[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 14 (Friday, January 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4173-4175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1279]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Revised Record of Decision for the Environmental Impact Statement 
on a Proposed Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Policy Concerning 
Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Revised Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is further revising the Record 
of Decision (61 FR 25092; May 17, 1996) on the 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) to allow the United States to transport 
up to 1 metric ton heavy metal (MTHM) (1.1 tons) of spent nuclear fuel 
(Gap Material SNF) from foreign research reactor (FRR) locations to the 
United States and safely store this Gap Material at a DOE site pending 
disposition. Gap Material consists primarily \1\ of a limited quantity 
of (1) SNF containing non-U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) and 
(2) SNF containing U.S.-origin HEU that was not previously addressed in 
the FRR SNF EIS. DOE prepared a Supplement Analysis of the FRR SNF EIS 
in accordance with DOE's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021). This analysis addressed the 
potential health and environmental impacts of accepting Gap Material 
SNF and concluded that the recovery and transport of this material to 
the United States would constitute neither substantial changes to the 
proposed action nor significant new circumstances relevant to 
environmental concerns bearing on the proposed action evaluated in the 
FRR SNF EIS. Acceptance of Gap Material SNF would not cause the total 
quantity of SNF projected to be received under DOE's FRR SNF Acceptance 
Program to exceed the estimates analyzed in the FRR SNF EIS.
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    \1\ The GAP Material addressed in this Revised Record of 
Decision also includes certain non-U.S.-origin unirradiated fuel 
(fresh fuel) containing HEU.

ADDRESSES: The Supplement Analysis will be available on DOE's NEPA Web

[[Page 4174]]

site at http://www.gc.energy.doe.gov/NEPA and in DOE Public Reading 
Rooms as follows: U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 
SW., Room G-051, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-5955. The public 
reading room is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The 
University of South Carolina--Aiken Library, 471 University Parkway, 
Aiken, South Carolina 29801, (803) 641-3320. The library is open from 8 
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a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on DOE's 
Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance Program or this 
Revised Record of Decision, contact: Mr. Andrew Bieniawski, Assistant 
Deputy Administrator for Defense Nonproliferation, Office of Global 
Threat Reduction (NA-21), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, Attn: 955 L'Enfant, 202-586-9215.
    For information on DOE's NEPA process, contact: Ms. Carol M. 
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-20), U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 
20585, (202) 586-4600, or leave a message at (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    DOE, with the Department of State as a cooperating agency, issued 
the FRR SNF EIS (DOE/EIS-0218) in February 1996. The FRR SNF EIS 
considered the potential environmental impacts of a proposed policy to 
accept and manage in the United States SNF and target material from 
foreign research reactors (FRRs). DOE issued a Record of Decision (ROD) 
which was published in the Federal Register on May 17, 1996 (61 FR 
25092) announcing its decision to implement the proposed policy as 
identified in the Preferred Alternative contained in the FRR SNF EIS, 
subject to additional stipulations specified in Section VII of the ROD. 
This FRR SNF Acceptance Policy provides for acceptance of 19.2 tons of 
SNF containing HEU enriched in the United States from research reactors 
located in 41 countries. In a separate Federal Register Notice (61 FR 
26507; May 28, 1996), DOE announced the fee policy for accepting FRR 
SNF.
    Five previous revisions to the original ROD have been issued: On 
July 25, 1996 (61 FR 38720), and August 25, 2008 (73 FR 5004), the ROD 
was revised to provide the FRR SNF Acceptance Program with greater 
flexibility about the location where it takes title to FRR SNF. On July 
19, 2000 (65 FR 44767), the ROD was revised to reflect DOE's decision 
to increase the number of transportation casks allowable per shipment. 
On December 1, 2004 (69 FR 69901), the ROD was revised to extend the 
expiration date for irradiation for a limited amount of FRR SNF (not to 
exceed the 19.2 tons originally eligible and to include a small number 
of SNF elements from the Replacement Research Reactor in Australia). In 
addition, on April 13, 1999 (64 FR 18006), DOE announced a 
clarification to the fee policy in the event of a change in the 
economic status of the country from which the SNF would be removed.

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 from civil 
commerce worldwide, DOE needs to extend its FRR SNF Acceptance Policy 
to certain SNF, called Gap Material SNF, which is not currently covered 
under the policy. This Gap Material SNF consists of up to 1 MTHM (1.1 
tons) FRR SNF containing HEU that is either non-U.S. origin or is of 
U.S. origin but was not addressed previously in the FRR SNF EIS. This 
Gap Material SNF will come from research reactors and not commercial 
power plants.

Proposed Action

    DOE proposes to bring this Gap Material SNF to the United States 
for management if the material poses a threat to national security, is 
susceptible for use in an improvised nuclear device, presents a high 
risk of terrorist threat, and has no other reasonable pathway to assure 
security from theft or diversion. DOE proposes to revise the FRR SNF 
Acceptance Program Record of Decision to include transport of Gap 
Material SNF from FRR locations to the United States if the material 
meets the above criteria and safely store Gap Material SNF at the DOE 
Savannah River Site in South Carolina pending disposition. Gap Material 
SNF consists of up to 1 MTHM (1.1 tons) of SNF containing either non-
U.S.-origin HEU or U.S.-origin HEU that was not previously addressed in 
the FRR SNF EIS. The total amount of potentially eligible SNF under the 
FRR SNF Acceptance Program would remain unchanged from the 19.2 tons of 
SNF analyzed in the FRR SNF EIS and cited in the May 17, 1996 (61 FR 
25092) ROD announcing the FRR SNF Acceptance Policy.

NEPA Review

    DOE prepared its Supplement Analysis (SA) for U.S. Disposition of 
Gap Material--Spent Nuclear Fuel (DOE/EIS-0218-SA-4) in accordance with 
DOE's NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021) to determine 
whether a supplement to the FRR SNF EIS or a new EIS is required. The 
SA evaluated the potential environmental impacts of the transport by 
ship of Gap Material SNF to a United States seaport, the unloading of 
ships at the seaport and the transfer of the Gap Material SNF to 
transport vehicles, the overland transport (by truck or rail) of Gap 
Material SNF to the Savannah River Site, and the acceptance and storage 
of the Gap Material SNF, pending disposition. The SA also evaluated 
overland transport of Gap Material SNF from Canada to the Savannah 
River Site. Including Gap Material SNF, the total quantity of SNF to be 
received under the FRR SNF Acceptance Program is expected to be smaller 
than the quantity analyzed in the FRR SNF EIS because some countries 
with material analyzed under the FRR SNF EIS elected not to participate 
in the FRR SNF Acceptance Program.
    Collective doses projected to be received by ship crew members and 
seaport workers for implementing the FRR SNF Acceptance Program 
(including Gap Material SNF) are expected to be smaller than the doses 
projected in the FRR SNF EIS. Experience with receipt of FRR SNF has 
indicated that the external radiation levels at the surfaces of 
transport casks containing FRR SNF have been significantly smaller than 
those levels assumed for the FRR SNF EIS. Nonetheless, DOE plans to 
extend the mitigation action plan announced in the May 1996 ROD and 
currently in place for FRR SNF to Gap Material SNF to ensure that 
individual ship crew member doses are maintained as low as reasonably 
achievable and less than 100 millirem in a year.
    With respect to routine overland transport of FRR SNF to the 
Savannah River Site, the analysis was updated from that in the FRR SNF 
EIS to reflect projected population increases along representative 
transportation routes and the Department's currently recommended dose-
to-risk conversion factor for estimating risks from radiation 
exposures. The analysis concluded that the updated potential impacts 
from overland transportation of SNF would be small with no latent 
cancer fatalities projected for transport crews or members of the 
public.

[[Page 4175]]

    The analysis also addressed the potential for severe accidents at a 
seaport and during overland transport to Savannah River. The accident 
analysis was updated from that performed in the FRR SNF EIS to reflect 
changes in populations along representative transportation routes and 
the Department's currently recommended dose-to-risk conversion factor 
for estimating risks from radiation exposures. The risks were 
determined to be low with no latent cancer fatalities expected among 
transport crews or members of the public. The potential for intentional 
destructive acts was also addressed and the impacts from such possible 
acts were determined to be comparable to those previously analyzed in 
the FRR SNF EIS.
    Receipt and storage of Gap Material SNF at the Savannah River Site 
are not expected to cause impacts at the site that would differ from or 
exceed those identified in the FRR SNF EIS. Gap Material SNF is 
expected to ultimately be disposed of in a geologic repository. 
Disposition of Gap Material SNF is not expected to result in any 
changes to the envelope of impacts addressed in the FRR SNF EIS, the 
Savannah River Site Spent Fuel Management Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (DOE/EIS-0279, March 2000), and the Environmental Impact 
Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear 
Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain (DOE/EIS-0250, 
February 2002) and its supplemental EISs (DOE/EIS-0250-S1, DOE/EIS-
0250-S2, and DOE/EIS-0369, June 2008). Acceptance of Gap Material SNF 
will occur under the condition that Gap Material SNF complies with the 
acceptance criteria of the SRS facility receiving the Gap Material SNF 
and that sufficient storage capacity exists at the facility, pending 
disposition of the material.

Decision

    DOE has decided to amend the FRR SNF EIS Record of Decision to 
accept up to 1 MTHM (1.1 tons) of foreign research reactor SNF 
containing either non-U.S.-origin HEU or SNF containing U.S.-origin HEU 
that was not previously addressed in the FRR SNF EIS.\2\ DOE would only 
accept the material if it poses a threat to national security, is 
susceptible for use in an improvised nuclear device, presents a high 
risk of terrorist threat, and has no other reasonable pathway to assure 
security from theft or diversion.
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    \2\ This decision also includes acceptance of non-U.S.-origin 
HEU in unirradiated (fresh) fuel that will be transported to the Y-
12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Management of 
such HEU is addressed in the Site-wide Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Y-12 National Security Complex (DOE/EIS-0309, 
2001) and associated ROD (67 FR 11296; March 13, 2002).
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    Further, acceptance of this material would be undertaken consistent 
with existing conditions of the FRR SNF Acceptance Program. The FRR SNF 
Acceptance Program provides for fuel acceptance through May 12, 2019. 
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 will extend the 
mitigation action plan announced in the May 1996 ROD and currently in 
place for FRR SNF to Gap Material SNF to ensure that individual ship 
crew member doses are maintained as low as reasonably achievable and 
less than 100 millirem in a year. Acceptance of Gap Material SNF will 
occur in accordance with processes implemented to ensure compliance 
with DOE and international requirements. Shipments of Gap Material SNF 
will occur under the condition that Gap Material SNF complies with the 
acceptance criteria of the SRS facility receiving the Gap Material SNF 
and that sufficient storage capacity exists at the facility, pending 
disposition of the material.

Conclusion

    DOE's decision furthers the nonproliferation objectives of the 
United States. The decision provides for the management and disposition 
of certain material not previously addressed in the FRR SNF EIS that 
poses a threat to national security, is susceptible to use in an 
improvised nuclear device, presents a high risk of terrorist threat, 
and has no other reasonable pathway to assure security from theft or 
diversion.
    The decision set forth in this Revised ROD complies with the 
requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and its implementing 
regulations at 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR Part 1021. Potential 
impacts resulting from implementing this action will remain within the 
range of the potential environmental impacts analyzed in the FRR SNF 
EIS. This action does not constitute either a substantial change or 
significant new circumstance relevant to environmental concerns. There 
are no significant new circumstances or information relevant to 
environmental concerns related to this action or its impacts within the 
meaning of 40 CFR 1502.9(c) and 10 CFR 1021.314. Therefore, neither a 
supplement to the FRR SNF EIS nor a new EIS is needed.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on this 13th day of January, 2009.
Thomas P. D'Agostino,
Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration.
 [FR Doc. E9-1279 Filed 1-22-09; 8:45 am]
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