing 
and future) over their operating lives. Although the exact quantity of 
plutonium that may be declared surplus over time is not known, for 
purposes of analysis a nominal 50 tonnes of surplus plutonium will be 
used for assessing the environmental impacts of plutonium disposition 
activities at the various candidate sites. Under alternatives involving 
the ``hybrid'' (immobilization and MOX) approach selected in the 
Storage and Disposition Record of Decision, the SPD EIS will analyze 
the same distribution of surplus plutonium that was analyzed in the 
Storage and Disposition PEIS, which is fabrication of pits and pure 
plutonium metal or oxide (approximately 33 tonnes) into MOX fuel, and 
immobilization of the remaining non-pit plutonium (approximately 17 
tonnes). The Record of Decision on the Storage and Disposition PEIS 
states, ``DOE will immobilize at least eight tonnes of currently 
declared surplus plutonium materials that DOE has already determined 
are not suitable for use in MOX fuel.'' Since the issuance of that 
decision, the Department has further determined that a total of about 
17 tonnes of surplus plutonium is not suitable for use in MOX fuel 
without extensive processing. Thus, an alternative for fabricating all 
surplus plutonium into MOX fuel will not be analyzed. However, 
converting the full 50 tonnes of surplus plutonium into an immobilized 
form will be analyzed as a reasonable alternative.
    Under each disposition approach, DOE could in principle locate one, 
two, or all three facilities at a candidate site. However, locating one 
facility at each of three sites would mean conducting disposition 
activities at three widely separated locations around the country. This 
would substantially increase transportation cost, unnecessarily 
increase exposure of workers and the public, and increase 
transportation risks, without any apparent compensating benefit. 
Therefore, the Department is proposing to consider only alternatives 
that locate two or more facilities at one site, with the possibility of 
one facility at a separate site. Further, certain combinations of 
facilities and sites are not being considered as reasonable 
alternatives, because they would also substantially increase 
transportation cost, unnecessarily increase exposure to workers and the 
public, and increase transportation risks, without any apparent 
compensating benefit.
    Based on the above considerations and the candidate site selections 
in the Storage and Disposition Record of Decision, the following 
alternatives have been developed in addition to the No Action 
alternative. Table 1 summarizes the alternatives by site. Alternatives 
2 through 10 (see Table 1) would involve immobilization of 
approximately 17 tonnes of low purity (non-pit) plutonium, and 
fabrication of approximately 33 tonnes of high purity plutonium (pits 
and plutonium metal) into MOX fuel. The differences among alternatives 
2 through 10 are the locations of the proposed facilities. Alternatives 
11 and 12 would involve immobilization of all 50 tonnes of plutonium at 
either Hanford or SRS.
    The Department has identified existing facilities that can be 
modified for use in plutonium disposition at various candidate sites. A 
summary of the existing and new facilities (shown in the parentheses in 
Table 1) to be used in the SPD EIS analyses is given in Table 1, where 
FMEF is the Fuel and Materials Examination Facility, FPF is the Fuel 
Processing Facility, and DWPF is the Defense Waste Processing Facility.

Lead Test Assemblies

    With respect to the MOX alternatives, the Department would qualify 
MOX fuel forms for use in existing commercial reactors. DOE will 
analyze two sub-alternatives for the fabrication of the lead test 
assemblies needed to qualify the fuel. In one sub-alternative, the lead 
test assemblies would be fabricated in the United States. Fabrication 
in the United States would involve constructing a pilot capability in 
conjunction with the fuel fabrication facility. Therefore, the 
potential sites include the candidate sites for the fuel fabrication 
facility (i.e., Hanford, INEEL, Pantex, and SRS). The pilot capability 
could also be located in an existing small facility at the Los Alamos 
National Laboratory (LANL). The

[[Page 28013]]

second alternative would be for fabrication in existing European 
facilities; three potential fabrication sites exist (Belgium, France, 
and the United Kingdom) that would allow fabrication of the Lead Test 
Assemblies sooner than with any facility under the United States 
alternative.

                                       Table 1.--Disposition Alternatives                                       
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                                      Alternative/Site/Disposition Facility                                     
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                                                                   Plutonium conversion                         
     Alt. No.          Pit  disassembly          MOX plant          and immobilization     Amounts of plutonium 
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 1................                                                                                              
(3)No Action                                                                                                    
 2................  Hanford (FMEF).......  Hanford (FMEF).......  Hanford (FMEF)........  17t Immobilization /  
                                                                                           33t MOX.             
 3................  SRS (New)............  SRS (New)............  SRS (New, or Bldg       17t Immobilization /  
                                                                   221F, and DWPF).        33t MOX.             
 4................  Pantex (New).........  Hanford (FMEF).......  Hanford (FMEF)........  17t Immobilization /  
                                                                                           33t MOX.             
 5................  Pantex (New).........  SRS (New)............  SRS (New, or Bldg       17t Immobilization /  
                                                                   221F, and DWPF).        33t MOX.             
 6................  Hanford (FMEF).......  Hanford (FMEF).......  SRS (New, or Bldg       17t Immobilization /  
                                                                   221F, and DWPF).        33t MOX.             
 7................  INEEL (FPF)..........  INEEL (New)..........  SRS (New, or Bldg       17t Immobilization /  
                                                                   221F, and DWPF).        33t MOX.             
 8................  INEEL (FPF)..........  INEEL (New)..........  Hanford (FMEF)........  17t Immobilization /  
                                                                                           33t MOX.             
 9................  Pantex (New).........  Pantex (New).........  SRS (New, or Bldg       17t Immobilization /  
                                                                   221F, and DWPF).        33t MOX.             
10................  Pantex (New).........  Pantex (New).........  Hanford (FMEF)........  17t Immobilization /  
                                                                                           33t MOX.             
11................  Hanford (FMEF).......  N/A..................  Hanford (FMEF)........  50t Immobilization /  
                                                                                           0t MOX.              
12................  SRS (New)............  N/A..................  SRS (New, or Bldg       50t Immobilization /  
                                                                   221F, and DWPF).        0t MOX.              
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Immobilization Technology

    The Record of Decision on the Storage and Disposition PEIS stated, 
``Because there are a number of technology variations that could be 
used for immobilization, DOE will also determine the specific 
immobilization technology based upon the follow-on EIS * * *'' (i.e., 
the SPD EIS). The technologies to be considered are those identified as 
variants in the Storage and Disposition PEIS.

Preferred Alternative

    For immobilization, the Department prefers to use the ``can-in-
canister'' technology at the DWPF at SRS. Under the can-in-canister 
approach, cans containing plutonium in glass or ceramic form would be 
placed in DWPF canisters, which would be filled with borosilicate glass 
containing high-level waste.

Classified Information

    The Department plans to prepare the SPD EIS as an unclassified 
document with a classified appendix. The classified information in the 
SPD EIS will not be available for public review. However, the 
classified information will be considered by DOE in reaching a decision 
on the disposition of surplus plutonium. DOE will provide as much 
information as possible in unclassified form to assist public 
understanding and comment.

Research and Development Activities

    The Department recently announced its intent to prepare two 
environmental assessments (EAs) for proposed research and development 
activities that DOE would conduct prior to completion of the SPD EIS 
and ROD. One EA will analyze the potential environmental impacts of a 
proposed pit disassembly and conversion integrated systems test at 
LANL. In addition, to further the purposes of NEPA, this EA will 
describe other research and development activities currently on-going 
at various sites, including work related to immobilization and to MOX 
fuel fabrication. The other EA will be prepared for the proposed 
shipment of special MOX fuel to Canada for an experiment involving the 
use of United States and Russian fuel in a Canadian test reactor, for 
development of fuel for the CANDU reactors. This EA will analyze the 
prior and future fabrication and proposed shipment of the fuel pellets 
needed for the experiment.

Relationships With Other DOE NEPA Activities

    In addition to the SPD EIS and the EAs discussed above, the 
Department is currently conducting NEPA reviews of other activities 
that have a potential relationship with the SPD EIS. They include:
    1. Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for 
Managing Treatment, Storage and Disposal of Radioactive and Hazardous 
Waste (DOE/EIS-0200D) (Draft issued: September 22, 1995; 60 FR 49264).
    2. Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored 
at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site EIS (Notice of Intent 
to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement: November 19, 1996; 61 FR 
58866).

Invitation To Comment

    DOE invites comments on the scope of this EIS from all interested 
parties, including potentially affected Federal, State, and local 
agencies, and Indian tribes. Comments can be provided by any of the 
means listed in the Address Section of this notice and by providing 
oral and written comments at the scoping meetings.
    The Department is requesting, by separate correspondence, that 
Federal agencies 1 desiring to be designated as cooperating 
agencies on the SPD EIS inform DOE by July 18, 1997.
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    \1\ Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Department of Defense; 
Department of State; Environmental Protection Agency; and Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
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Scoping Meetings

    Public scoping meetings will be held near each site that may be 
affected by the proposed action. The interactive scoping meetings will 
provide the public with the opportunity to present comments, ask 
questions, and discuss concerns regarding plutonium disposition 
activities with DOE officials, and for the Department to receive oral 
and written comments on the scope of the EIS. Written and oral comments 
will be given equal weight in the scoping process. Input from the 
scoping meetings along with comments received by other means (phone, 
mail, fax, web-site) will be used by the Department in refining the 
scope of the EIS. The locations and dates for these public meetings are 
as shown below. All meetings will consist of two sessions (1:00 pm to 
4:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm).

Hanford Site:

July 1, 1997
Shilo Inn
50 Comstock
Richland, WA 99352
509-946-4661

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Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

June 10, 1997
Shilo Inn
780 Lindsay Boulevard
Idaho Fall, ID 83402
208-523-0088

Pantex Plant

June 12, 1997
Radisson Inn Airport
7909 I-40 East at Lakeside
Amarillo, TX 79104
806-373-3303

Savannah River Site

June 19, 1997
North Augusta Community Center
495 Brookside Avenue
North Augusta, SC 29841
803-441-4290

    Advanced registration for the public meetings is requested but not 
required. Please call 1-800-820-5134 and leave your name and the 
location of the meeting(s) you plan to attend. This information will be 
used to determine the size and number of rooms needed for the meeting.

Scoping Meeting Format:

    The Department intends to hold a plenary session at the beginning 
of each scoping meeting in which DOE officials will more fully explain 
the framework for the plutonium disposition program, the proposed 
action, preliminary alternatives for accomplishing the proposed action 
and public participation in the NEPA process. Following the plenary 
session, the Department intends to discuss relevant issues in more 
detail, answer questions, and receive comments. Each scoping meeting 
for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition EIS will have two sessions, with 
each session lasting approximately three to four hours.

    Issued in Washington, DC this 16 day of May, 1997, for the 
United States Department of Energy.
Peter N. Brush,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 97-13494 Filed 5-21-97; 8:45 am]
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