[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 191 (Monday, October 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 53669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25741]
[[Page 53669]]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Accomplishing
Expanded Civilian Nuclear Energy Research and Development and Isotope
Production Missions in the United States Including the Role of the Fast
Flux Test Facility (DOE/EIS-0310)
AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of change in scoping meeting location.
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SUMMARY: DOE is changing the date and location of the public scoping
meeting to be held in the Washington, DC area. In the Federal Register
of September 15, 1999 (64 FR 50066), DOE announced that the meeting
would take place on October 26, 1999, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
located at 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia. DOE has
changed the date and location of this meeting to October 27, 1999 at
the Marriott Metro Center Hotel, located at 775 12th Street, NW
Washington, DC. The meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. and end at 5:00
p.m. DOE will announce the dates and locations of all public scoping
meetings in the local media at least 15 days prior to the meetings.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this PEIS,
please contact Ms. Colette Brown, Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and
Technology (NE-50), U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road,
Germantown, Maryland 20874. Telephone: (301) 903-6924, Facsimile: (301)
903-1510, Electronic Mail: [email protected]. For
further information on DOE procedures for implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), please contact Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom,
Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC. 20582-0119,
Telephone: (202) 586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE's civilian nuclear research and isotope
production infrastructure has diminished significantly since the early
1990s. As a result, DOE is concerned that it may no longer be able to
accommodate new and expanding missions such as: (1) The production of
isotopes for medical and industrial uses; (2) the production of
plutonium-238 for use in advanced radioisotope power systems for future
National Aeronautics and Space Administration space missions; and, (3)
the Nation's nuclear research and development needs.
Therefore, pursuant to NEPA, the Secretary of Energy recently
announced DOE's intent to prepare a PEIS to evaluate potential
enhancements to its infrastructure to meet its expanded mission needs,
including the possible role of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF)
located at DOE's Hanford Site near Richland, Washington.
This PEIS will analyze the potential environmental impacts of
alternative ways to meet the projected irradiation needs for the next
35 years by enhancing the existing infrastructure as follows: (1)
Resuming FFTF operation; (2) Constructing and operating a research
reactor at a generic DOE site; and (3) Constructing and operating one
or more neutron accelerators at a generic DOE site. In addition, the
PEIS will analyze the potential environmental impacts of meeting the
projected mission needs to the extent possible using existing reactor
and neutron accelerator facilities.
DOE published a notice in the Federal Register on September 15,
1999, (64 FR 50064), announcing its intent to prepare this PEIS and
outlining the alternatives that it plans to analyze. DOE announced that
it would conduct seven public scoping meetings to assist in defining
the scope of this PEIS including the significant environmental issues
to be addressed. Meetings will be held October 13-27, 1999, in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Seattle, Washington; Portland,
Oregon; Hood River, Oregon; Richland, Washington; and in the Washington
DC area. The date and location of the meeting in the Washington, DC
area has changed from October 26, 1999, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in
Crystal City, Virginia to October 27, 1999 at the Marriott Metro Center
Hotel, located at 775 12th Street, NW, Washington, DC. The meeting will
begin at 2:00 p.m. and end at 5:00 p.m.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 28th day of September 1999, for
the U.S. Department of Energy.
Robert M. Knipp,
Deputy Director, for Management and Planning, Office of Nuclear Energy,
Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 99-25741 Filed 10-1-99; 8:45 am]
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