[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54550-54553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19348]
[[Page 54550]]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
National Nuclear Security Administration
Amended Record of Decision for the Complex Transformation
Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Amended record of decision.
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SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-
autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is
announcing this amendment to the December 19, 2008, Record of Decision
(ROD) for the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement--Operations Involving Plutonium,
Uranium, and the Assembly and Disassembly of Nuclear Weapons (Complex
Transformation SPEIS--2008 Programmatic ROD). In this Amended ROD, NNSA
announces its programmatic decision to implement elements of a Modified
Distributed Centers of Excellence (DCE) Alternative whereby Los Alamos
National Laboratory (LANL) will produce a minimum of 30 war reserve
pits per year for the national pit production mission during 2026 and
implement surge efforts to exceed 30 pits per year as needed. NNSA will
implement this decision without construction of the Chemistry and
Metallurgy Research and Replacement Nuclear Facility (CMRR-NF). NNSA
has previously evaluated this action at the programmatic level in the
Complex Transformation SPEIS and at the site-specific level in the LANL
Sitewide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS), and recently completed
a review of those prior analyses in a separate Supplement Analysis (SA)
for each document. Pit production alternatives were previously analyzed
in the Complex Transformation SPEIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this
Amended ROD or the 2019 SPEIS SA, 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; or email to: [email protected]. This Amended ROD, the 2019
SPEIS SA, and related NEPA documents are available on the internet at
https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
As national policy and national defense needs have evolved, NNSA
prepared an SA to the Complex Transformation SPEIS (2019 SPEIS SA)
(DOE/EIS-0236-SA-02). The 2019 SPEIS SA evaluates whether since issuing
the Complex Transformation SPEIS there have been substantial changes to
NNSA's proposed implementation of expanded pit production in the U.S.
or significant new circumstances or information relevant to
environmental concerns, within the meaning of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NNSA has re-evaluated the single-site
pit production strategy announced in the 2008 Programmatic ROD but will
not announce any further decisions on pit production until completion
of a site-specific Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for pit
production at the Savannah River Site (SRS).
NNSA has a statutory mission to maintain and enhance the safety,
reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile,
including the ability to design, produce, and test, in order to meet
national security requirements. In the Complex Transformation SPEIS,
NNSA considered how to configure facilities that hold Category I and
Category II quantities of Special Nuclear Material (SNM) across the
nuclear weapons complex (Complex), including the three functional areas
of plutonium, uranium operations, and assembly/disassembly/high
explosives in various ways. These alternatives were broadly categorized
into a Distributed Centers of Excellence (DCE) Alternative, a
Consolidated Centers of Excellence (CCE) Alternative, and Capability-
Based Alternative. The Complex Transformation SPEIS also analyzed a No
Action Alternative. Pit production levels of up to 200 pits per year at
a single site were analyzed in the DCE and CCE Alternatives, and
nominal pit production levels of up to 50 pits per year were analyzed
under the Capability-Based Alternative. With respect to plutonium
operations and pit production, the 2008 Programmatic ROD continued
NNSA's prior decision to produce 20 pits per year at LANL until
completion of a future Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).
Both federal law and national security policy now require pit
production rates of a minimum of 30 pits per year at LANL during 2026
and not less than 80 pits per year nationally during 2030. (50 U.S.C.
2538a; Pub. L. 115-232). Because operations involving SNM are complex,
implementing changes in operations such as pit production takes several
years. NNSA is issuing this Amended ROD on those aspects of the
national pit production mission at LANL that have been analyzed at both
the programmatic and site-specific level by final environmental impact
statements. NNSA may issue additional Amended RODs, as appropriate, on
other aspects of the national pit production mission upon completion of
further site-specific analysis at SRS. Prior to issuing this Amended
ROD, NNSA prepared the 2019 SPEIS SA to determine if the existing
Complex Transformation SPEIS should be supplemented, a new EIS should
be prepared, or that no further NEPA analysis would be required. Based
on the analysis presented in the 2019 SPEIS SA, NNSA determined that no
further NEPA analysis was needed prior to issuing this Amended ROD. The
scope of this Amended ROD is limited to plutonium operations related to
pit production to sustain NNSA's pit production capability and fulfill
NNSA's requirements under federal law and national policy. All other
activities conducted pursuant to decisions announced in the 2008
Programmatic ROD are outside the scope of this decision.
Synopsis of the Programmatic EIS and the Supplemental Programmatic EIS
Related to Plutonium Operations and the Associated Records of Decision
During the Cold War, the U.S. maintained a pit production capacity
of approximately 2,000 pits per year (actual production numbers are
classified) but lost this large-scale production capability in the late
1980s. In 1996, the environmental effects of a production rate of up to
80 pits per year at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina and
at LANL were analyzed in the Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement for Stockpile Stewardship and Management (DOE/EIS-0236) (SSM
PEIS). In December 1996, NNSA issued a ROD announcing a decision
setting pit production at LANL at 20 pits per year (61 FR 68014;
December 26, 1996). Tiering from the SSM PEIS, the 1999 LANL SWEIS
(DOE/EIS-0283) provided site-specific analysis for pit production
levels at LANL of up to 80 pits per year. In the 1999 LANL ROD, NNSA
confirmed its decision for pit production at LANL at 20 pits per year.
Various supplements to and re-evaluations of the SSM PEIS were
completed over the next several years.
In 2008, NNSA prepared the Complex Transformation SPEIS, which
analyzes the potential environmental impacts of alternatives for
transforming the Complex in a manner consistent with
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national policy. Acknowledging the shifting needs of national security
policy, the Complex Transformation SPEIS was prepared to provide NNSA
with a flexible programmatic EIS that could be tiered from when the
United States faced the need to implement changes to operations such as
pit production. As it relates to plutonium operations, the Complex
Transformation SPEIS evaluates the potential impacts of alternatives
for structuring the Complex including the DCE Alternative, CCE
Alternative, and Capability-Based Alternative, and each of these
alternatives have several sub-alternatives. The 2008 LANL SWEIS again
provided site-specific analysis for pit production levels at LANL of up
to 80 pits per year. In the 2008 LANL SWEIS ROD and subsequent RODs,
NNSA selected a No Action Alternative (continuation of existing
operations) with some elements of an Expanded Operations Alternative,
which maintained NNSA's decision for pit production levels of 20 pits
per year at LANL. In 2019, NNSA published its first site-specific
analysis for pit production at SRS, the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site
(SRS) in South Carolina (DOE/EIS-0541), but at this time that site-
specific analysis for SRS has not been finalized.
The Complex Transformation SPEIS considered a wide range of
alternatives to provide NNSA with sufficient flexibility in the
continued transformation of the Complex. Some of the specific elements
of different alternatives and sub-alternatives in the Complex
Transformation SPEIS include an analysis of the impacts associated with
construction of a new pit production facility to produce 125 pits per
year, with surge capacity to produce 200 pits per year. Sites that the
Complex Transformation SPEIS evaluates for this level of pit production
include LANL, SRS, the Pantex Plant (Pantex) in Texas, the Y-12
National Security Complex (Y-12) in Tennessee, and the Nevada National
Security Site in Nevada. At LANL, the Complex Transformation SPEIS also
includes an analysis of two distinct upgrades to existing facilities,
rather than construction of a new facilities, including one to support
production of 125 pits per year (with surge capacity to produce 200
pits per year) and one to support production of 50-80 pits per year. At
SRS, the Complex Transformation SPEIS evaluated a pit production
facility that would use the planned Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication
Facility (MFFF) and Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility
infrastructure. The alternative selected in the 2008 Programmatic ROD
was a combination of the DCE Alternative and a Capability-Based
Alternative in which, with respect to plutonium operations, NNSA did
not make any new decisions related to pit production capacity beyond 20
pits per year at LANL. In the 2008 Programmatic ROD, NNSA envisioned
constructing a new facility--the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research and
Replacement Nuclear Facility (CMRR-NF)--as a replacement for portions
of an older facility at LANL called the Chemistry and Metallurgy
Research (CMR) Facility.
Changes Since Issuance of the Complex Transformation 2008 Programmatic
ROD
NNSA has implemented many, but not all, aspects of the 2008
Programmatic ROD with respect to plutonium operations. The primary
change is that the CMRR-NF was not constructed. CMRR-NF was always
planned as a support facility for pit production and was not itself to
be a pit production facility. Many support operations for pit
production have been historically located in CMR. While NNSA remains
committed to the closure of the CMR Facility, NNSA has made upgrades to
existing plutonium facilities, constructed new support facilities, and
made administrative changes that have enabled more efficient use of
newer existing LANL facilities. Capabilities once housed in CMR can be
relocated to other facilities at LANL, and a new CMRR-NF is no longer
required to meet mission needs.
Another change since issuance of the Complex Transformation SPEIS
is that NNSA has made substantial facility upgrades to address previous
technical and seismic concerns related to LANL's pit production
facility, the Plutonium Facility. In the 2009 Amended ROD to the 2008
LANL SWEIS, NNSA issued a decision on certain elements of an Expanded
Operations Alternative at LANL that authorized upgrades to the
Plutonium Facility. Over the past ten years, NNSA has been implementing
these upgrade projects. Separately, there was a three-year operational
pause in LANL's Plutonium Facility but operations have resumed. The
Plutonium Facility is again operational and pit production activities
have resumed.
The United States has emphasized the need to eventually produce 80
pits per year and while the drivers and the requirement for pit
production have remained relatively unchanged there have been specific
changes in the law and national policy regarding pit production since
issuance of the Complex Transformation SPEIS. Since 2014, federal law
has required the nuclear security enterprise to produce not less than
30 war reserve plutonium pits during 2026. Federal law now requires
that the nuclear security enterprise produces not less than 80 war
reserve plutonium pits during 2030 (50 U.S.C. 2538a).
In addition, on January 27, 2017, the President directed the
Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct an NPR which was issued in 2018.
The 2018 NPR echoed the need for pit production and articulated a
national policy that is consistent with Congressional and Presidential
direction, stating 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 during 2030.
The 2018 NPR also details the evolving and uncertain nuclear threat
environment facing the United States. Concurrent with the 2018 NPR, DOE
conducted an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) to identify and assess
alternatives across DOE sites that could deliver the infrastructure to
meet the sustained plutonium pit requirements of 80 pits per year. To
achieve the required annual pit production rate, the AoA report
considered the construction of new facilities and the refurbishment of
existing facilities and identifies SRS and LANL as the two preferred
alternatives to meet pit production requirements.
In 2018, Congress and the President also directed that LANL will
produce a minimum of 30 pits per year for the national pit production
mission and directed it be capable of surge efforts to exceed 30 pits
per year to meet NPR and national policy (Public Law 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, describing NNSA's recommended alternative to
pursue a two-prong approach--50 pits per year produced at SRS and a
minimum of 30 pits per year produced at LANL. 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
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newly manufactured pits as risk mitigation against plutonium aging; and
response to changes in deterrent requirements driven by renewed great
power competition. Finally, since issuance of the 2008 Programmatic
ROD, a significant portion of the MFFF at SRS has been constructed. At
the time that the Complex Transformation SPEIS was being completed,
construction of the MFFF had just begun. The MFFF was built to produce
mixed oxide fuel from surplus plutonium for use in commercial nuclear
reactors. For a variety of reasons NNSA issued a Notice of Termination
to the MFFF construction contractor on October 10, 2018, cancelling the
contract for the facility. The constructed portion of MFFF was built to
current safety and security standards and contains three floors and
more than 400,000 square feet of available space. The potential
availability of this facility is, in part, why NNSA has reevaluated a
single pit production site at the programmatic level and is currently
conducting a site-specific NEPA analysis for pit production at SRS.
NEPA Process for Amending the ROD
NNSA prepared this Amended ROD pursuant to the regulations of the
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing NEPA (40 CFR
parts 1500-1508) and DOE's NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR part
1021). This Amended ROD is based on information and analysis in the
Complex Transformation SPEIS (DOE/EIS-0236-S4) issued on October 24,
2008 (73 FR 63460) and public comments received; the 2019 SPEIS SA
(DOE/EIS-0236-SA-02) and public comments received; other NEPA analysis
and public comments as noted in the 2019 SPEIS SA; and other factors
including federal law and NNSA's mission.
The Draft Complex Transformation SPEIS included a robust public
participation process. NNSA received comments from Federal agencies;
state, local, and tribal governments; public and private organizations;
and individuals. In addition, during the 20 public meetings that NNSA
held on the Draft Complex Transformation SPEIS, more than 600 speakers
made oral comments. NNSA reviewed and considered all comments received
on the Draft Complex Transformation SPEIS before issuing the 2008
Programmatic ROD.
NNSA prepared the 2019 SPEIS SA to determine whether, prior to
proceeding with the effort to produce plutonium pits at a rate of not
less than 80 pits per year during 2030, the existing Complex
Transformation SPEIS should be supplemented, a new environmental impact
statement be prepared, or that no further NEPA analysis is required.
Although pertinent regulations do not require public comment on an SA,
NNSA decided, in its discretion, that public comment in this instance
would be helpful. NNSA issued the Draft 2019 SPEIS SA for public review
on June 28, 2019 (84 FR 31055). NNSA considered all comments received
during the public comment period. NNSA also reviewed all comment
documents received during the public scoping process for the site-
specific SRS Pit Production EIS for relevance to the 2019 SPEIS SA.
NNSA included a comment response document as Appendix A to the Final
2019 SPEIS SA. After preparing and considering the 2019 SPEIS SA, NNSA
has determined that no further NEPA analysis is needed prior to issuing
this Amended ROD.
Summary of Impacts
In Section 2.3 of the 2019 SPEIS SA, NNSA discusses environmental
changes at LANL that have occurred since publication of the Complex
Transformation SPEIS and that are relevant to the analysis in the 2019
SPEIS SA. The 2019 SPEIS SA analyzes the potential impacts of the
Proposed Action on land resources, visual resources, noise, air
quality, water resources, geology and soils, ecological resources,
cultural resources, socioeconomics, environmental justice,
infrastructure, health and safety for normal operations, accidents and
intentional destructive acts, waste management, and transportation and
traffic. Section 3.2 of the 2019 SPEIS SA provides (1) a summary of the
potential environmental impacts from the Complex Transformation SPEIS,
(2) the estimate of potential impacts specific to the Proposed Action,
and (3) a more detailed analysis of potential impacts for those NEPA
resource areas where NNSA determined that there might be potentially
significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental
concerns. Tables 3-1 and 3-2 of the 2019 SPEIS SA present information
in a comparative fashion for each resource area. Table 3-3 addresses
the combined impacts, to the extent that they are known at this time,
from pit production at both SRS and LANL. Table 3-4 addresses Complex-
wide transportation impacts. Section 4.0 of the 2019 SPEIS SA analyzes
cumulative impacts at both a programmatic level and site-specific
level.
NNSA's conclusion based on the Final 2019 SPEIS SA is that complex-
wide impacts of adopting a Modified DCE Alternative for plutonium
operations for all resource areas would not be different, or would not
be significantly different, than impacts in existing NEPA analyses.
NNSA has determined that that the proposed action does not constitute a
substantial change from actions analyzed previously and there are no
significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental
concerns. While no further NEPA documentation is required at a
programmatic level and NNSA may amend the existing Complex
Transformation SPEIS ROD, to implement the proposed action NNSA is
preparing a site-specific EIS for actions at SRS and has prepared a
site-specific SA for actions at LANL. The site-specific SA that
formally re-evaluates the SWEIS at LANL is now final. Thus, consistent
with 10 CFR 1021.315(e), the existing 2008 Programmatic ROD for the
Complex Transformation SPEIS can be amended at this time to document
NNSA's decision on pit production at LANL and cancel NNSA's prior
commitment to construct the CMRR-NF support facility. NNSA may issue an
additional Amended ROD after the site-specific EIS for actins at SRS is
completed.
Environmentally Preferable Alternative
The analyses in the Complex Transformation SPEIS of the
environmental impacts associated with the programmatic alternatives
indicated that the No Net Production/Capability Based Alternative is
environmentally preferable. Under this alternative NNSA would maintain
capabilities to continue surveillance of the weapons stockpile, produce
limited life components, and dismantle weapons, but would not add new
types or increased numbers of weapons to the stockpile. This
alternative would result in the minimum infrastructure demands, produce
the least amount of wastes, reduce worker radiation doses, and require
the fewest employees. Almost all of these reductions in potential
impacts result from the reduced production levels assumed for this
alternative. The environmentally preferable alternative for
programmatic alternatives accounts for actions across the complex at
multiple sites. This determination may not apply to site-specific
determinations where other factors are considered in the analysis.
Amended Decision
NNSA has decided at a programmatic level to implement aspects of a
Modified DCE Alternative. LANL will implement actions to produce a
minimum of 30 war reserve pits per year during 2026 for the national
pit
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production mission and implement surge efforts to exceed 30 pits per
year up to the analyzed limit as necessary. Pit production at these
levels will take place without construction of CMRR-NF. Prior to
implementing this decision, NNSA will issue a site-specific Amended ROD
for the LANL SWEIS, as appropriate. NNSA will continue to re-evaluate
the single-site pit production strategy announced in the 2008
Programmatic ROD and complete the site-specific SRS EIS prior to
announcing further decisions on pit production.
These decisions continue the transformation of the Complex
following the end of the Cold War and the cessation of nuclear weapons
testing, particularly decisions announced in the 1996 ROD for the SSM
PEIS (DOE/EIS-0236) (61 FR 68014; Dec. 26, 1996) and the 2008
Programmatic Alternatives ROD for the Complex Transformation SPEIS.
This Amended ROD modifies only the plutonium operations aspects of the
2008 Programmatic ROD related to pit production at LANL. NNSA has made
no proposals to, and there are no changes to, NNSA's decisions on other
aspects of the 2008 Programmatic ROD.
Basis for Decision
In making these decisions, NNSA considered the 2019 SPEIS SA, the
Complex Transformation SPEIS, other referenced NEPA analyses, and its
statutory responsibilities to support the nuclear weapons stockpile.
Federal law and national security policies continue to require NNSA to
maintain a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile and
create a responsive nuclear weapons infrastructure that are cost-
effective and have adequate capacity to meet reasonably foreseeable
national security requirements. This Amended ROD will enable NNSA to
continue meeting federal law and national security requirements.
Mitigation Measures
As described in the Complex Transformation SPEIS and the 2008
Programmatic ROD, NNSA operates in compliance with environmental laws,
regulations, and policies within a framework of contractual
requirements; many of these requirements mandate actions to control and
mitigate potential adverse environmental effects.
Examples of mitigation measures include site security and threat
protection plans, emergency plans, Integrated Safety Management
Systems, pollution prevention and waste minimization programs, cultural
resource and protected species programs, and energy and water
conservation programs. Any additional site-specific mitigation actions
would be identified in site-specific NEPA documents.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on August 24,
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 28, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-19348 Filed 9-1-20; 8:45 am]
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