    [Federal Register Volume 85, Number 168 (Friday, August 28, 2020)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 53350-53352]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 2020-19023]

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    DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

    National Nuclear Security Administration

    Surplus Plutonium Disposition

    AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

    ACTION: Amended record of decision.

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    SUMMARY: The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security
    Administration (DOE/NNSA) is announcing this amendment to the April
    2003 Amended Record of Decision (AROD) for the Final Surplus Plutonium
    Disposition Environmental Impact Statement (Final SPD EIS) (DOE/EIS-
    0283). In this AROD, DOE/NNSA is announcing its decision to use the
    dilute and dispose method to disposition up to 7.1 MT of non-pit
    plutonium as contact handled transuranic (CH-TRU) waste at the Waste
    Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This AROD changes the disposition pathway
    for a portion of the 34 MT of surplus plutonium DOE/NNSA previously
    announced and decided in 2003 to fabricate into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel.
    DOE/NNSA prepared a Supplement Analysis (SA) for Disposition of
    Additional Non-Pit Surplus Plutonium (DOE/EIS-0283-SA-4, August 2020)
    to inform this decision.

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on NEPA for the
    Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program, please contact Mrs. Paloma E.
    Richard, Office

    [[Page 53351]]

    of Material Disposition NEPA Document Manager, National Nuclear
    Security Administration, telephone (202) 586-2777, or by email to
    Paloma.Richard@nnsa.doe.gov.
        For information on DOE/NNSA's NEPA process, please contact Ms. Amy
    Miller, NEPA Compliance Officer, National Nuclear Security
    Administration, Office of General Counsel, Telephone (505) 845-5090, or
    by email to amy.miller@nnsa.doe.gov. This Amended ROD, the SA for
    Disposition of Additional Non-Pit Plutonium, and related documents are
    available on the internet at http://energy.gov/nepa.

    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Background

        On April 19, 2002, DOE/NNSA issued a Federal Register notice that
    announced an AROD (67 FR 19432) for the SPD EIS (DOE/EIS-0283, November
    1999). DOE/NNSA decided, among other things, to cancel the
    immobilization portion of the plutonium disposition strategy. A
    subsequent AROD (68 FR 20134) issued in April 2003 concluded that DOE/
    NNSA would dispose of 34 MT using only the MOX Fuel Alternative.
        In April 2015, DOE/NNSA issued the Surplus Plutonium Disposition
    Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SPD SEIS, DOE/EIS-0283-
    S2). In the SPD SEIS, DOE/NNSA evaluated the environmental impacts of
    alternatives to disposition 13.1 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium,
    comprised of 7.1 MT of pit plutonium and 6 MT of non-pit plutonium.
    None of this material had a designated disposition pathway. DOE/NNSA
    analyzed the potential environmental impacts for the No Action
    Alternative and four action alternatives: (1) Immobilization at
    Savannah River Site (SRS) (Immobilization to Defense Waste Processing
    Facility [DWPF] Alternative); (2) fabrication into MOX fuel at SRS with
    subsequent irradiation in one or more domestic commercial nuclear power
    reactors (MOX Fuel Alternative); (3) vitrification with high-level
    radioactive waste (HLW) at SRS (H-Canyon/HB-Line and DWPF Alternative);
    and, (4) disposal as CH-TRU waste at WIPP, a geologic repository for
    disposal of TRU waste generated by atomic energy defense activities
    (WIPP Disposal Alternative). These alternatives are composed of a
    combination of pit disassembly and conversion options and plutonium
    disposition alternatives.
        On December 24, 2015 (80 FR 80348), DOE/NNSA announced that its
    preferred alternative for disposition of the 6 MT of non-pit plutonium
    was preparation at SRS near Aiken, South Carolina, for disposal at WIPP
    near Carlsbad, New Mexico, using the WIPP Disposal Alternative (also
    known as the dilute and dispose method or plutonium downblending). DOE/
    NNSA did not state a preferred alternative for dispositioning the 7.1
    MT of pit plutonium or the options for pit disassembly and conversion.
    In its April 5, 2016, ROD (81 FR 19588), DOE/NNSA announced its
    decision to implement the preferred alternative: to use existing SRS
    facilities to prepare 6 MT of non-pit plutonium as CH-TRU waste for
    disposal at WIPP. In the 2016 ROD, DOE/NNSA stated that it would
    install and operate new gloveboxes in K-Area or HB-Line to prepare
    surplus plutonium for disposition. DOE/NNSA resumed the process of
    preparing this plutonium for disposition on September 30, 2016 in K-
    Area. At that time, DOE/NNSA did not change its previous decisions to
    disposition 34 MT of surplus plutonium.

    Supplement Analysis

        In accordance with DOE Regulations implementing the National
    Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at 10 CFR 1021.314, DOE/NNSA prepared
    an SA to consider if the proposal to prepare and dispose of additional
    non-pit plutonium \1\ (rather than the pit plutonium described in the
    2015 SPD SEIS) using the WIPP Disposal Alternative represented new
    information relevant to environmental concerns. In the SA, DOE/NNSA
    reviewed the analysis found in the 2015 SPD SEIS for preparing 13.1 MT
    of surplus plutonium for disposition using the WIPP alternative.
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        \1\ The 7.1 MT of non-pit plutonium that is the subject of this
    decision is currently in non-pit form and does not require pit
    disassembly. However, some of this material may have been in the
    form of pits prior to this decision being announced, and disassembly
    for those pits was covered under prior NEPA analysis (see 63 FR
    44851; 73 FR 55833).
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        Included in the SPD SEIS analysis were 6 MT of non-pit plutonium
    and 7.1 MT of pit plutonium. For both sets of material, plutonium must
    be in an oxide form so it can be downblended with adulterant to inhibit
    plutonium recovery and meet the WIPP waste acceptance criteria for CH-
    TRU waste. After characterization and certification activities of the
    downblended plutonium, waste containers would be staged, loaded into
    approved shipping containers, and transported for disposal at the WIPP
    facility. Aside from the initial step of disassembling pits, the
    remaining steps leading to disposal of this material at the WIPP
    facility are the same for both pit and non-pit plutonium. The analysis
    in the SPD SEIS was based on using either Los Alamos National
    Laboratory (LANL) (PF-4 facility) or SRS (K-Area facilities) for pit
    disassembly and oxide conversion activities, and K-Area facilities at
    SRS for downblending and characterization, to achieve the analyzed
    production rate. Given that the process steps and facilities would be
    the same as (or fewer than) those assessed for processing 7.1 MT of pit
    plutonium, DOE/NNSA concluded that the impacts of the proposed
    preparation of an additional 7.1 MT of non-pit plutonium for disposal
    as CH-TRU waste at WIPP had been addressed in the 2015 SPD SEIS, and
    that no additional NEPA review was required.

    Amended Decision

        DOE/NNSA is amending its previous decision (68 FR 20134). DOE/NNSA
    has decided to dispose of an additional 7.1 MT of non-pit plutonium CH-
    TRU waste at WIPP using the WIPP Disposal Alternative, rather than
    using this non-pit plutonium to manufacture MOX fuel. The process will
    be the same as described for the 6 MT of non-pit plutonium DOE/NNSA
    previously decided (81 FR 19588) to dispose of at WIPP using the WIPP
    Disposal Alternative. Conversion to oxide may be performed at either
    LANL or at SRS. Using facilities in K-Area at SRS, DOE/NNSA will
    prepare up to an additional 7.1 MT of non-pit plutonium, totaling up to
    13.1 MT of non-pit plutonium, for disposal at WIPP.
        The plutonium oxide containers will be opened in K-Area gloveboxes.
    Plutonium oxide will be repackaged into suitable containers, mixed/
    blended with adulterant, and loaded into a criticality control overpack
    (CCO).\2\ The adulterant will inhibit plutonium recovery. To increase
    processing capacity for downblending, DOE/NNSA will rely on the
    existing single glovebox and the installation and operation of
    additional gloveboxes, which DOE/NNSA analyzed for processing 6 MT in
    the SPD SEIS. This will allow DOE/NNSA to prepare more plutonium in a
    shorter time for disposition, thereby accelerating removal of plutonium
    from the state of South Carolina. Loaded CCOs will be characterized and
    staged for WIPP disposal in E-Area or K-Area at SRS using non-
    destructive assay, digital radiography, and headspace gas

    [[Page 53352]]

    sampling. Waste packages containing surplus plutonium CH-TRU waste that
    have been characterized and confirmed to meet the WIPP waste acceptance
    criteria will be placed in the queue of waste to be shipped to WIPP.
    The packages will be shipped to WIPP in approved shipping containers.
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        \2\ DOE/NNSA plans to move towards the use of the CCO containers
    in lieu of the POC to maximize the amount of plutonium that can be
    packaged in each container, thereby reducing the number of shipments
    and the number of disposal containers emplaced at WIPP.
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    Basis for Decision

        Implementing this decision will allow DOE/NNSA to continue
    dispositioning surplus weapons-usable plutonium in furtherance of the
    policies of the United States to ensure that such surplus plutonium is
    no longer in a form suitable for use in a nuclear weapon, and to
    accelerate removal of defense plutonium from the State of South
    Carolina.
        In making this decision, DOE/NNSA considered potential
    environmental impacts of construction and operations, current and
    future mission needs, availability of capabilities and resources,
    technical and security considerations, and the need to comply with
    legislation regarding removal of defense plutonium from South Carolina.
    Using the WIPP Disposal Alternative to disposition up to 7.1 MT of non-
    pit plutonium allows DOE/NNSA to take advantage of existing facilities,
    infrastructure, and expertise at LANL, SRS, and WIPP. The decision
    builds on the existing capabilities, infrastructure, and skilled
    workforce trained in safe operation of nuclear facilities. Downblending
    for disposal at WIPP is a proven process that is ongoing for the 6 MT
    of surplus non-pit plutonium DOE/NNSA decided to process through SRS
    and dispose of using this method (81 FR 19588).
        In addition, final disposition of this 7.1 MT of surplus plutonium
    will avoid long-term impacts, risks, and costs associated with
    continued secure storage.

    Signing Authority

        This document of the Department of Energy was signed on August 21,
    2020, by Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security
    and Administrator, NNSA, 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 August 25, 2020.
    Treena V. Garrett,
    Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
    [FR Doc. 2020-19023 Filed 8-27-20; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 6450-01-P