[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23825-23827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11063]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Record of Decision for a Multi-Purpose Canister or Comparable 
System for Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory 
Spent Nuclear Fuel

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: This Record of Decision announces the Department of Energy's 
(DOE's) decision to use a multi-purpose canister or comparable system 
for spent nuclear fuel at the Idaho National Engineering and 
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Except for those fuels that may be 
processed (e.g., sodium bonded fuel) and a small fraction of spent 
nuclear fuel (10% or less) that may be suitable for shipment using 
existing transportation casks, a multi-purpose canister or comparable 
system will be used for the loading and storage of DOE-owned spent 
nuclear fuel at the INEEL, and transportation of this spent nuclear 
fuel for ultimate disposition outside the State of Idaho. This decision 
is based on analyses contained in two Environmental Impact Statements: 
the Department of Energy Programmatic Spent Nuclear Fuel Management and 
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Environmental Restoration and 
Waste Management Programs Final Environmental Impact Statement (SNF & 
INEL EIS), dated April 1995 (DOE/EIS-0203-F); and the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the 
Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel (Container System EIS), dated 
November 1996 (DOE/EIS-0251), in which DOE participated as a 
cooperating agency and then adopted (61 FR 59435, October 9, 1996). DOE 
recently prepared a Supplement Analysis for a Container System for the 
Management of DOE Spent Nuclear Fuel Located at the INEEL (March 1999) 
under 10 CFR 1021.314(c), and determined that no further NEPA 
documentation is needed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further information on DOE's use of a 
multi-purpose canister or comparable system for INEEL spent nuclear 
fuel, or to receive a copy of the Supplement Analysis and 
Determination, please contact Mr. Ron Ramsey, Mail Stop 1154, U.S. 
Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, 850 Energy Drive, 83401, 
or phone (208) 526-1545. The SNF & INEL and Container System EISs, the 
Supplement Analysis and supporting documentation are available for 
review on request at the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office 
located at 850 Energy Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho. Copies of the SNF & 
INEL and Container System EISs and the Supplement Analysis also are 
available for review at the Idaho Falls and Pocatello, Idaho, Public 
Libraries. The Supplement Analysis and Determination also are available 
on the INEEL Website at: http://www.inel.gov/environment/em/nepa.html.
    For information on 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, DC 
20585, or phone (202) 586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In litigation that began in 1991, the State 
of Idaho asserted that DOE had violated NEPA by not conducting a 
thorough analysis of environmental impacts associated with spent 
nuclear fuel storage and transportation. During the litigation, DOE 
completed the SNF & INEL EIS in April 1995. The litigation was settled 
when DOE, the U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy), and the State of 
Idaho executed a Settlement Agreement that was subsequently 
incorporated into a federal court order [Consent Order in United States 
of America v. Batt, Civil No. 91-0054-S-ELJ (D.Id.) dated October 17, 
1995] (Idaho Settlement Agreement). Section F.4. of the Idaho 
Settlement Agreement requires, in part, that DOE and the Navy shall use 
multi-purpose canisters or comparable systems to prepare spent nuclear 
fuel for shipment and ultimate disposal outside the State of Idaho, and 
that the Record of Decision on the NEPA analysis shall be completed by 
April 30, 1999.
    The Navy as lead agency and DOE as a cooperating agency prepared 
and issued the final Container System EIS in November 1996. The Navy 
issued a Record of Decision on the Container System EIS on January 8, 
1997 (62 FR 1095), selecting a dual-purpose canister system for the 
management of post-examination naval spent nuclear fuel and special 
case low-level waste. On May 1, 1997, the Navy issued a second Record 
of Decision on the Container System EIS (62 FR 23770) that announced 
that naval spent nuclear fuel that is or will be stored at the Idaho 
Nuclear Technology Engineering Center (INTEC) (formerly the Idaho 
Chemical Processing Plant) will be loaded into dual-purpose canisters 
at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF). Both INTEC and the NRF are 
located at INEEL. The second Record of Decision also announced that all 
dual-purpose

[[Page 23826]]

canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and special case waste 
will be stored at a site adjacent to the Expended Core Facility at NRF, 
regardless of whether the contained fuel had previously been stored at 
INTEC, or had been received at INEEL before or after the dry storage 
facility at NRF commenced operations. (The second Record of Decision 
makes no decision that naval special case waste will be shipped to a 
geologic repository, as will naval spent nuclear fuel.) The Navy's 
decision to implement the preferred alternative, i.e., to use a dual-
purpose canister system for naval spent nuclear fuel, was issued to 
satisfy the Navy's commitment under Section F.4. of the Idaho 
Settlement Agreement. Although DOE was a cooperating agency in the 
preparation of the Container System EIS, subsequently adopted the EIS, 
and co-signed both Records of Decision issued by the Navy, DOE-owned 
spent nuclear fuel was not separately analyzed in the Container System 
EIS, and neither Record of Decision addressed DOE-owned spent nuclear 
fuel.
    The Department's Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID) prepared a 
Supplement Analysis for a Container System for the Management of DOE 
Spent Nuclear Fuel Located at the INEEL (March, 1999) to evaluate the 
adequacy of both the Container System and SNF & INEL EISs for the 
proposal to use a multi-purpose canister or comparable system for DOE-
owned spent nuclear fuel. The purpose of a Supplement Analysis is to 
examine whether, in light of new information or changes in the proposed 
action, an existing EIS should be supplemented, a new EIS should be 
prepared, or no further NEPA documentation is required.
    The Supplement Analysis demonstrated that the potential 
environmental impacts of using a multi-purpose canister, or comparable 
system, to load, store and transport DOE-owned spent nuclear fuel 
located on the INEEL are bounded by or are reasonably comparable to the 
impacts analyzed in the SNF & INEL and Container System EISs. 
Accordingly, on March 4,1999, DOE issued the ``Department of Energy 
Determination and Record of Decision on National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) Analysis,'' which concludes that the proposed multi-purpose 
canister or comparable system for DOE-owned spent nuclear fuel at the 
INEEL is adequately analyzed in the SNF & INEL and Container System 
EISs, and that, therefore, no further NEPA documentation is required.

Alternatives Considered

    The Container System EIS considered six alternative dry storage 
container systems for the loading, storage, transport, and possible 
disposal of post-examination naval spent nuclear fuel and the 
management of special case waste (i.e., low-level radioactive waste 
that contains concentrations of certain short- and long-lived isotopes 
which requires disposal by more stringent measures than land burial). 
The alternatives included the use of either existing dry storage 
containers or dry storage containers that could be produced by 
manufacturers of such equipment.
    Because of differences in configurations among naval spent nuclear 
fuel assemblies, all alternatives required containers to have internal 
baskets designed for specific naval spent nuclear fuel types. For the 
purposes of transportation analyses, the SNF & INEL EIS assumed the use 
of existing transportation casks licensed by the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission for transportation of bare (i.e., non-
canisterized) fuel assemblies. The SNF & INEL EIS analyzed truck and 
rail alternatives for transportation from the INEEL to a repository, 
but did not analyze the use of specific alternative types of 
containers, such as dual-purpose (i.e., storage and transportation) or 
multi-purpose (i.e., storage, transportation and disposal) canisters.
    A brief description of the six alternatives analyzed in the 
Container System EIS follows:
    (1) No-Action Alternative--Use of existing technology to handle, 
store, and subsequently transport naval spent nuclear fuel to a 
geologic repository or a centralized interim storage site using the 
Navy M-140 transportation cask.
    (2) Current Technology/Supplemented by High Capacity Rail 
Alternative--This alternative uses the same storage methods and M-140 
transportation cask described in the no-action alternative, but with 
redesigned internal structures for the M-140 cask to accommodate a 
larger amount of naval spent nuclear fuel per cask, thus reducing the 
total number of shipments required.
    (3) Transportable Storage Cask Alternative--This alternative uses 
an existing, commercially available transportable storage cask for 
storage at the INEEL as well as for transportation to a repository or 
centralized interim storage site.
    (4) Dual-Purpose Canister Alternative--This alternative uses an 
existing, commercially available canister and overpack system for 
storage at the INEEL and shipment of naval spent nuclear fuel to a 
geologic repository or centralized interim storage site.
    (5) Multi-Purpose Canister Alternative--This alternative uses about 
300 large (125-ton) multi-purpose canisters for storage, 
transportation, and disposal of naval spent nuclear fuel, without 
repackaging or further handling of individual spent nuclear fuel 
assemblies.
    (6) Small Multi-Purpose Canister Alternative--This alternative uses 
about 500 smaller (75-ton) multi-purpose canisters, rather than large 
multi-purpose canisters.
    The Container System EIS evaluated each of the alternatives against 
a set of criteria to select a preferred alternative. The analysis found 
that the environmental and public health impacts would be small and 
would differ little among alternatives for: the manufacture of any of 
the dry storage container systems; the operations of handling, storage, 
transportation and unloading at a repository; and the construction of 
facilities. With respect to the environmental and public health 
impacts, all the alternatives are considered comparable and 
indistinguishable and equally environmentally preferable. In its Record 
of Decision, the Navy decided that dual-purpose canisters represented 
the best system for naval fuel when compared to the other alternatives 
in terms of cost, operational efficiency, industry trends, regulatory 
acceptance and environmental and public health impacts. The Container 
System EIS established that dual-purpose and multi-purpose canister 
systems are comparable, with the possible exception that a multi-
purpose canister can also be used for disposal.

Decision

    DOE has decided to use a multi-purpose canister or comparable 
system (e.g., dual-purpose canister system or other system as described 
and analyzed in the context of the Container System EIS) for the 
management of DOE-owned spent nuclear fuel at the INEEL, based on cost, 
operational efficiency, regulatory acceptance, and environmental and 
public health considerations. Except for those fuels that may be 
processed (e.g., sodium bonded fuel) and a small fraction of spent 
nuclear fuel (10% or less) that may be suitable for shipment using 
existing transportation casks, a multi-purpose canister system (or 
comparable system) will be used for the loading and storage of DOE-
owned spent nuclear fuel at the INEEL, and for transportation

[[Page 23827]]

of this spent nuclear fuel for ultimate disposition outside the State 
of Idaho. This decision does not commit DOE to a single course of 
action or the use of a particular spent nuclear fuel container system 
if improvements in design are made in the future and are selected 
pursuant to future NEPA review and coordination with the State of 
Idaho.

Mitigation

    DOE has not identified the need for mitigation measures beyond the 
strictly controlled conduct of operations associated with the 
management of DOE-owned spent nuclear fuel at INEEL that is integral to 
the selected alternative. DOE has directives and regulations for the 
conduct of spent nuclear fuel management operations. All government 
spent nuclear fuel shipments must comply with DOE and U.S. Department 
of Transportation regulations, and DOE has adopted stringent controls 
for minimizing occupational and public radiation exposure. The policy 
of these programs is to reduce radiation exposure to as low as 
reasonably achievable. Singly and collectively, these measures avoid, 
reduce, or eliminate any potentially adverse environmental impacts from 
spent nuclear fuel management activities, including those associated 
with containerization.

Approval

    Issued in Washington, D.C. this 27th day of April 1999.
James M. Owendoff,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 99-11063 Filed 5-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P