[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 190 (Wednesday, September 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61741-61743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21606]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Nuclear Security Administration


Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement 
for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site in South 
Carolina

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

[[Page 61742]]


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 the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site 
(SRS) in South Carolina (SRS Pit Production EIS) (DOE/EIS-0541). NNSA 
prepared the Final EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts 
of producing a minimum of 50 war reserve pits per year at SRS and 
developing the ability to implement a short-term surge capacity to 
enable NNSA to meet the requirements of producing pits at a rate of no 
fewer than 80 war reserve pits per year beginning during 2030 for the 
nuclear weapons stockpile.

DATES: NNSA will not issue any Record of Decision (ROD) on the proposal 
for a minimum of 30 days after the date that the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) in 
the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Requests for additional information related to the EIS 
should be sent to Ms. Jennifer Nelson, NEPA Document Manager, National 
Nuclear Security Administration, Savannah River Field Office, P.O. Box 
A, Aiken, SC 29802; or sent by email to [email protected]. The Final SRS 
Pit Production EIS is available on the internet at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepareading-room and https://www.energy.gov/nepa/listings/latestdocuments-and-notices.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
Notice, contact: Ms. Jennifer Nelson, NEPA Document Manager, National 
Nuclear Security Administration Savannah River Field Office, P.O. Box 
A, Aiken, SC 29802; phone: (803) 557-6372 or (803) 557-NEPA; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 2014, Federal law has required the Secretary of Energy to 
produce no less than 30 war reserve plutonium pits during 2026 and now 
requires that the nuclear security enterprise produces not less than 80 
pits per year during 2030 (50 U.S.C. 2538a). NNSA's pit production 
mission was emphasized as a national security imperative by the 2018 
Nuclear Posture Review, issued in February 2018 by the Office of the 
Secretary of Defense and subsequent Congressional statements of the 
policy of the United States. The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review announced 
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 no fewer than 
80 pits per year beginning no later than during 2030. The 2018 Nuclear 
Posture Review concludes that the United States must have sufficient 
research, design, development, and production capacity to support the 
sustainment of its nuclear forces.
    To that end, DoD Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and 
Sustainment and Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator 
of the NNSA issued a Joint Statement on May 10, 2018, describing NNSA's 
recommended alternative to meet the pit production requirement based on 
the completion of an Analysis of Alternatives, an Engineering 
Assessment and a Workforce Analysis. To achieve the nation's 
requirement of producing no fewer than 80 pits per year beginning no 
later than during 2030, NNSA has proposed to repurpose the Mixed-Oxide 
Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at SRS to produce plutonium pits while 
also maximizing pit production activities at the Los Alamos National 
Laboratory (LANL). This two-prong (two-site) approach--with a minimum 
of 50 pits per year produced at SRS and a minimum of 30 pits per year 
at LANL--is considered the best way to manage the cost, schedule, and 
risk of such a vital undertaking. This approach improves the 
resiliency, flexibility, and redundancy of our Nuclear Security 
Enterprise by reducing reliance on a single production site.
    The SRS Pit Production EIS is an important element of the overall 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) strategy related to fulfilling 
national requirements for pit production, which NNSA announced on June 
10, 2019 (84 FR 26849). In that announcement, NNSA stated that it would 
prepare at least three documents, including this SRS Pit Production 
EIS.
    On April 3, 2020, NNSA electronically published the Draft SRS Pit 
Production EIS and published an NOA in the Federal Register announcing 
a 45-day public comment period for the Draft EIS (85 FR 18947). EPA 
also published its NOA of the Draft SRS Pit Production EIS on April 3, 
2020 (85 FR 18957). The comment period was scheduled to end on May 18, 
2020. On April 23, 2020, NNSA notified the EPA that it was extending 
the comment period until June 2, 2020. On May 1, 2020, the EPA 
published a notice in the Federal Register that announced the extension 
to the public comment period (85 FR 25436).
    In light of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) national 
emergency and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention on public gatherings, NNSA held an internet-based (with 
telephone access) virtual public hearing in place of an in-person 
hearing. The virtual public hearing was held on April 30, 2020. In 
addition to the public hearing, the public was encouraged to provide 
comments via U.S. postal mail or electronically via email. 
Approximately 400 comment documents were received from individuals, 
interested groups, and Federal, State, and local agencies during the 
public comment period on the Draft EIS.
    In the Final SRS Pit Production EIS, NNSA evaluates the potential 
impacts to the environment and human health from the following 
alternatives: (1) Proposed action to repurpose MFFF to produce a 
minimum of 50 pits per year; and (2) No-Action Alternative. NNSA 
considered all comments received on the Draft EIS in preparing the 
Final EIS and revised the Draft EIS to incorporate changes as a result 
of public comments. In addition, NNSA updated the Final EIS to describe 
and analyze evolution of the details associated with the Proposed 
Action. The Final EIS also includes NNSA's responses to all comments 
received.
    NNSA will consider the environmental impact analysis presented in 
the Final SRS Pit Production EIS, along with other information, in 
making decisions regarding plutonium pit production at SRS. NNSA will 
not issue any ROD on the proposal for a minimum of 30 days after the 
date that EPA publishes its NOA in the Federal Register. NNSA will 
publish any ROD in the Federal Register.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September 
18, 2020, by Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Under

[[Page 61743]]

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 September 22, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-21606 Filed 9-29-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P