[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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