[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32256-32258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12933]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Environmental Assessment for the Acceptance and Disposition of 
Used Nuclear Fuel Containing U.S.-Origin Highly Enriched Uranium From 
the Federal Republic of Germany

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of intent; public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to 
prepare an environmental assessment (EA), (DOE/EA-1977) pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to analyze the potential 
environmental impacts from a proposed project to accept used nuclear 
fuel from the Federal Republic of Germany at DOE's Savannah River Site 
(SRS) for processing and disposition. This used nuclear fuel is 
composed of kernels containing thorium and U.S.-origin highly enriched 
uranium (HEU) embedded in small graphite spheres that were irradiated 
in nuclear reactors used for research and development purposes. DOE 
invites public comments on the scope of the EA and will conduct a 
public meeting.

DATES: DOE invites Federal agencies, state and local governments, 
Native American tribes, industry, other organizations, and members of 
the general public to submit comments on DOE's proposed scope of the 
EA. The public scoping period extends from the date of publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register through July 21, 2014. DOE will 
consider all comments received or postmarked by that date. Comments 
submitted after that date will be considered to the extent practicable.
    DOE will hold a public meeting to discuss the proposed German HEU 
fuel project and receive comments on the scope of the EA. The meeting 
will be held on:
     Tuesday, June 24, 2014, (6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) at the 
North Augusta Community Center, 495 Brookside Drive, North Augusta, 
South Carolina 29841.

[[Page 32257]]


ADDRESSES: Please direct written comments on the scope of the German 
HEU Fuel EA to Mr. Andrew Grainger, NEPA Compliance Officer, U.S. 
Department of Energy, P.O. Box B, Aiken, South Carolina 29802. Comments 
on the scope of the German HEU Fuel EA may also be submitted by email 
to [email protected]. DOE will give equal weight to written 
comments and oral comments received at the public scoping meeting. 
Requests to be placed on the German HEU Fuel EA mailing list should be 
directed to Mr. Grainger at the postal or email addresses above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request further information on SRS 
used nuclear fuel disposition activities or background information on 
the proposed project, please contact Mr. Grainger as listed above.
    For general information concerning DOE's NEPA process, contact: Ms. 
Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-
54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-4600, or leave a message toll-free, at 
(800) 472-2756; fax (202) 586-7031; or send an email to 
[email protected]. This Notice of Intent (NOI) and other information 
related to DOE's NEPA program are available on the DOE NEPA Web site at 
http://nepa.energy.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    DOE intends to prepare an EA in accordance with Council on 
Environmental Quality and DOE NEPA implementing regulations at 40 CFR 
Parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR Part 1021, respectively. The EA will to 
analyze the potential environmental impacts of a proposal to accept, 
process, and disposition used nuclear fuel from Germany containing 
approximately 900 kilograms (kg) of HEU from the United States. The 
used nuclear fuel is composed of kernels containing thorium and U.S.-
origin HEU embedded in thousands of small graphite spheres. The United 
States provided the HEU to Germany between 1965 and 1988. The fuel was 
irradiated at the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor (AVR) reactor, 
which operated from 1967 to 1988, and the Thorium High Temperature 
Reactor (THTR)-300, which operated from 1983 to 1989. These reactors 
operated as part of Germany's program to research and develop pebble 
bed reactor technology. AVR reactor fuel is stored at J[uuml]lich, 
Germany, and the THTR-300 reactor fuel is stored at Ahaus, Germany.
    In a February 2012 letter, the State Secretary of the Federal 
Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany 
requested DOE's Under Secretary for Nuclear Security to DOE consider 
accepting the fuel. The Office of Environmental Management responded on 
behalf of the Under Secretary that DOE would consider the request. 
Collaboration on the request was initiated in May 2012.
    German officials and the Office of Environmental Management 
subsequently began work on a feasibility study regarding the potential 
for acceptance, processing, and disposition of the fuel, and related 
research and development, using facilities at SRS, located near Aiken, 
South Carolina. Those efforts are ongoing. In April 2014, DOE, the 
Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of 
Germany, and the Ministry for Innovation, Science and Research of the 
State of North Rhine-Westphalia on behalf of the North Rhine-
Westphalian State Government, Germany, signed a Statement of Intent \1\ 
to cooperate in conducting the preparatory work necessary to support 
DOE's consideration of the request that it accept the used fuel from 
Germany and to use SRS facilities for processing and disposition of the 
fuel. The preparatory work includes the EA announced today and 
additional technical and engineering work needed to address 
uncertainties regarding potential disposition pathways for uranium and 
waste streams generated during processing. The environmental analysis 
and the engineering work will allow DOE to reach an informed decision 
on the proposed acceptance and disposition of the fuel. Germany will 
bear the costs of the preparatory phase work and, if DOE decides to 
proceed with the proposed project, Germany will also bear the costs 
associated with the acceptance, processing, and disposition of the 
fuel.
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    \1\ To request a copy of this Statement of Intent, contact Mr. 
Grainger as indicated in the ADDRESSES section above.
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Purpose and Need for Action

    DOE's purpose and need for this action is to support the U.S. 
policy objective to reduce, and eventually to eliminate, HEU from civil 
commerce. This action would help achieve the U.S. HEU minimization 
objective by removing up to approximately 900 kg of U.S.-origin HEU 
from Germany and returning it to the United States for safe storage and 
disposition in a form no longer usable for an improvised nuclear 
device, a radiological dispersal device, or other radiological exposure 
device.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    Under the proposed action, the German government would work with 
DOE to transport the used fuel by ocean-going vessel to the United 
States in DOE/U.S. Department of Transportation-certified Type B casks. 
The used fuel would be received at Joint Base Charleston in Charleston, 
South Carolina, and then the casks would be transported by rail to SRS. 
DOE estimates that this could involve approximately 455 casks received 
over a period of approximately 3 years.
    DOE will analyze alternatives for unloading and storage of the 
transport casks at SRS. DOE will analyze any necessary improvements to 
the rail spur and roads at SRS needed to safely unload the casks and 
transport them on-site. Storage alternatives for the transport casks 
containing the used fuel may include construction of a new covered 
concrete storage pad and use of existing concrete pads (that may 
require modification).
    DOE would install a capability in H-Canyon at SRS to chemically 
remove the graphite from the fuel kernels via a molten salt technique 
(``chemical digestion'') being developed by the Savannah River National 
Laboratory. DOE currently estimates that it would take approximately 3 
years to complete removal of the graphite from all the used fuel. The 
fuel kernels would be stored in H-Canyon. After all the fuel kernels 
have been extracted, they would be processed through the H-Canyon. This 
would separate the uranium from thorium and fission products.
    DOE has identified three alternatives for disposition of the HEU 
that would be separated from the fuel kernels.
     Dissolution, purification, and down blending the HEU to 
low-enriched uranium (LEU) for reuse as reactor fuel (if the LEU can 
meet applicable specifications);
     Separating the uranium, down blending, and disposing of 
the uranium in an appropriate radioactive waste disposal facility; and
     Disposal of the uranium as waste without down blending via 
vitrification in the Defense Waste Processing Facility at SRS.
    The EA also will evaluate alternatives for disposition of the empty 
transport casks and containers used to package the used fuel. Currently 
identified alternatives include on-site disposal in the E-Area at SRS 
and, potentially, pursuing reuse of the transport casks. In addition, 
the EA will analyze a no action alternative under which DOE

[[Page 32258]]

would not accept or process the used fuel.

Potential Areas of Environmental Analysis

    DOE has tentatively identified the following areas for analysis in 
the German HEU Fuel EA. The list is presented to facilitate comment on 
the scope of the EA and is not intended to be comprehensive or to 
predetermine the potential impacts to be analyzed.
     Impacts to the general population and workers from 
radiological and nonradiological releases, and other worker health and 
safety impacts.
     Impacts of emissions on air and water quality, including 
impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change.
     Impacts on ecological systems and threatened and 
endangered species.
     Impacts of waste management activities.
     Impacts of the transportation of radioactive materials, 
including transport across the ocean.
     Impacts that could occur as a result of postulated 
accidents and intentional destructive acts (terrorist actions and 
sabotage).
     Potential disproportionately high and adverse effects on 
low-income and minority populations (environmental justice).
     Short-term and long-term land use impacts, including 
potential impacts of disposal.
     Cumulative impacts.

NEPA Process

    Following the public scoping period and after consideration of all 
comments received during scoping, DOE will prepare a Draft German HEU 
Fuel EA. DOE will announce its availability to the public for comment, 
provide a public comment period, and conduct a public hearing to 
receive comments on the Draft EA. All comments submitted on the Draft 
EA during the public comment period will be considered and addressed in 
the Final German HEU Fuel EA. DOE will address comments submitted after 
the close of the public comment period on the Draft EA to the extent 
practicable. Based on the EA analysis, DOE will either issue a Finding 
of No Significant Impact or announce its intent to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS).
    If DOE determines that an EIS is needed, either during preparation 
of the EA or after completing the EA, DOE would issue in the Federal 
Register an NOI to prepare an EIS. In that case, the current scoping 
process would serve as the scoping process that normally would follow 
an NOI to prepare an EIS. DOE would not solicit additional scoping 
comments but would consider any comments on the scope of the EA 
received during this scoping process in preparing the EIS.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 29, 2014.
David Huizenga,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2014-12933 Filed 6-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P