[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 107 (Monday, June 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25657-25658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11736]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing 
Evaluation for Closure of Waste Management Area C at the Hanford Site, 
Washington

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for Closure of 
Waste Management Area C at the Hanford Site, Washington (Draft WIR 
Evaluation). The Draft WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the tanks and 
ancillary structures, from which waste has been or will be removed, and 
their residual waste at closure of Waste Management Area C (WMA C) is 
waste that is incidental to reprocessing, is not high-level radioactive 
waste (HLW), and may be managed (disposed in-place) as low-level 
radioactive waste (LLW). DOE prepared the Draft WIR Evaluation pursuant 
to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and the criteria in 
DOE Manual 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. DOE is 
consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before 
finalizing this evaluation. DOE is also making the Draft WIR Evaluation 
available for comment from States, Tribal Nations, and the public. 
After consultation with NRC, carefully considering comments received, 
and performing any necessary revisions of analyses and technical 
documents, DOE will prepare a final WIR evaluation and potentially make 
a determination as to whether the WMA C tanks, ancillary structures, 
and their residuals at closure of WMA C are wastes that are incidental 
to reprocessing, which may be managed and disposed of as LLW.

DATES: DOE invites comment on the Draft WIR Evaluation during a 96-day 
comment period beginning June 4, 2018, and ending on September 7, 2018. 
A public meeting on the Draft WIR Evaluation will be held on June 18, 
2018. Before the scheduled meeting, DOE will issue stakeholder and 
media notifications and publish an additional notice in the local 
newspaper providing the date, time, and location of the public meeting. 
Information on the public meeting date and location also will be 
available before the scheduled meeting at the website listed in 
ADDRESSES.

ADDRESSES: The Draft WIR Evaluation is available on the internet at 
https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/WasteManagementAreaC and is publicly 
available for review at the following locations: U.S. DOE Public 
Reading Room, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, phone: 
(202) 586-5955, or fax: (202) 586-0575; and U.S. DOE Public Reading 
Room located at 2770 University Drive, Consolidated Information Center 
(CIC), Room 101L, Richland, WA 99354, phone: (509) 372-7303. Written 
comments should be submitted to: Mr. Jan Bovier, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of River Protection, P.O. Box 450, MSIN H6-60, Richland, 
WA 99354. Alternatively, comments may also be filed electronically by 
email to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
Draft WIR Evaluation, please contact Mr. Jan Bovier by mail at U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of River Protection, P.O. Box 450, MSIN 
H6-60, Richland, WA 99354, by phone at 509-376-9630, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE has conducted a multi-year program to 
remove the vast majority of the radioactive waste and key radionuclides 
contained in 16 underground, single-shell tanks (tanks which do not 
have secondary containment) and ancillary structures (a catch tank, a 
process vault with smaller tanks, diversion boxes and buried 
pipelines), located in WMA C at the Hanford Site. For example, 
approximately 96 percent of the waste volume and radionuclide activity 
has been removed from the largest (100 series) tanks using a series of 
advanced technologies. The tanks and ancillary structures previously 
stored or transferred a variety of wastes, including liquid waste 
generated by DOE and its predecessor agencies from the reprocessing of 
spent nuclear fuel to produce plutonium and other nuclear material for 
nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project and Cold War eras.
    DOE Manual 435.1-1, which accompanies DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive 
Waste Management, provides for a rigorous evaluation process that DOE 
uses to determine whether or not certain waste from the reprocessing of 
spent nuclear fuel is incidental to reprocessing, is not HLW and may be 
managed as LLW. This process, in relevant part, requires demonstrating 
that:
    (1) The wastes have been processed, or will be processed, to remove 
key radionuclides to the maximum extent that is technically and 
economically practical;
    (2) The waste will be managed to meet safety requirements 
comparable to the performance objectives set out in 10 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Part 61, Subpart C, Performance Objectives; and
    (3) The waste will be managed, pursuant to DOE authority under the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with the 
provisions of Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1-1, provided the waste will 
be incorporated

[[Page 25658]]

in a solid physical form at a concentration that does not exceed the 
applicable concentration limits for Class C LLW as set out in 10 CFR 
61.55, Waste Classification.
    The Draft WIR Evaluation documents and demonstrates that the tanks, 
ancillary structures, and their residual waste at closure of the WMA C 
will meet the above-referenced criteria in DOE Manual 435.1-1. DOE is 
predicating this Draft WIR Evaluation on extensive analysis and 
scientific rationale, using a risk-informed approach, including 
analyses presented in the ``Performance Assessment of Waste Management 
Area C, Hanford Site, Washington'' (WMA C PA). Specifically, this Draft 
WIR Evaluation shows that key radionuclides (those radionuclides which 
contribute most significantly to radiological dose to workers, the 
public, and the environment as well as radionuclides listed in 10 CFR 
61.55) have been or will have been removed to the maximum extent 
technically and economically practical. Based on the analyses in the 
WMA C PA, this draft evaluation also projects that potential doses to a 
hypothetical member of the public and hypothetical inadvertent intruder 
for 1,000 years (and beyond) after WMA C closure will be well below the 
doses specified in the performance objectives and performance measures 
for LLW. In addition, the analyses demonstrate that there is reasonable 
expectation that safety requirements comparable to the NRC performance 
objectives at 10 CFR part 61, subpart C will have been met. As also 
shown in the Draft WIR Evaluation, the residuals, tanks, and ancillary 
structures at WMA C closure will have been incorporated into a solid 
form that does not exceed concentration limits for Class C LLW.
    Although not required by DOE Manual 435.1-1, DOE is consulting with 
NRC on this Draft WIR Evaluation and also making the Draft WIR 
Evaluation available for comment from the States, Tribal Nations, and 
the public. After consultation with NRC, carefully considering comments 
received, and performing any necessary revisions of analyses and 
technical documents, DOE plans to issue a final WIR Evaluation and a 
potential determination as to whether the WMA C tanks, ancillary 
structures, and their residual waste at the time of WMA C closure is 
non-HLW, and may be managed and disposed of in place as LLW.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2018.
Anne Marie White,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2018-11736 Filed 6-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P