[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 47 (Monday, March 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15358-15359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05509]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


DOE's Preferred Alternative for Certain Tanks Evaluated in the 
Final Tank Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of DOE's preferred alternative.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing its 
preferred alternative for wastes contained in underground radioactive 
waste storage tanks evaluated in the Final Tank Closure and Waste 
Management Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site, 
Richland, Washington (Final TC & WM EIS, DOE/EIS-0391, December 2012). 
With regard to those wastes that, in the future, may be properly and 
legally classified as mixed transuranic waste (mixed TRU waste) \1\ 
DOE's preferred alternative is to retrieve, treat, package, and 
characterize and certify the wastes for disposal at the Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, a geologic repository for 
the disposal of mixed TRU waste generated by atomic energy defense 
activities. This Notice supplements DOE's expression of its preferred 
alternatives identified in the Final TC & WM EIS in Section S.7 of the 
Summary, and in Chapter 2, Section 2.12, of Volume 1. (Also see 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.)
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    \1\ Transuranic (TRU) waste is waste that contains alpha 
particle-emitting radionuclides with atomic numbers greater than 
that of uranium (92) and half-lives greater than 20 years in 
concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram of waste. 
``Mixed waste'' is radioactive waste containing hazardous 
constituents regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery 
Act.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final TC & WM EIS (paper or electronic) may be 
obtained by contacting: Ms. Mary Beth Burandt, NEPA Document Manager, 
Office of River Protection, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 1178, 
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Richland, Washington 99352, Email: [email protected].

The Final TC & WM EIS and its DOE Notice of Availability are available 
on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://energy.gov/nepa. Additional 
information on the Final TC & WM EIS is also available through the 
Hanford Web site at http://www.hanford.gov/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Final 
TC & WM EIS, contact Ms. Burandt as listed in ADDRESSES or by telephone 
at 1-888-829-6347. For general information regarding the DOE NEPA 
process, contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 
Policy and Compliance, GC-54, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, Telephone: 202-586-4600, 
or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756, Email: [email protected].

    For further information about DOE's preferred alternative for the 
tanks discussed herein, contact: Mr. Todd Shrader, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone: 
202-586-3784.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington State along 
the Columbia River, is approximately 586 square miles in size. 
Hanford's mission from the early 1940s to approximately 1989 included 
defense-related nuclear research, development, and weapons production 
activities. These activities created a wide variety of chemical and 
radioactive wastes. Hanford's mission now is focused on the cleanup of 
those wastes and ultimate closure of the Site.
    To support its decision making process, DOE prepared the TC & WM 
EIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and in 
accordance with Council on Environmental Quality and DOE NEPA 
implementing regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508; 10 CFR Part 1021); 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington State 
Department of Ecology are cooperating agencies on this EIS. The TC & WM 
EIS addresses proposed actions in three major areas: The retrieval and 
treatment of waste from 177 underground radioactive waste storage 
tanks, including 149 single-shell tanks (SSTs), and closure of the 
SSTs; decommissioning the Fast Flux Test Facility and its auxiliary 
facilities; and continued and expanded management of low-level 
radioactive waste and mixed low-level radioactive waste.

[[Page 15359]]

TC & WM EIS Evaluation of Candidate Tank Waste for Classification as 
Mixed TRU Waste

    This notice pertains only to the retrieval, treatment, packaging, 
and characterization and certification, for disposal at WIPP, of wastes 
contained in the 20 tanks evaluated in the TC & WM EIS as being 
candidates for classification as mixed TRU waste. The total volume of 
waste in these tanks is approximately 3.1 million gallons, all of which 
the EIS evaluations assumed to be mixed TRU waste for the purposes of 
analysis. Currently, DOE has not classified any of the waste as mixed 
TRU waste. The 20 tanks were included in five of the tank closure 
alternatives evaluated in the TC & WM EIS.\2\ Information about these 
tanks and further details of the evaluation can be found in the Summary 
(Page S-57) and in Appendix E of the TC & WM EIS.
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    \2\ Tank Closure Alternatives 3A, 3B, 3C, 4, and 5.
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Preferred Alternatives

    DOE's preferred alternatives for all three major areas listed above 
are described in the Summary, Section S.7, and in Chapter 2, Section 
2.12, of Volume 1 of the Final TC & WM EIS. Regarding wastes contained 
in the 20 tanks evaluated as candidates for classification as mixed TRU 
waste, the EIS stated that: ``Retrieval of tank waste identified as 
mixed TRU waste would commence only after DOE had issued a Federal 
Register notice of its preferred alternative and a ROD''.\3\
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    \3\ ``ROD'' refers to a Record of Decision.
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    To make progress in the overall tank waste retrieval process, and 
in view of recent information about potential tank leaks, DOE now 
prefers to retrieve, treat, package, and characterize and certify the 
wastes that are properly and legally classified as mixed TRU waste for 
disposal at WIPP. Initiating retrieval of tank waste classified as 
mixed TRU waste would be contingent on DOE's obtaining the applicable 
and necessary permits, ensuring that the WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria 
and all other applicable regulatory requirements have been met, and 
making a documented determination that the waste is properly classified 
as mixed TRU waste. Further, retrieval of waste would not commence 
until a ROD had been issued. DOE may issue such a ROD regarding the 
candidate TRU wastes no sooner than 30 days from the date of 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2013.
David Huizenga,
Senior Advisor for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-05509 Filed 3-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P