[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 70 (Monday, April 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17995-17996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9821]


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DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD


Sunshine Act Meeting

    Pursuant to the provision of the ``Government in the Sunshine Act'' 
(5 U.S.C. Sec. 552b), notice is hereby given of the Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board's (Board) meeting described below.

TIME AND DATE OF MEETING: 9:00 a.m., May 6, 1998.

PLACE: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Public Hearing 
Room, 625 Indiana Avenue NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20004.

STATUS: Open.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Status of the Department of Energy's 
Implementation of Board Recommendation 94-1, Improved Schedule for 
Remediation in the Defense Nuclear Facility Complex.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: Robert M. Anderson, General 
Counsel, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, 
NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004, (800) 788-4016. This is a toll-
free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 
has become concerned about the rate of progress on actions responding 
to Recommendation 94-1, Improved Schedule for Remediation in the 
Defense Nuclear Facility Complex. Additionally, the Board has noted 
that while the delays in activities have been communicated in the 
Department of Energy (DOE) briefings to the Board and its staff, as 
well as in quarterly 94-1 status reports, formal communication of new 
proposed dates and a plan of action to meet those dates have not been 
forthcoming from DOE in a timely manner.
    When production of nuclear weapons ceased in the early 1990's large 
inventories of plutonium, uranium, spent nuclear fuel, and other 
hazardous materials were stored in temporary arrangements awaiting 
processing into weapons components or other disposition. The Board 
became concerned as to continued safety of such materials if they were 
not placed in a form suitable for interim storage. The Board 
accordingly issued its Recommendation 94-1 on May 26, 1994, 
recommending that the

[[Page 17996]]

Department initiate or accelerate programs to process and repackage 
such materials so that they could be safely stored. The Secretary of 
Energy accepted Recommendation 94-1 in full, and a satisfactory 
Implementation Plan was issued in February 1995 and accepted by the 
Board.
    This Public Meeting is for the purpose of examining progress on 
activities to meet the objectives of Recommendation 94-1, and related 
integration of activities among Department of Energy sites. Department 
of Energy personnel have been requested to review the status of past 
due milestones affecting programs to process uranium and plutonium into 
stable storage forms, package plutonium for interim storage, stabilize 
spent fuel, and maintain the facilities needed to perform these 
activities. The major programs under Recommendation 94-1 are at the 
Savannah River Site, the Hanford Site, the Rocky Flats Environmental 
Technology Site, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, although most 
other defense nuclear sites are affected to some degree.
    The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board reserves its right to 
further schedule and otherwise regulate the course of this meeting, to 
recess, reconvene, postpone or adjourn the meeting, and otherwise 
exercise its authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

    Dated: April 9, 1998.
John T. Conway,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 98-9821 Filed 4-9-98; 12:58 pm]
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