[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66904-66905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31016]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Withdrawal of Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement for the High Flux Beam Reactor at the Brookhaven National 
Laboratory

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: On November 24, 1997, the Department of Energy announced its 
intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the High Flux 
Beam Reactor (HFBR) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in 
Upton, New York. The EIS would evaluate the range of reasonable 
alternatives regarding the future of the reactor including resumption 
of operation at a power level of up to 60 MW. On November 16, 1999, the 
Secretary of Energy announced that the HFBR would be permanently 
closed. Therefore, the preliminary draft environmental impact statement 
(EIS) that was under review in the Department is no longer necessary. 
The NEPA process is hereby terminated. The preliminary draft EIS has 
been released as an environmental report.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the HFBR, please 
contact: George Malosh, U.S. Department of Energy, 53 Bell Avenue, 
Bldg. 464, P.O. Box 5000, Upton, NY 11973-5000. Telephone: (516) 344-
3424; facsimile (516) 344-3214; electronic mail: [email protected].
    The report is available on the World Wide Web at http://
www.doe.bnl.gov, or a hard copy may be requested through Dr. Nand 
Narain at (516) 344-5435.
    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, SW, 
Washington, DC 20585-0119. Telephone: (202) 586-4600 or leave a message 
on (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Brookhaven National Laboratory was 
established in 1947 as a multi-disciplinary scientific research center. 
It is located close to the geographic center of Suffolk County, Long 
Island, about 56 miles (91 kilometers) east of New York City. The HFBR 
is centrally located within the BNL site. HFBR was commissioned in 1965 
as a scientific facility dedicated to neutron scattering research and 
other research programs in solid state physics, nuclear physics,

[[Page 66905]]

materials technology, structural biology, medicine, and chemistry.
    On December 21, 1996, the HFBR was shut down for refueling and 
maintenance. Before the reactor returned to scheduled scientific 
operations, monitoring indicated that a plume of tritiated water was 
contaminating the groundwater in excess of drinking water standards 
south and down gradient of the reactor, within the site boundary. Data 
collection and analysis identified the HFBR spent fuel pool as the 
likely source of the tritium plume. Cleanup of this contamination has 
been incorporated into the site's overall cleanup program. All fuel was 
removed from the reactor and the pool and shipped off-site. The pool 
was drained and decontaminated to eliminate the source of the tritium 
to the groundwater beneath the HFBR.
    After analysis of the time and expense to restart the HFBR, the 
Department has decided to permanently close the HFBR. This decision is 
categorically excluded under DOE's NEPA regulators. Therefore, 
preparation of the draft EIS has been stopped. Additional NEPA review 
will be necessary in the future for a proposal to decontaminate and 
decommission the reactor.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of November, 1999.
Patricia M. Dehmer,
Associate Director of the Office of Science for the Office of Basic 
Energy Sciences.
[FR Doc. 99-31016 Filed 11-29-99; 8:45 am]
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