National Environmental Policy Act Record of Decision for the Disposal of Decommissioned, Defueled Cruiser, Ohio Class, and Los Angeles Class Naval Reactor Plants

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Environmental Policy Act Record of Decision for the

Disposal of Decommissioned, Defueled Cruiser, Ohio Class, and Los

Angeles Class Naval Reactor Plants

SUMMARY: This Record of Decision has been prepared on the proposed

disposal of defueled reactor plants from U.S. Navy nuclear-powered

cruisers, OHIO Class submarines and LOS ANGELES Class submarines,

pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [42 U.S.C.

4321 et seq.] and in accordance with the Council on Environmental

Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the

National Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508). The Navy,

with the concurrence of the Department of Energy, has decided to

dispose of these reactor plants by land burial of the entire reactor

compartment at the Department of Energy Low-Level Waste Burial Grounds

at Hanford, Washington. The Department of Energy participated as a

cooperating agency in the development of the Environmental Impact

Statement on this federal action and has adopted the Environmental

Impact Statement.

ADDRESSES: Requests for further information should be directed to

either

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Mr. John Gordon (Code 1160), Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, 1400 Farragut

Avenue, Bremerton, Washington 98314-5001, telephone (360) 476-7111, or,

Mr. Paul Dunigan, National Environmental Policy Act Compliance Officer,

Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, P.O. Box 550,

Richland, Washington 99352, telephone (509) 376-6667.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Final Environmental Impact Statement

analyzes the alternative ways for disposing of decommissioned,

defueled, reactor compartments from U.S. Navy nuclear-powered cruisers

(BAINBRIDGE, TRUXTUN, LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA Class and VIRGINIA Class)

and submarines (LOS ANGELES and OHIO Class). A disposal method for the

defueled reactor compartments is needed when the cost of continued

operation is not justified by the ship's military capability, or when

the ships are no longer needed. Navy reactor plants constructed prior

to the USS LOS ANGELES (SSN 688) (referred to as pre-LOS ANGELES Class

submarines) share many common design characteristics with reactor

plants from nuclear-powered cruisers, OHIO Class submarines and LOS

ANGELES Class submarines. Defueled reactor plants from pre-LOS ANGELES

Class submarines are currently being disposed of at the Department of

Energy Hanford Site in Eastern Washington by the Navy, consistent with

its 1984 Record of Decision.

The alternatives examined in detail in the Final Environmental

Impact Statement were the preferred alternative--shipment of the

prepared compartments from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton,

Washington for land burial of the entire reactor compartment at the

Department of Energy Low-Level Waste Burial Grounds at Hanford,

Washington; the no action alternative--protective waterborne storage

for an indefinite period; disposal and reuse of subdivided portions of

the reactor compartments; and indefinite storage above ground at

Hanford.

Among these four alternatives, the subdivision alternative had the

highest impacts, primarily due to the high occupational radiation

exposure that would be received by workers dismantling the reactor

compartments. The other three alternatives had very small environment

impacts. Of these three, only the reactor compartment land burial

alternative provided for permanent disposal of the defueled reactor

plants. Thus, the alternative of land burial of the defueled reactor

compartments at Hanford is the environmentally preferable alternative.

Under this alternative, the Department of the Navy will prepare the

defueled reactor compartments for shipment at the Puget Sound Naval

Shipyard. These preparations involve draining the piping systems,

tanks, vessels and other components to the maximum extent practical,

sealing the radioactive systems, removing the reactor compartment and

enclosing it in a high integrity all-welded steel package. The reactor

compartment packages will meet the type B requirements of the

Department of Transportation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and

the Department of Energy. Non-radioactive metal, such as submarine

hulls, could be recycled. The reactor compartment packages will be

transported by barge out of Puget Sound through the Strait of Juan de

Fuca, down the Washington coast, and up the Columbia River to the Port

of Benton where they will be loaded onto an overland transporter and

hauled to the Department of Energy's Hanford Site near Richland,

Washington.

The Department of Energy will accept the approximately 100 cruiser,

OHIO Class and LOS ANGELES Class submarine reactor compartments for

disposal at the 218-E-12B Low-Level Burial Ground, a 173-acre waste

disposal facility in the 200 East area of the Hanford Site. To date, 55

pre-LOS ANGELES Class submarine reactor compartments have been

transported safely and disposed of in one area of this facility. The

Department of Energy will oversee the future placement of reactor

compartments into this area of the disposal facility and manage

subsequent disposal operations in accordance with all applicable

requirements. The Washington State Department of Ecology will regulate

the reactor compartment disposal packages as a dangerous waste under

Washington Administrative Code 173-303, Dangerous Waste Regulations,

due to the over 100 tons of permanent lead shielding in each reactor

compartment. Treatment before disposal is not required because the

solid elemental lead shielding is encapsulated by thick metal sheathing

plates that meet Resource Conservation and Recovery Act treatment

standards for disposal of radioactive lead solids.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was made available for

public review, and little public input was received. Review comments

from state regulatory agencies in Washington and Oregon were positive.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assigned a rating of LO-

1 to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which indicates that EPA

review did not identify any potential environmental impacts requiring

substantive changes to the preferred alternative. The Final

Environmental Impact Statement, which includes responses to public

comments, has been issued and distributed to interested parties.

The Navy, with the concurrence of the Department of Energy, has

decided to proceed with the preferred alternative of land burial of the

defueled reactor compartments at Hanford because this alternative is

the environmentally preferable alternative, it supports the Navy's

mission by providing for responsible, permanent disposal of the

defueled reactor plants from the Navy's nuclear-powered ships, and it

can be accomplished safely and at reasonable cost.

As discussed in the Environmental Impact Statement, the Navy's

current method of disposing of pre-LOS ANGELES Class submarine reactor

plants consists of conservative engineering practices, which serve to

assure that environmental impacts will be very small. These

conservative engineering practices have been incorporated in the Navy's

preferred alternative for nuclear-powered cruisers, OHIO Class

submarines and LOS ANGELES Class submarines. No additional mitigative

measures have been identified which are needed to further reduce the

small impacts which were described in the Environmental Impact

Statement. Accordingly, all practicable means to avoid or minimize

environmental harm from the preferred alternative have been adopted.

Dated: July 3, 1996.

Robert B. Pirie, Jr.,

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Environment).

Alvin Alm,

Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Departmet of Energy.

[FR Doc. 96-20237 Filed 8-8-96; 8:45 am]

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