[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 230 (Wednesday, December 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69901-69903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-26470]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Revision of the Record of Decision for a Nuclear Weapons 
Nonproliferation Policy Concerning Foreign Research Reactor Spent 
Nuclear Fuel

AGENCY: Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration.

ACTION: Revision of a record of decision.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in consultation with the 
Department of State, has decided to revise its Record of Decision (ROD) 
for the Final Environmental Impact Statement on a Proposed Nuclear 
Weapons Nonproliferation Policy Concerning Foreign Research Reactor 
Spent Nuclear Fuel, issued on May 13, 1996 (61 FR 15902, May 17, 1996). 
That decision established the U. S. Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation 
Policy Concerning Foreign Research Reactor (FRR) Spent Nuclear Fuel 
(SNF) (hereinafter referred to as the ``Acceptance Policy''), which 
provides for DOE acceptance of SNF containing uranium enriched in the 
United States from research reactors located in 41 countries. Under the 
current Acceptance Policy, only material of U.S. origin that is 
irradiated and discharged from reactors before May 13, 2006, is 
eligible for acceptance. Eligible SNF can be accepted through May 12, 
2009. DOE has decided to extend the Acceptance Program for an 
additional 10 years, until May 12, 2016, for irradiation of eligible 
fuel, and until May 12, 2019, for fuel acceptance. DOE will also accept 
a small number of SNF elements from a reactor in Australia scheduled to 
be commissioned after 2005 to replace a reactor currently eligible for 
the acceptance program, and analyzed in the FRR SNF Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS).
    With less than 2 years remaining until the expiration date for 
irradiation of eligible fuel and less than 5 years remaining for fuel 
acceptance, DOE has received only about 35 percent of the material 
eligible for return as estimated in the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement on a Proposed Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Policy 
Concerning Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel (FRR SNF EIS, 
DOE/EIS-0218, February 1996), on which the ROD was based. This is 
because some countries with eligible fuel have not used their fuel as 
rapidly as projected in 1996, some countries have made alternative 
spent fuel processing arrangements, and there have been technical 
delays in the development of new low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuels to 
enable research reactors to convert from high-enriched uranium (HEU), 
which can be used to create nuclear weapons.
    DOE prepared a Supplement Analysis for the FRR SNF EIS, in 
accordance with DOE National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
implementing regulations (10 CFR part 1021). This analysis evaluated 
the potential health and environmental impacts of extending the program 
for 5 and 10 years, and of including a small number of additional fuel 
elements from the Australian Replacement Research Reactor (RRR). The 
analysis concluded that, although there could be very small increases 
in health impacts such as from SNF transportation over the extended 
period, these increases would not significantly change the results 
reported in the FRR SNF EIS. Accordingly, DOE has determined that a 
supplement to the FRR SNF EIS is not required.

ADDRESSES: For copies of the Supplement Analysis, or for further 
information about the FRR SNF Acceptance Program, contact: Catherine R. 
Mendelsohn, Acting Director, Office of Global Nuclear Material Threat 
Reduction, Office of Global Threat Reduction, National Nuclear Security 
Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, NA-21, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington DC 20585, (202) 586-0275, fax: (202) 586-6789, 
[email protected].
    The Supplement Analysis and related information will be available 
on DOE's NEPA web site at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/ and in the DOE 
Public Reading Room as follows: U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1E-190, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-
5955. The Public Reading Room is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

[[Page 69902]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning the FRR SNF 
Acceptance Policy and program, contact Ms. Catherine R. Mendelsohn at 
the address or telephone number provided above. Information on the DOE 
NEPA process may be requested from: Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, 
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-42), U.S. Department of 
Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. Ms. 
Borgstrom may be contacted by telephone at (202) 586-4600 or by leaving 
a message at (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    DOE issued a ROD on May 13, 1996 (61 FR 25092, May 17, 1996), based 
on the FRR SNF EIS (DOE/EIS-0218, February 1996), for which the U.S. 
Department of State was a cooperating agency, stating that DOE would 
accept FRR SNF containing uranium that was enriched in the United 
States from 107 research reactors located in 41 countries. The ROD 
further stated that only SNF that is irradiated and discharged from 
eligible reactors before May 12, 2006, can be accepted. This SNF can be 
accepted in the United States through May 12, 2009.
    From May 1996, when the FRR SNF ROD was issued, to the present, 
only about 35 percent of the SNF estimated in the FRR SNF EIS to be 
eligible for the acceptance program has been received. Most of the 
accepted FRR SNF elements are aluminum-based spent fuel currently 
stored at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The remaining FRR SNF is 
Training, Research, Isotope, General Atomics spent fuel stored at the 
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). All of 
the FRR SNF will ultimately be disposed of at a geologic repository.
    As of November 2004, 30 shipments of FRR SNF have been received in 
the United States. Of these 30 shipments, 1 shipment arrived at the 
Concord Naval Weapons Station in California, and was transported to 
INEEL. Two shipments entered overland through Canada and were sent to 
SRS. The remaining 27 shipments arrived at the Charleston Naval Weapons 
Station in South Carolina, with 5 of these shipments going to INEEL and 
22 shipments going to SRS. No accidents involving FRR SNF have 
occurred, and no shipment received under the Acceptance Program has 
resulted in a release of radioactive material from a cask containing 
FRR SNF.
    Approximately 2 years remain until the Acceptance Policy's 
expiration date for irradiation of eligible fuel and 5 years remain for 
acceptance of eligible FRR SNF. DOE has received only about 35 percent 
of the total SNF elements estimated in 1996 because some countries with 
eligible fuel have not used their fuel as rapidly as projected in 1996, 
some countries have made alternative spent fuel processing 
arrangements, and there have been technical delays in the development 
of new low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuels to enable research reactors to 
convert from high-enriched uranium (HEU), which can be used to create 
nuclear weapons.
    The current Acceptance Policy applies only to reactors that were 
operational in May 1996, when the Policy was established. Although the 
High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) has been operational since 1958 
and is eligible to participate in the acceptance program, this reactor 
has been scheduled since 1997 for decommissioning in 2006. The HIFAR is 
expected to have used all of its fuel by that time. Australia's 
Research Replacement Reactor (RRR), scheduled for commissioning in 
2005, will assume the HIFAR research and medical isotope activities. In 
effect, the RRR represents a conversion from the HEU used in the HIFAR 
to a new type of LEU fuel that can be processed by non-U.S. facilities. 
The delays in developing this new fuel will mean, however, that the RRR 
must use a currently available type of LEU fuel until approximately 
2012. It is expected that SNF resulting from the irradiation of the 
currently available LEU fuel would need to be managed in the United 
States and would add a small number of fuel elements, approximately 96 
elements, to the 1996 total estimate of approximately 22,700 elements. 
All of the Australian SNF would be managed at SRS until disposal is 
available at a geologic repository.

Purpose and Need for Action

    Reducing the threat posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons 
is a foremost goal of the United States. To continue to meet DOE's 
objective of reducing, and eventually eliminating, HEU of U.S. origin 
from civil commerce worldwide, DOE needs to extend its FRR SNF 
Acceptance Policy to allow additional time for eligible material to be 
returned to the United States and to allow SNF elements from an 
Australian reactor commissioned after 2005 to replace a reactor 
currently eligible for the acceptance program and analyzed in the 
original FRR SNF EIS.

Proposed Action

    DOE and the U.S. Department of State propose to revise the FRR SNF 
Acceptance Program by:
     Extending the expiration date for irradiation of eligible 
spent for 10 years, from May 12, 2006, to May 12, 2016;
     Extending the acceptance date for eligible spent fuel 10 
years, from May 12, 2009, to May 12, 2019; and
     Extending eligibility to Australia's RRR for participation 
in the Acceptance Program.
    The amount of potentially eligible SNF would remain at 
approximately 20 metric tonnes of heavy metal total.
    Target material (fuel for isotope production such as Technetium-99) 
and damaged spent fuel also received under the Acceptance Program 
currently can be treated in H-Canyon at SRS. However, current plans 
call for H-Canyon facilities to be maintained in operable condition 
through 2010 pending a review of the facility. While target material 
and damaged SNF can be accepted under the current Acceptance Policy, 
the material would not be accepted if H-Canyon is unavailable after 
2010 to prepare the target material and damaged fuel for disposal. If 
SNF were to be damaged once it arrived in the United States and H-
Canyon were not available, DOE would repackage or otherwise prepare the 
fuel and safely store it pending disposal.

NEPA Review

    DOE prepared a Supplement Analysis in accordance with DOE NEPA 
implementing regulations (10 CFR part 1021) to determine whether a 
supplement to the FRR SNF EIS is needed for the proposed action. The 
analysis evaluated the potential health and environmental impacts of 
extending the program for 5 and 10 years, and of including the small 
number of additional fuel elements from the RRR. The analysis concluded 
that although there could be very small increases in health impacts 
such as from SNF transportation over the extended period, these 
increases would not significantly change the results reported in the 
FRR SNF EIS. Accordingly, DOE has determined that there are no 
substantial changes to the proposed action analyzed in the FRR SNF EIS 
or significant new circumstances or information relevant to 
environmental concerns resulting from the extension of the Acceptance 
Policy. As referenced in the Supplement Analysis, the onsite management 
of SNF at INEEL and SRS was addressed in the Programmatic SNF and INEEL 
Final EIS (DOE/EIS-0203, Volumes 1 and 2, 1995) and the Savannah River 
Site Spent Fuel

[[Page 69903]]

Management Final EIS (DOE/EIS-0279, 2000). The onsite impacts 
identified for those sites would not be changed by the extension of the 
Acceptance Policy. Transportation impacts from INEEL and SRS to the 
geologic repository as analyzed in the Final EIS for a Geologic 
Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-level 
Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye, County, Nevada, (DOE/EIS-250, 
2002) are also unchanged by the extension.

Decision

    DOE has decided to extend the FRR SNF Acceptance Policy for an 
additional 10 years beyond its current expiration, until May 12, 2016, 
for irradiation of eligible fuel, and until May 12, 2019, for fuel 
acceptance. DOE has also decided to include the Australian RRR as a 
reactor eligible to participate in the acceptance program. For the 
small amount of RRR fuel that would be added to 1996 estimates, DOE 
will continue limitations on shipment cask curie activity and will 
ensure that the upper limit estimate for the source term assumed in the 
FRR SNF EIS accident analysis will not be exceeded.
    DOE's decision furthers the nonproliferation objectives of the 
United States. The extension of the Acceptance Policy is expected to 
provide sufficient time for reactors to complete their planned 
shipments, to complete development, testing, qualification and 
fabrication of new LEU fuels which could be used by the RRR and other 
reactors, and to provide time for reactors to convert to the new LEU 
fuels or make alternative fuel management arrangements.

    Issued in Washington, DC on November 22, 2004.
Linton F. Brooks,
Under Secretary and Administrator, National Nuclear Security 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-26470 Filed 11-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P