[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 26, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31479-31481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11192]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing 
Evaluation for Vitrified Low Activity Waste for Onsite Disposal at the 
Hanford Site, Washington

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for Vitrified 
Low Activity Waste Disposed Onsite at the Hanford Site, Washington 
(Draft WIR Evaluation). The Draft WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the 
vitrified low activity waste (VLAW), from which long-lived insoluble

[[Page 31480]]

radionuclides and cesium has been or will be removed before 
vitrification at the Low Activity Waste Vitrification Facility and 
subsequent disposal onsite at the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF), 
is waste that is incidental to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, is 
not high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may be managed (disposed of 
onsite) as mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLLW). 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 comments from States, Tribal 
Nations, stakeholders 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. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE may determine, 
in a future WIR Determination, whether the VLAW is incidental to 
reprocessing, is non-HLW, and may be managed (disposed of onsite at the 
IDF) as MLLW.

DATES: DOE invites comments on the Draft WIR Evaluation during a 120-
day comment period beginning May 26, 2020, and ending on September 26, 
2020. DOE will consider all comments received by September 26, 2020. 
DOE will also consider comments received after that date to the extent 
practical. A public webex meeting on the Draft WIR Evaluation will be 
held on June 10, 2020. Before the meeting, DOE will issue stakeholder 
and media notifications and publish an additional notice in the local 
newspaper providing the date, time, and webex information of the public 
meeting. Information on the public meeting date and webex information 
also will be available before the meeting at the website listed in 
https://www.hanford.gov/pageAction.cfm/calendar.

ADDRESSES: The Draft WIR Evaluation is available on the internet at 
https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/VitrifiedLowActivityWaste and will be 
publicly available for review at the following locations once these 
facilities re-open following resolution of public health concerns 
associated with the coronavirus: 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: Ms. Jennifer Colborn, U.S. Department of Energy, Office 
of River Protection, 2440 Stevens Drive, 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 Ms. DaBrisha Smith by mail at U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of River Protection, 2440 Stevens Drive, 
Richland, WA 99354, by phone at 509-376-4306, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Hanford site currently stores 
radioactive waste in underground storage tanks. The waste was 
generated, in part, by the prior reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel 
during the Manhattan Project and Cold War eras, for defense-related 
nuclear research, development and weapons-production activities. 
Hanford's current mission focuses on the cleanup and remediation of 
those wastes and ultimate closure of the site. As part of that mission, 
DOE is retrieving waste from the Hanford tanks, and has decided to 
separate the tank waste into a low-activity waste stream and a high-
level radioactive waste stream.
    The Draft WIR Evaluation concerns approximately 23.5 million 
gallons (Mgal) of separated, pretreated and vitrified low activity 
waste (VLAW), from some of the underground tanks at the Hanford Site in 
the State of Washington. For the low-activity tank waste at issue in 
this Draft WIR Evaluation, DOE plans to use the direct-feed low-
activity waste (DFLAW) approach. The DFLAW approach is a two-phased 
approach that will separate and pretreat supernate (essentially the 
upper-most layer of tank waste that contains low concentrations of 
long-lived radionuclides) from the Hanford tanks, to generate a low-
activity waste (LAW) stream. For Phase 1, the DFLAW approach will begin 
with in-tank settling, separation (removal by decanting) of the 
supernate (including dissolved saltcake and interstitial liquids), 
filtration, and then cesium removal using ion-exchange columns in a 
tank-side cesium removal (TSCR) unit. For Phase 2, DOE will treat 
additional supernate (including dissolved saltcake and interstitial 
liquids) using the same processes with either an additional TSCR unit 
or a filtration and cesium removal facility. The DFLAW approach is 
expected to remove more than 99% of the cesium and remove other key 
radionuclides.
    After pretreatment, the LAW stream will be sent by transfer lines 
to the Low Activity Waste Vitrification Facility at the Hanford Site, 
where it will be vitrified (immobilized in borosilicate glass). 
Approximately 13,500 containers of vitrified waste will be produced 
using the DFLAW approach. DOE plans to dispose of the pretreated and 
vitrified LAW in the onsite IDF, a land disposal facility at the 
Hanford Site for MLLW.
    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 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 
disposal of VLAW at IDF 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 
for the Integrated Disposal Facility, Hanford Site, Washington'' (IDF 
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 IDF PA, this Draft WIR 
Evaluation also projects that potential

[[Page 31481]]

doses to a hypothetical member of the public and hypothetical 
inadvertent intruder for 1,000 years (and beyond) after IDF 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 
VLAW will have been incorporated into a solid form that does not exceed 
concentration limits for Class C LLW.
    DOE is consulting with NRC on this Draft WIR Evaluation and also 
making the Draft WIR Evaluation available for comments from the States, 
Tribal Nations, stakeholders 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. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE 
may determine, in a future WIR Determination, whether the VLAW is 
incidental to reprocessing, is non-HLW, and may be managed (disposed of 
onsite at IDF) as LLW.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on May 15, 
2020, by Elizabeth A. Connell, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, pursuant to delegated 
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original 
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes 
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal 
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been 
authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for 
publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This 
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this 
document upon publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on May 20, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-11192 Filed 5-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P