[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 887-888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00102]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Nuclear Security Administration


Notice of Availability of Final Supplement Analysis of the 
Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-
autonomous agency within the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy 
(DOE), announces the availability of a Final Supplement Analysis (SA) 
of the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement (SPEIS) (DOE/EIS-0236-SA-02). NNSA prepared the Final 
SA to determine whether, prior to implementing a Modified Distributed 
Center of Excellence (DCE) Alternative for plutonium operations to 
enable producing plutonium pits at a rate of no fewer than 80 pits per 
year by 2030, the existing Complex Transformation SPEIS should be 
supplemented, a new environmental impact statement be prepared, or that 
no further National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is 
required. NNSA published the Draft Supplement Analysis of the Complex 
Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
on June 28, 2019, and announced a 45-day comment period. After 
considering all comments received, NNSA prepared the Final SA and 
concluded that no further NEPA documentation at a programmatic level is 
required.

DATES: This notice will be published on January 8, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The Final SA, which includes an Appendix which contains 
NNSA's responses to comments received on the Draft SA, is available on 
the internet at https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room and 
https://www.energy.gov/nepa/listings/supplement-analyses-sa.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
Notice, please contact Mr. James R. Sanderson, Office of NEPA Policy 
and Compliance, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20585-0119; phone: 202-586-1402; email to: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  NNSA prepared the Final SA to determine 
whether, prior to implementing a Modified Distributed Center of 
Excellence (DCE) Alternative for plutonium operations to enable 
producing plutonium pits at a rate of no fewer than 80 pits per year by 
2030, the existing Complex Transformation SPEIS should be supplemented, 
a new environmental impact statement be prepared, or that no further 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is required. 
Implementing a Modified DCE Alternative would enable NNSA to meet 
federal law and national policy by producing a minimum of 50 pits per 
year at a repurposed Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at 
the Savannah River Site (SRS) and a minimum of 30 pits per year at the 
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). An additional surge capacity 
would be available at each site, if needed, to meet the requirements of 
producing pits at a rate of no fewer than 80 pits per year by 2030 for 
the nuclear weapons stockpile. The Final SA includes NNSA's 
determination that no further NEPA documentation at a programmatic 
level is required. The SA of the Complex Transformation SPEIS is an 
important element of the overall NEPA strategy related to fulfilling 
national requirements for pit production. DOE announced this NEPA 
strategy on June 10, 2019 (84 FR 26849).
    National security policies require DOE, through NNSA, to maintain 
the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile, as well as the nation's 
core competencies in nuclear weapons. NNSA has the mission to maintain 
and enhance the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nuclear 
weapons stockpile. Plutonium pits are critical components of every 
nuclear weapon, with nearly all current stockpile pits having been 
produced from 1978-1989. Today, the United States' capability to 
produce plutonium pits is limited.
    Since 2008, the United States has emphasized the need to eventually 
produce 80 pits per year. Since 2014, federal law has required the 
Secretary of Energy to produce no less than 30 war reserve plutonium 
pits by 2026 and thereafter demonstrate the capability to produce war 
reserve plutonium pits at a rate sufficient to produce 80 pits per year 
(50 U.S.C. 2538a). On January 27, 2017, the President directed the 
Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct an updated Nuclear Posture 
Review (NPR) to ensure a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent 
that protects the homeland, assures allies, and above all, deters 
adversaries. The 2018 NPR echoed the need for pit production and 
confirmed that the United States will pursue initiatives to ensure the 
necessary capability, capacity, and responsiveness of the nuclear 
weapons infrastructure and the needed skill of the workforce, including 
providing the enduring capability and capacity to produce plutonium 
pits at a rate of no fewer than 80 pits per year by 2030. In 2018, 
Congress enacted as formal policy of the United States that LANL will 
produce a minimum of 30 pits per year for the national production 
mission and will implement surge efforts to exceed 30 pits per year to 
meet NPR and national policy (Pub. L. 115-232, Section 3120).
    To these ends, the DoD Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition 
and Sustainment and the NNSA Administrator issued a Joint Statement on 
May 10, 2018, identifying their recommended alternative to meet the pit 
production requirement based on the

[[Page 888]]

completion of an Analysis of Alternatives, an Engineering Assessment, 
and a Workforce Analysis. Implementing a Modified DCE Alternative would 
enable NNSA to continue to transform the nuclear weapons complex 
(Complex) in a manner that meets federal law and national policy. Under 
the Modified DCE Alternative, NNSA would repurpose the MFFF at SRS in 
South Carolina to produce plutonium pits while also maximizing pit 
production activities at LANL. This two-prong approach--with no fewer 
than 50 pits per year produced at SRS and no fewer than 30 pits per 
year at LANL--is the best way to manage the cost, schedule, and risk of 
such a vital undertaking. In addition to improving the resiliency, 
flexibility, and redundancy of our Nuclear Security Enterprise by 
reducing reliance on a single production site, this approach enables 
the capability to allow for enhanced warhead safety and security to 
meet DoD and NNSA requirements; deliberate, methodical replacement of 
older existing plutonium pits with newly manufactured pits as risk 
mitigation against plutonium aging; and response to changes in 
deterrent requirements driven by renewed great power competition.
    On June 10, 2019, DOE announced the overall NEPA strategy related 
to fulfilling national requirements for pit production (84 FR 26849). 
DOE announced that it would prepare at least three documents including 
this Final SA, a site-specific EIS for the proposal to produce pits at 
SRS (also announced in that notice), and site-specific documentation 
for the proposal to authorize expanding pit production beyond 20 pits 
per year at LANL.
    In 2008, NNSA prepared the Complex Transformation SPEIS, which 
evaluated, among other things, alternatives for producing 10-200 
plutonium pits per year at different sites including LANL and SRS. In 
the Complex Transformation SPEIS ROD, NNSA did not make any new 
decisions related to pit production capacity and did not foresee an 
imminent need to produce more than 20 pits per year to meet national 
security requirements. NNSA now foresees an imminent need to provide 
the enduring capability and capacity to produce plutonium pits at a 
rate of no fewer than 80 pits per year by 2030 for the nuclear weapons 
stockpile. NNSA's preferred alternative is now to implement a Modified 
DCE Alternative. NNSA has prepared the SA to determine whether, prior 
to implementing a Modified DCE Alternative, the existing Complex 
Transformation SPEIS should be supplemented, a new EIS be prepared, or 
no further NEPA analysis be required.
    Although pertinent regulations do not require public review and 
comment on an SA, NNSA decided, in its discretion, that public comment 
in this instance would be helpful. NNSA issued the Draft Supplement 
Analysis of the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement on June 28, 2019 for a 45-day public 
review (84 FR 31055). The comments received on the Draft SA generally 
centered on the following topic areas: (1) Validity of the Draft SA 
determination; (2) the purpose and need for NNSA's proposal; (3) 
requests for an extension to the comment period; (4) the two-prong 
approach to pit production; (5) new information or changed 
circumstances related to NNSA operations and/or environmental 
conditions; (6) questions about the technical aspects of the impact 
analyses; (7) general opposition to, or support for the proposal; and 
(8) comments about nuclear weapon policies or new weapon designs. NNSA 
considered all comments during the preparation of the Final SA and 
determination and has modified the SA as appropriate. NNSA's responses 
to the comments received on the Draft SA are included in Appendix A to 
the Final SA.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 19th day of December 2019, for 
the United States Department of Energy.
Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty,
Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, Administrator, NNSA.
[FR Doc. 2020-00102 Filed 1-7-20; 8:45 am]
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