[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11388-11389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5587]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Public Workshops on the Selection of a Sodium Bearing 
Waste Treatment Technology and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 
Pre-Application Permit Meetings

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office will 
hold public workshops to inform stakeholders of technology options 
being considered for treating sodium-bearing waste at the Idaho Nuclear 
Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC), location on the Idaho 
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). DOE invites 
the public to comment on these options during a comment period, which 
starts on the date of this Notice. The workshops will provide an 
overview of the treatment options, allow for questions, and provide an 
opportunity for participants to identify issues and concerns.
    These public meetings/workshops will also serve as Permit Pre-
Application Meetings under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 
as discussed in 40 CRR 124.31. Public notice of the Pre-Application 
meetings has been published in local newspapers and announced in other 
forms of public media. The public may submit comments, which DOE will 
forward to the state of Idaho, Department of Health and Welfare, as 
part of the Part B permit application process.

DATES: Public workshops, each preceded by an informal open house, will 
be held on the following dates and times:

Thursday, March 13, 2003

Jackson Hole Middle School
1230 S. Park Loop Road
Jackson, Wyoming
Open House: 4:30 p.m.
Workshop Starts: 7 p.m.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Eastern Idaho Technical College

[[Page 11389]]

1600 South 25th East
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Open House: 5 p.m.
Workshop Starts: 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

College of Southern Idaho
315 Falls Ave., Taylor Building
Twin Falls, Idaho
Open House: 5:30 p.m.
Workshop Starts: 7 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Please submit all comments to Alan Jines, P.E., U.S. DOE-
Idaho Operations Office, 850 Energy Drive, Idaho Falls, ID 83401.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Interested persons may obtain 
information by contacting: Alan Jines, (208) 526-7524; Fax: (208) 526-
8789; E-mail: [email protected], or by mailing a request to the address 
above. Please also contact Mr. Jines in advance if you need: special 
accommodations at this meeting such as an American Sign Language or 
Spanish translator.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    In October 2002, DOE issued the Idaho High-Level Waste and 
Facilities Disposition Final Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-
0287) (EIS). The EIS examined the potential environmental impacts of 
various alternatives for treating certain liquid and solid radioactive 
wastes stored at the INEEL. The wastes include about 1 million gallons 
of sodium-bearing waste in underground storage tanks and 4,400 cubic 
meters of high-level waste calcine resulting from 40 years of spent 
nuclear fuel reprocessing at the INEEL.
    The State of Idaho was a cooperating agency in the preparation of 
this EIS. Although DOE and the State of Idaho identified different 
preferred alternatives for waste processing, the two parties agree the 
ultimate objective is to treat sodium-bearing waste and dispose of the 
treated waste outside of Idaho.
    The Final EIS identified DOE's preferred alternative, which is to 
select appropriate technologies and construct facilities necessary to 
prepare sodium-bearing waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot 
Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico. To implement its preferred 
alternative, DOE will continue proof of process and demonstration-scale 
testing of the four technologies that appear most likely to meet the 
performance criteria which include effectiveness, technical maturity, 
risk, cost, schedule, and safety. The four technologies are: (1) 
Calcination; (2) Steam Reforming; (3) Direct Evaporation and (4) Cesium 
Ion Exchange. Selection of another technology or option analyzed in the 
EIS is not precluded if these four technologies fail to meet 
performance criteria or if a new, more promising technology is 
identified.
    DOE issued the Final EIS after extensive public involvement that 
included eight hearings in four states on the Draft EIS; a 90-day 
public comment period; and consideration of over 900 comments. DOE 
expects to announce its decisions in phases, with each phase of the EIS 
Record of Decision addressing specific activities. DOE expects to 
select a technology for the treatment of sodium bearing waste in an EIS 
Record of Decision scheduled for early 2004. DOE hereby invites the 
public to participate in evaluating the technologies being considered 
for the treatment of sodium-bearing waste.

Copies of the EIS

    Interested individuals may view the Final EIS on the Department of 
Energy--Idaho Operations office Web site at http://www.id.doe.gov/doeid/eis/.

    Issued in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on this 3rd day of March, 2003.
Walter N. Sato,
Acting Manager, Idaho Operations Office.
[FR Doc. 03-5587 Filed 3-7-03; 8:45 am]
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