[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3838-3839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-814]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Section 3116 Determination for Salt Waste Disposal at the 
Savannah River Site

AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a 
section 3116 determination for the disposal of separated, solidified, 
low-activity salt waste at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, 
South Carolina. Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 authorizes the Secretary of 
Energy, in consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to 
determine that certain waste from reprocessing is not high-level waste 
(HLW) if it meets the statutory criteria set forth in Section 3116. The 
Section 3116 determination sets forth the basis on which the Secretary 
has determined that the salt waste is not high-level waste because it 
(1) does not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic repository, 
(2) has had highly radioactive radionuclides removed to the maximum 
extent practical, and (3) meets the NRC performance objectives for the 
disposal of low level waste. In a separate notice published in today's 
Federal Register, DOE is also making available the amended Record of 
Decision for Savannah River Site Salt Processing Alternatives Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, originally issued on 
October 17, 2001 (66 FR 52752).

ADDRESSES: The final determination, as well as DOE's responses to the 
public comments received on the draft determination, are available on 
the Internet at http://apps.em.doe.gov/swd, and are publicly available 
for review at the following locations: U.S. Department of Energy, 
Public Reading Room, 1000 Independence Avenue,

[[Page 3839]]

SW., Room 1E-190, Washington, DC 20585, Phone: (202) 586-5955, or Fax: 
(202) 586-0575; and U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah River 
Operations Office, Public Reading Room, 171 University Parkway, Aiken, 
SC 29801, Phone: (803) 641-3320, or Fax: (803) 641-3302.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As of November 2005 there are 36.4 million 
gallons (Mgal) of liquid radioactive waste stored in underground waste 
storage tanks at SRS. The waste consists of two distinct kinds of 
material: approximately 2.6 Mgal of sludge, comprised primarily of 
metals that settled at the bottom of the tanks; and approximately 33.8 
Mgal of salt waste, which is comprised of concentrated salt solution 
(supernate) and crystallized saltcake.
    DOE's plans call for stabilizing and disposing of retrieved sludge 
in a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
radioactive waste. This will be done by stabilizing the HLW in a 
borosilicate glass matrix through vitrification in a facility known as 
the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). This process has been 
ongoing since 1996.
    Regarding the salt waste, DOE plans to remove cesium, strontium, 
and actinides from these materials using a variety of technologies, 
combining the removed cesium, strontium, and actinides with the sludge 
being vitrified in DWPF, and solidifying the remaining low-activity 
salt stream into a grout matrix, known as saltstone grout, suitable for 
disposal in vaults at the Saltstone Disposal Facility at SRS. The 
disposal of this low-activity salt stream on site is the subject of 
this section 3116 determination.
    DOE is separating the salt waste to segregate the low-activity 
fraction using a two-phase, three-part process. The first phase will 
involve two parts to treat the lower activity salt waste: (1) Beginning 
in 2006, DOE will process a minimal amount of the lowest-activity salt 
waste through a process involving deliquification, dissolution, and 
adjustment of the waste; and (2) beginning in 2007, DOE will process a 
minimal amount of additional salt waste with slightly higher activity 
levels using an Actinide Removal Process and a Modular Caustic Side 
Solvent Extraction Unit. The second, and longer-term phase, which is 
scheduled to begin in 2011, involves the separation and processing of 
the remaining (and by far the majority) of the salt waste using a high 
capacity Salt Waste Processing Facility, augmented as necessary by the 
Actinide Removal Process. This second phase will begin as soon as the 
Salt Waste Processing Facility is constructed, permitted by the State 
of South Carolina, and operational.
    DOE believes that this two-phase, three-part approach to processing 
and disposing of the salt waste at SRS will enable it to complete 
cleanup and closure of the tanks years earlier and maximize reduction 
of the potential risks that the tank wastes pose to the environment, 
the public, and SRS workers. Taken together, the various technologies 
that will be used are expected to result in the removal and 
vitrification through the DWPF of 98 to 99 percent of the total 
radioactivity currently contained in the salt waste, while minimizing 
the time that waste will be stored in the underground tanks, some of 
which have a known history of leaks.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2006.
James A. Rispoli,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. E6-814 Filed 1-23-06; 8:45 am]
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