[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 95 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26954-26955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12498]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Withdrawal of Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Transfer of Certain Operations From the 
Department of Energy (DOE) Mound Site

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: On October 2, 1998, DOE announced its intent to prepare an EIS 
in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the 
proposed transfer of the Heat Source/Radioisotope Thermoelectric 
Generator (HS/RTG) operations at the Mound Site near Miamisburg, Ohio, 
to an alternative DOE site. The Mound Site was to be cleaned up and 
eventually turned into an industrial park. However, after additional 
studies, the Secretary of Energy announced on March 22, 1999, that DOE 
has now decided to cancel the proposal to transfer these operations. 
Therefore, DOE is withdrawing its Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement. The decision not to pursue the proposed 
transfer of the HS/RTG operations from the Mound Site does not affect 
DOE's ongoing NEPA review of the proposed production of plutonium-238 
for use in advanced radioisotope power systems for future space 
missions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general and technical information 
associated with the HS/RTG assembly and test operations at the Mound 
Site, please contact: Timothy A. Frazier, U.S. Department of Energy, 
P.O. Box 66, Miamisburg, OH 45343-0066. Telephone: (937) 865-3748; 
facsimile (937) 865-4219; electronic mail: [email protected].
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-
42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20585-0119. Telephone: (202) 586-4600 or leave a 
message on (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Mound Site, located in Miamisburg, Ohio, 
was established in 1946 as part of the Atomic Energy Commission. For 
the past 35 years, DOE (or its predecessor) has been developing HS/RTGs 
at the Mound Site and supplying them to user agencies. Until the early 
1990s, the Mound Site also manufactured critical nuclear weapons 
components. The site is currently being environmentally restored under 
a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liabilities 
Act (CERCLA) Sec. 120 Agreement. DOE and its site restoration 
contractor had planned to complete the environmental restoration and 
exit the site, including the HS/RTG operations, by February 2003. DOE 
believed that leaving the HS/RTG operations at Mound by itself may not 
have been feasible for various programmatic reasons or cost effective.
    On October 2, 1998, the DOE published in the Federal Register a 
Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS in compliance with the NEPA for the 
proposed transfer of the HS/RTG operations at the Mound Site to an 
alternative DOE site. Six public scoping meetings were held in November 
1998 in the vicinity of the Mound Site and the following alternative 
locations: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN; Pantex Plant, 
near Amarillo, TX; Hanford Site, Richland, WA; Nevada Test Site, near 
Las Vegas, NV; and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental 
Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID. The Draft EIS was in the initial stage of 
preparation.
    DOE has decided to withdraw the proposal to transfer the HS/RTG 
assembly and test operations from the Mound Site. The decision to 
withdraw the proposal is based on a detailed cost analysis of alternate 
site proposals and several additional reviews by various departmental 
elements to determine the reasonableness and acceptability of 
maintaining the HS/RTG assembly and test operations at the Mound Site. 
The cost analysis indicated that the Department would not realize cost 
savings by transferring the HS/RTG assembly and test operations from 
the Mound Site. The review by various

[[Page 26955]]

departmental elements determined that maintaining the program at the 
Mound Site for the long-term was reasonable and that the Department 
could continue to ensure high levels of health and safety, materials 
protection, and other program requirements. These reviews, along with 
public comments received during the EIS scoping process, have 
effectively negated the need for the proposed action. Therefore, no EIS 
is required, and DOE hereby withdraws its notice of intent to prepare 
an EIS.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., this 11th day of May 1999.
Earl J. Wahlquist,
Associate Director for Space and Defense Power Systems, Office of 
Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology.
[FR Doc. 99-12498 Filed 5-17-99; 8:45 am]
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