[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16615-16616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05586]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of the Final Waste Incidental To 
Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration and 
Waste Incidental To Reprocessing Determination

AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Final Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test 
Bed Initiative Demonstration, U.S. Department of Energy (Final WIR 
Evaluation) and associated Waste Incidental to Reprocessing 
Determination for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration at the Hanford 
Site, Washington (WIR Determination). The Final WIR Evaluation 
demonstrates that the waste from DOE's proposed Test Bed Initiative 
(TBI) Demonstration is waste incidental to reprocessing of spent 
nuclear fuel, is not high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may be 
managed as low-level radioactive waste (LLW). DOE prepared the Final 
WIR Evaluation pursuant to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste 
Management, and the criteria in Chapter II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual 
435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. DOE consulted with the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the Draft Waste Incidental to 
Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration 
(Draft WIR Evaluation) and made the Draft WIR Evaluation available for 
comments from States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. DOE 
prepared the Final WIR Evaluation after carefully considering comments 
received from the NRC, States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the 
public, and after performing revisions of analyses and technical 
documents. Based on the Final WIR Evaluation, DOE determined that the 
pretreated and solidified waste is incidental to reprocessing of spent 
nuclear fuel, is non-HLW, and is to be managed as LLW.

ADDRESSES: The Final WIR Evaluation and WIR Determination are available 
on the internet at https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/TestBedInitiative 
for public review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the 
Final WIR Evaluation or WIR Determination, please contact Mr. Richard 
Valle by mail at U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection, 
P.O. Box 450, MSIN H6-60, Richland, WA 99352, 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 was 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 Hanford tanks.\1\ The proposed TBI Demonstration 
would demonstrate a potential supplemental LAW treatment approach.
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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).
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    The Final 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 treated and solidified (grouted) at an offsite, 
permitted, commercial facility and disposed of at a licensed and 
permitted mixed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility outside 
the State of Washington. 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.
    Implementation of the proposed offsite treatment and offsite 
disposal is contingent upon completion of analysis and issuance of a 
decision document as required by 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) (Draft EA) and provided it to the host and affected 
States and Indian Tribes, for a 14-day comment period, on August 17, 
2021. The Draft EA evaluated DOE's proposal to transport and solidify 
the pretreated liquid LAW at licensed and permitted commercial 
treatment facilities off the Hanford Site. The Draft EA also evaluated 
DOE's proposal to dispose of the solidified waste at an offsite, 
licensed and permitted commercial disposal facility. The Draft EA also 
evaluated the No Action Alternative. DOE has prepared the Final 
Environmental Assessment of the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration (DOE/
EA-2086), after considering comments received on the Draft EA. The 
Final EA will be made available at https://energy.gov/nepa.
    DOE issued DOE Order 435.1 and DOE Manual 435.1-1 under the 
authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011 
et seq., the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. 5801 et seq., and the 
Department of Energy Organization Act, 42 U.S.C. 7101, et. seq. 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

[[Page 16616]]

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.''
    The Final WIR Evaluation, including its appendices and supporting 
references, documents and 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 consulted with the NRC and received comments from States, 
Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. After carefully 
considering NRC consultative advice and comments received, DOE prepared 
the Final WIR Evaluation. Based on the Final WIR Evaluation, DOE 
determined, as documented in the associated WIR Determination, that the 
waste is incidental to reprocessing, is not HLW, and will be managed as 
LLW. Additionally, DOE determined the pretreated LAW from Tank SY-101--
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.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on March 14, 
2023, by R. M. Hendrickson, Acting 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 March 15, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-05586 Filed 3-17-23; 8:45 am]
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