[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10163-10164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03305]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Draft Section 3116 Basis for 
Determination for Closure of H Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the Draft Section 3116 Basis for Determination for Closure of the H 
Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site (Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document) 
for public

[[Page 10164]]

comment. DOE prepared the Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document pursuant to 
section 3116(a) of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA), which provides that the Secretary of 
Energy may, in consultation with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC), determine that certain waste from reprocessing of spent nuclear 
fuel is not high-level radioactive waste if the provisions set forth in 
section 3116(a) are satisfied. To make this determination, the 
Secretary of Energy must determine that the waste in the HTF: (1) Does 
not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic repository for spent 
fuel or high-level radioactive waste; (2) has had highly radioactive 
radionuclides removed to the maximum extent practical; and (3)(A) does 
not exceed concentration limits for Class C low-level waste and will be 
disposed of in compliance with the performance objectives in 10 CFR 
Part 61, Subpart C and pursuant to a State approved closure plan or 
State-issued permit; or (3)(B) exceeds concentration limits for Class C 
low-level waste but will be disposed of in compliance with the 
performance objectives of 10 CFR Part 61, Subpart C; pursuant to a 
State approved closure plan or State-issued permit; and pursuant to 
plans developed by DOE in consultation with the NRC. Although not 
required by the NDAA, DOE is making the Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document 
available for public comment. The Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document 
demonstrates that the cleaned and stabilized HTF tanks, ancillary 
structures and their stabilized residuals at HTF closure meet the 
public dose limits and other criteria in section 3116. DOE is 
consulting with the NRC and will consider public comments before 
preparing a final HTF 3116 Basis Document and issuing a Secretarial 
determination under section 3116.

DATES: The comment period will end on May 1, 2013. Comments received 
after this date will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: The Draft HTF Section 3116 Basis document is available on 
the Internet at http://sro.srs.gov/f_htankfarmsdocuments.htm.
    Written comments on the draft HTF Section 3116 Basis document may 
be submitted by U.S. mail to the following address: Ms. Sherri Ross, 
DOE-SR, Building 704-S, Room 43, U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah 
River Operations Office, Aiken, SC 29802 (ATTN: H-Tank Farm Draft 
Basis).
    Alternatively, comments may also be filed electronically by email 
to [email protected], or by Fax at (803) 208-7414.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HTF is a 45-acre site, located at the 
Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina. The HTF consists 
of 29 underground radioactive waste storage tanks and supporting 
ancillary structures. The major HTF ancillary structures are three 
evaporator systems, transfer lines, eight diversion boxes, one catch 
tank, a concentrate transfer system, ten pump pits, nine pump tanks, 
and eleven valve boxes. There are four waste tank types (Type I, II, 
III/IIIA, and IV) in HTF with operating capacities ranging from 750,000 
gallons to 1,300,000 gallons. The waste tanks have varying degrees of 
secondary containment and in-tank structural features such as cooling 
coils and columns. All HTF waste tanks are constructed of carbon steel. 
The HTF tanks and ancillary structures contain, in part, waste from the 
prior reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, and from various SRS 
production, processing and laboratory facilities.
    DOE is in the process of closing the HTF and is engaged in an 
expansive campaign to clean, stabilize, and close the tanks and 
ancillary structures in the HTF, using a process that includes removing 
bulk waste from tanks and applicable ancillary structures, followed by 
deployment of tested technologies to remove the majority of the 
remaining waste. After completing cleaning operations, a small amount 
of residual radioactive waste will remain in the tanks and ancillary 
structures. DOE plans to stabilize the residuals in the tanks and 
certain ancillary structures in place with grout, followed by a closure 
cap system for the HTF. Tank waste storage and removal operations in 
the HTF are governed by a South Carolina Department of Health and 
Environmental Control (SCDHEC) industrial wastewater operating permit. 
Removal of tanks from service and stabilization of the HTF waste tanks 
and ancillary structures will be carried out pursuant to a State-
approved closure plan, the Industrial Wastewater General Closure Plan 
for H-Area Waste Tank Systems. Specific Closure Modules for each tank 
or ancillary structure or groupings of tanks and ancillary structures 
will be developed and submitted to SCDHEC for approval. After SCDHEC 
approval of the specific and final closure configuration documentation 
and grouting, the applicable tank or ancillary structure will be 
removed from the State's industrial wastewater permit. Where 
appropriate, the Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document draws upon DOE's 
experience in cleaning and closing tanks at the similar F-Area Tank 
Farm at SRS, for which the Secretary of Energy issued a Section 3116 
Determination in March 2012.
    As demonstrated and documented in the Draft HTF 3116 Basis 
Document, the stabilized HTF tanks, ancillary structures and residuals 
at closure meet the public dose performance objective and other 
criteria set forth in section 3116(a) of the NDAA. DOE is consulting 
with the NRC pursuant to section 3116, and will consider this 
consultation as well as public comments before preparing a final HTF 
3116 Basis Document. DOE anticipates that the final HTF 3116 Basis 
Document will serve as a predicate for the Secretary to determine 
whether or not the stabilized HTF tanks, ancillary structures and 
residuals at closure meet the criteria in section 3116(a), are not 
high-level radioactive waste, and may be disposed of in place as low-
level waste.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2013.
Mark A. Gilbertson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2013-03305 Filed 2-12-13; 8:45 am]
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