[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44512-44513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21289]


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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. 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., September 9, 1999.
    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 Plan for Board Recommendation 94-1, The Remediation 
of Nuclear Materials in the Defense Nuclear Facilities Complex.
    Contact Person for More Information: Richard A. Azzaro, 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: Recommendation 94-1 has driven the 
Department of Energy (DOE) to accomplish significant risk reduction 
and nuclear material stabilization during the past four years. Under 
the original implementation plan, urgent risks were mitigated and 
DOE made progress in stabilizing plutonium, special isotopes, and 
spent nuclear fuel. Additionally, compensatory measures were 
implemented to ensure safe storage of the remaining materials 
awaiting stabilization.
    However, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is 
concerned about the DOE's rate of progress in implementing the 
revised Recommendation 94-1 implementation plan, The Remediation of 
Nuclear Materials in the Defense Nuclear Facilities Complex, 
received by the Board in December 1998. The Board has not yet 
received the outstanding plans and schedules required to complete 
the necessary stabilization activities.
    The Board issued Recommendation 94-1 on May 26, 1994 to 
encourage the Department of Energy to act more quickly to place 
surplus nuclear materials in safe forms for interim storage. 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 
was concerned that such materials, some of which are in unstable 
chemical forms, may rupture or leak from their temporary containers, 
or may cause or contribute to accidents, material releases, and 
radiological exposures. The Board accordingly recommended that the 
DOE 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 mutually 
agreeable Implementation Plan was issued in February 1995 and 
accepted by the Board. During 1998, DOE prepared an updated 
implementation plan that was submitted to the Board in December 
1998. In January 1999 the Board conditionally accepted the revised 
plan provided that the DOE complete planning for all stabilization 
activities. DOE has not yet provided this supplemental information 
to the Board's satisfaction.
    This public meeting will examine the reasons for delays in 
finalizing the revised implementation plan and also explore the 
causes of delays in specific stabilization activities at selected 
DOE sites. DOE will be

[[Page 44513]]

requested to identify corrective actions necessary to complete the 
remaining stabilization activities in a timely manner. Department of 
Energy personnel will present the status of delayed nuclear material 
stabilization activities to process uranium, plutonium, and other 
actinides into stable storage forms, package plutonium for interim 
storage, stabilize spent fuel, and maintain the facilities needed to 
perform these activities over the next few years. The largest 
Recommendation 94-1 programs are at the Savannah River Site, the 
Hanford Site, the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, and 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: August 11, 1999.
John T. Conway,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 99-21289 Filed 8-12-99; 11:40 am]
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