[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 212 (Friday, November 5, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61200-61201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24213]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing 
Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration

AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test 
Bed Initiative Demonstration, U.S. Department of Energy (Draft WIR 
Evaluation). The Draft WIR Evaluation concerns DOE's proposed Test Bed 
Initiative (TBI) Demonstration. Under the proposed TBI Demonstration, 
approximately 2,000 gallons of waste from tank SY-101 at the Hanford 
Site in Washington will be pretreated to remove most key radionuclides, 
then solidified (grouted) offsite and subsequently disposed of at a 
licensed and permitted disposal facility outside of the State of 
Washington. The Draft WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the pretreated 
and solidified waste will be incidental to reprocessing of spent 
nuclear fuel, will not be high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may 
be managed as low-level radioactive waste (LLW). DOE prepared the Draft 
WIR Evaluation pursuant to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste 
Management, and DOE Manual 435.1-1, chg 3, Radioactive Waste Management 
Manual. DOE is consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
concerning the Draft WIR 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 plans to prepare a final WIR 
Evaluation. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE may determine, in a 
future WIR Determination, whether the pretreated and solidified waste 
is incidental to reprocessing, is non-HLW, and may be managed as LLW.

DATES: DOE invites comments on the Draft WIR Evaluation during a 90-day 
comment period beginning November 5, 2021 and ending on February 2, 
2022. DOE will consider all comments received by February 2, 2022. A 
public meeting on the Draft WIR Evaluation will be held on November 18, 
2021. Before the meeting, DOE will issue stakeholder and media 
notifications and publish an additional notice in the local newspaper 
providing the date, time, and information concerning the public 
meeting.

ADDRESSES: Information on the public meeting date will be available 
before the meeting at the website listed in https://www.hanford.gov/pageAction.cfm/calendar. The Draft WIR Evaluation is available on the 
internet at https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/ReprocessingEvaluationforBedInitiative. 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 Mr. Richard Valle by mail at U.S. 
Department of Energy, Office of River Protection, 2440 Stevens Drive, 
Richland, WA 99354, by phone at (509) 376-7256, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE currently stores radioactive waste in 
underground tanks at the Hanford Site in the State of Washington. The 
waste is managed as HLW generated, in part, by the prior reprocessing 
of spent nuclear fuel for defense-related activities during the 
Manhattan Project and Cold War eras. 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, separating the low-activity waste (LAW) from other waste 
in the Hanford tanks and vitrifying (immobilizing in a glass matrix) 
some of the LAW. DOE has not selected a supplemental treatment method 
for the remaining LAW in the

[[Page 61201]]

Hanford tanks.\1\ The proposed TBI Demonstration would demonstrate a 
potential supplemental LAW treatment approach.\2\
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    \1\ See Record of Decision for the Final Tank Closure and Waste 
Management Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site, 
Richland, Washington. 78 FR 75913 (Dec. 13, 2013).
    \2\ Implementation of the proposed TBI Demonstration is 
contingent upon completion of analysis and documentation required 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. (NEPA). DOE prepared a Draft 
Environmental Assessment for the proposed TBI Demonstration, Draft 
Environmental Assessment of the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration 
(DOE/EA-2086) and provided it to the host and affected States and 
Indian Tribes, for a 14-day comment period, on August 17, 2021.
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    This Draft WIR Evaluation concerns approximately 2,000 gallons of 
waste from Hanford tank SY-101, which, under the proposed TBI 
Demonstration, will be pretreated at the Hanford Site to remove most 
key radionuclides, then solidified (grouted) offsite and disposed of at 
a licensed and permitted facility outside the State of Washington. This 
Draft WIR Evaluation evaluates whether the pretreated and solidified 
waste will be incidental to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, will 
not be HLW, and may be managed as LLW under the criteria in Section 
II.B.(2)(a) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Manual 435.1-1, 
Radioactive Waste Management Manual. This Draft WIR Evaluation 
demonstrates that the criteria in DOE Manual 435.1-1 will be satisfied.
    For the proposed TBI Demonstration, about 2,000 gallons of Tank SY-
101 supernate (the uppermost liquid layer of the tank waste that 
contains low levels of insoluble, long-lived radionuclides) will be 
pretreated using: In-tank settling, followed by decanting, filtering, 
and processing through ion exchange media. The decanting (pumping 
without disturbing the underlying saltcake layer), filtering and ion 
exchange pretreatment will take place within an In Tank Pretreatment 
System, installed in Tank SY-101. The pretreated liquid will be 
transferred into totes (Type A shipping packages). Trucks will 
transport the shipping packages to a commercial treatment facility, 
either Perma-Fix Northwest in Richland, Washington, EnergySolutions, 
near Clive, Utah, Perma-Fix Diversified Scientific Services Inc., in 
Kingston, Tennessee, or Waste Control Specialists LLC, near Andrews, 
Texas. At the offsite treatment facility, the waste will be solidified 
in a grout matrix. DOE plans to dispose of the treated and solidified 
waste as mixed LLW at either the EnergySolutions disposal facility near 
Clive, Utah or the Waste Control Specialists Federal Waste Facility 
(WCS FWF), near Andrews, Texas. At this time, DOE has not selected the 
location of either the solidification facility or the disposal 
facility.
    Section II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual 435.1-1 sets forth criteria for 
determining, based on an evaluation, whether waste is incidental to 
reprocessing, is not HLW, and may be managed as LLW. Those criteria, in 
relevant part, are that the wastes: ``(1) have been processed, or will 
be processed, to remove key radionuclides to the maximum extent that is 
technically and economically practical; (2) will be managed to meet 
safety requirements comparable to the performance objectives, set out 
in 10 CFR part 61, subpart C, Performance Objectives; and (3) are to be 
managed, pursuant to DOE's authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended, in accordance with the provisions in Chapter IV [of 
Manual 435.1-1], provided the waste will be incorporated into 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.''
    This Draft WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the criteria in Section 
II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual 435.1-1 will be met. As to the first 
criterion, key radionuclides will be removed to the maximum extent 
technically and economically practical. Pretreatment will remove 
approximately 98.8% of the key radionuclides (including cesium-137 and 
its daughter, barium-137m) from the approximately 2,000 gallons of tank 
SY-101 supernate. About 1.8 curies will remain in the pretreated waste. 
Regarding the second criterion, the solidified waste will meet the 
waste acceptance criteria for the EnergySolutions disposal facility or 
the WCS FWF, as applicable, which will ensure that the performance 
objectives, including doses, will be met for LLW disposal as set forth 
in the Utah Administrative Code and the Texas Administrative Code, 
respectively, which are comparable to the NRC performance objectives at 
10 CFR part 61, subpart C. With respect to the third criterion, the 
pretreated and grouted waste will be in a solid physical form, will be 
well below the concentration limits for Class C LLW, and is expected to 
meet concentration limits for Class A LLW.
    DOE is consulting with the NRC concerning this Draft WIR 
Evaluation. DOE is also making this Draft WIR Evaluation available for 
comments by States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public.
    After consultation with the NRC, carefully considering comments 
received from States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public, and 
performing any necessary revisions of analyses and technical documents, 
DOE plans to prepare a final WIR Evaluation. Based on the final WIR 
Evaluation, DOE may determine (in a future WIR Determination) whether 
the waste is incidental to reprocessing, is not HLW, and may be managed 
as LLW. If DOE issues a Final WIR Evaluation and WIR Determination in 
the future, then the pretreated LAW discharged from the tank--from 
which key radionuclides will have been removed to the maximum extent 
technically and economically practical--will be managed as LLW, subject 
to the analysis and commitments in the Final WIR Evaluation and WIR 
Determination.\3\
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    \3\ It follows that such LLW will be appropriately stored, 
transported, solidified, and disposed of as LLW.
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Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on October 29, 
2021, by Mark A. Gilbertson, 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 November 2, 2021.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2021-24213 Filed 11-4-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P