Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on

Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare

an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), in accordance with the Council on

Environmental Quality (CEQ) Regulations for Implementing the Procedural

Provisions of NEPA and the DOE NEPA implementing regulations. This EIS

will evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with

reasonable management alternatives for certain plutonium residues and

all scrub alloy currently being stored at the Rocky Flats Environmental

Technology Site in Golden, Colorado. The residues and scrub alloy are

materials that were generated during the separation and purification of

plutonium, or during the manufacture of plutonium-bearing components

for nuclear weapons. Due to the risk they present, DOE previously

decided to stabilize and repackage the plutonium residues at the Rocky

Flats Site for safe interim storage as discussed in the Solid Residue

Treatment, Repackaging, and Storage Environmental Assessment/Finding of

No Significant Impact. The activities analyzed in this EIS would be in

addition to certain activities described in the Solid Residue

Environmental Assessment by subjecting a portion of those residues to

further treatment to prepare them for disposal or other disposition.

This EIS will also analyze management activities for scrub alloy. This

notice describes the proposed scope of the EIS and requests that

members of the public submit comments regarding the scope of the EIS.

Comments may be submitted in writing at the public scoping period and

orally during public scoping meetings as described below.

DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this

notice and will continue until December 19, 1996. Written comments

postmarked by that date will be considered in preparation of the EIS.

Comments postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent

practicable.

Public Scoping meetings will be held at the locations and times

specified below. This information will also be announced in local

public notices before the planned meetings.

Meeting: Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.

Date: Tuesday, December 3, 1996.

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM.

Location: Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Building 060

(Outside the West Gate), State Highway 93, Golden, Colorado 80402.

Contact for the Golden Meeting: Mr. Mike Konczal, Telephone: (303)

966-5993.

Meeting: Savannah River Site.

Date: Thursday, December 12, 1996.

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM.

Location: North Augusta Community Center, 101 Brookside Drive,

North Augusta, South Carolina 29841, (803) 441-4290.

Contact for the North Augusta Meeting: Mr. Andrew R. Grainger,

Telephone: 1-800-242-8269.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the Rocky Flats Plutonium

Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS, including issues to be addressed,

questions about the plutonium residues, and/or requests for copies of

the draft EIS should be sent to the following address: Mr. Charles R.

Head, Office of Nuclear Material and Facility Stabilization (EM-60),

United States Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20585, Telephone: 202-586-9441, Facsimile: 202-586-

5256.

Members of the public who request a copy of the draft EIS should

specify whether they would like a copy of the entire draft EIS (which

will consist of multiple bound volumes), or if they would prefer a copy

of the Summary of the draft EIS (which will be a brief single volume).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Rocky

Flats Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS, please contact Mr.

Charles R. Head at the address specified above under the heading

ADDRESSES.

For general information on the DOE NEPA review process, please

contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and

Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence

Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585, Telephone: 202-586-4600 or leave

a message at 800-472-2756.

Addresses of reading rooms where additional Rocky Flats Plutonium

Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS information is available are listed below

in the section entitled ``Public Scoping Process''.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE announces its intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321, et seq.), in accordance with

the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the

Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA

implementing regulations (10 CFR Part 1021) to evaluate reasonable

alternatives for management of certain plutonium residues and all of

the scrub alloy at the Rocky Flats Site in Golden, Colorado. Plutonium

residues and scrub alloy are materials that were generated while

processing plutonium during the manufacture of components for nuclear

weapons. The management alternatives to be analyzed include treatment

of these materials to enable them to be disposed of as waste or, for

some surplus weapons-usable material, otherwise dispositioned.

Purpose and Need

Stabilization activities to mitigate the risks associated with the

current storage condition of plutonium residues (e.g., deteriorating

and overpressurized storage containers, and ignitability concerns) are

in progress at the Rocky Flats Site based on the decisions resulting

from the Solid Residue Treatment, Repackaging, and Storage

[[Page 58867]]

Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact, issued in

April 1996 (DOE/EA-1120, the ``Solid Residue Environmental

Assessment'). The Solid Residue Environmental Assessment addressed the

potential environmental impacts associated with stabilizing the entire

106,600 kg inventory of Rocky Flats Site plutonium residues to allow

its safe interim storage until the final disposition of the residues

could be decided upon and implemented. However, due to the need for

expeditious action to resolve problems with storage of the plutonium

residues at Rocky Flats, the Solid Residues Environmental Assessment

did not address disposal or other disposition of the residues after

these materials were stabilized. Decisions regarding treatment of these

materials for purposes other than stabilization, i.e., disposal or

other disposition,1 will require the evaluation of several

treatment technologies and thus were considered to require a lengthier

and more complex evaluation process than could be completed in time to

meet the more immediate need to make and implement stabilization

decisions.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ After treatment, the Rocky Flats residues and scrub alloy

could be disposed of as transuranic wastes or, depending on the

treatment, could be transformed or chemically altered so as to

concentrate the plutonium for other disposition (see below).

``Transuranic'' refers to elements, such as plutonium, that have an

atomic number greater than that of uranium. The disposal of

transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is being

analyzed in the Draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Disposal Phase

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. DOE is developing WIPP,

near Carlsbad, New Mexico, as a potential disposal facility for

transuranic wastes. DOE is evaluating the disposition of weapons-

usable plutonium, which would be relevant if the residue or scrub

alloy materials were treated to separate the plutonium from other

constituents. Such potential uses include using the plutonium in

mixed oxide fuel for power reactors, immobilization, and disposal in

a deep borehole.

As a result of the potential for disposal of these materials at

WIPP, ``disposal requirements'' for the residues and scrub alloy

refers to the Planning Basis Waste Acceptance Criteria for WIPP (or

alternative treatment level, depending on decision in the Record of

Decision for the WIPP SEIS II), and any other requirements that must

be met to allow disposal, such as safeguards termination

requirements. Requirements for other disposition will be developed

as part of detailed NEPA analyses that will be tiered from the

Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (draft issued by DOE in

February 1996; also see item 6 under ``Related NEPA Documentation''

in this Notice).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOE has determined that, even after stabilization, approximately

42,300 kg of the total of about 106,600 kg of plutonium residues

currently in storage at Rocky Flats would remain in forms that,

although not directly weapons usable, would contain sufficiently high

concentrations of plutonium so as to not meet the safeguards

termination requirements for disposal.2 Because of the plutonium

concentration and the relative ease with which plutonium could be

recovered from the residues, such residues could be attractive to

terrorist organizations as a source of plutonium (about 2,600 kg could

be separated from the Rocky Flats residues and scrub alloy) for use in

nuclear weapons or other terrorist devices. Diluting these materials

could reduce the plutonium concentrations sufficiently to meet disposal

requirements but, for many samples of the residues, probably would

yield an extremely large waste volume that would be very costly to

transport and dispose of. Therefore, in addition to dilution,

alternatives need to be considered, such as treatments that would

either bind the plutonium in a matrix from which it would be difficult

to extract, or treatments that would separate the plutonium from the

remaining constituents of the residues and scrub alloy. Any separated

plutonium would not be used for nuclear weapons purposes, but would be

safely stored in secure facilities with other similar materials,

pending disposition (see footnote 1). Whenever feasible, DOE would

offer such storage facilities to be placed under International Atomic

Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. For the other 64,300 kg of plutonium-

bearing residues currently in storage at the Rocky Flats Site, the

activities discussed in the Solid Residue Environmental Assessment will

meet the transuranic waste disposal and safeguards termination

requirements and will not be addressed in this EIS.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\2\ Materials that could be used to fuel nuclear weapons (e.g.,

Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239) are required to be placed under a

system of controls and protections to ensure that they are not

misused or lost. This system of controls and protections is referred

to as ``safeguards.'' In general, wastes that contain large enough

concentrations of nuclear weapons-usable materials cannot be

disposed of unless actions (such as reducing the concentration of

nuclear weapons usable materials, or immobilizing such materials so

that they would be exceptionally difficult to recover) are taken

that make it no longer necessary to ``safeguard'' them. The

requirements that define the state into which such wastes must be

converted in order for them no longer to require ``safeguards'' are

referred to as ``safeguards termination requirements''.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This EIS will evaluate reasonable management alternatives for the

approximately 42,300 kg of plutonium residues discussed above,

including treatment of the material to a form and concentration that is

suitable for disposal or other disposition. Evaluation of these

alternatives at this time will facilitate planning for disposal or

other disposition, and allow any additional treatment to be integrated

with the on-going stabilization process so that handling the material

can be minimized (i.e., by avoiding potential double handling).

Minimizing such handling would reduce the worker risk associated with

achieving a material form suitable for disposal or other disposition.

In addition to the residues discussed above, approximately 700 kg

of scrub alloy (predominately a magnesium/aluminum/americium/plutonium

metal mixture) currently in storage at the Rocky Flats Site, containing

about 200 kg of plutonium, also needs treatment before being suitable

for disposal or other disposition. Due to similarities in the issues

related to the management of the scrub alloy and the plutonium

residues, management alternatives for the scrub alloy will also be

analyzed in this EIS.

The entire inventory of plutonium residues currently stored at

Rocky Flats is included in the Draft Waste Management Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement (WMPEIS) under the assumption that it

may be managed as transuranic waste. The WMPEIS analyzes storage and

treatment configurations (i.e., centralized, regionalized and

decentralized treatment and storage) for transuranic wastes, including

the Rocky Flats plutonium residues. The analysis of alternatives in

this EIS will take into account the analyses of alternatives in the

WMPEIS and the decisions made in any Records of Decisions that may

result from those analyses.

Background

Plutonium residues and scrub alloy were generated by processes used

to recover and purify plutonium and manufacture components for nuclear

weapons. Approximately 125,000 kilograms (kg) of residues (containing

about 5,800 kg of plutonium) and approximately 700 kg of scrub alloy

(containing about 200 kg of plutonium) are currently stored at various

DOE sites. Of these totals, approximately 106,600 kg of the residues

(containing about 3,000 kg of plutonium), and nearly all of the scrub

alloy are stored in various types of containers in six former plutonium

production facilities at the Rocky Flats Site. The remaining

approximately 18,400 kg of plutonium residues are stored at the

Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Hanford Site in Washington,

Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Lawrence Livermore

National Laboratory in California. About 6 kg of scrub alloy are stored

at the Savannah River Site. Stabilization activities for the

approximately 18,400 kg of plutonium residues and 6 kg of scrub alloy

not located at the Rocky

[[Page 58868]]

Flats Site are analyzed in NEPA reviews that have already been

completed or are currently underway. These reviews are listed and

summarized in the section of this notice titled ``Related NEPA

Documentation.'' The final approximately 5 kg of plutonium residues are

located at several DOE sites, each having an inventory of less than 1

kg. Treatment options for these plutonium residues have been identified

or are in the process of being defined by the managements of the

installations at which these residues are stored.

The plutonium residues at the Rocky Flats Site that require

treatment beyond stabilization prior to disposal or other disposition

consist of four categories: ash, salts, wet residues, and direct

repackage residues. The residues are grouped into these categories due

to chemical similarities or similarities in the manner in which they

could be managed. All these residue categories and scrub alloy will be

discussed in this EIS and are briefly described below. The approximate

quantities in each category requiring treatment beyond stabilization to

prepare them to meet the requirements for disposal or other disposition

are noted.3

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\3\ As noted previously in this Notice, a total of approximately

106,600 kg of plutonium residues is currently in storage at Rocky

Flats. Of this total, approximately 6,600 kg is in a residue

category designated ``Classified Shapes'' that does not require

treatment beyond that analyzed in the Solid Residue Environmental

Assessment. This leaves approximately 100,000 kg of residues in the

four listed categories, 42,300 kg of which will need additional

treatment beyond that analyzed in the Solid Residue Environmental

Assessment. The scrub alloy is not a plutonium residue, and thus is

not included in the 100,000 kg residue total.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Ash Residues. The ash residue category consists of approximately

28,000 kg of material containing approximately 1,100 kg of plutonium in

three basic groups. Examples from each group are: (a) Incinerator ash,

firebrick heels and fines, and soot; (b) pulverized sand, slag and

crucible; and (c) graphite fines. Approximately 71 percent of the ash

residue inventory (19,900 kg) would require treatment

beyond stabilization for disposal in WIPP or other disposition.

2. Salt Residues. The salt residue category consists of about

16,000 kg of material containing approximately 1,000 kg of plutonium

and can be further sub-divided into three groups: electrorefining

salts, molten salt extraction salts, and direct oxide reduction salts.

These salts consist primarily of sodium chloride, potassium chloride

and magnesium chloride. Approximately 93 percent of the salt residue

inventory (14,900 kg) would require treatment beyond

stabilization for disposal in WIPP or other disposition.

3. Wet Residues. The wet residues consist of approximately 17,000

kg of material containing approximately 600 kg of plutonium and are

made up of a disparate assembly of materials, such as wet (aqueous and

organic contaminated) combustibles, plutonium fluorides, high

efficiency particulate air filter media, sludges and Raschig (glass)

rings. Approximately 26 percent of the wet residue inventory

(4,400 kg) would require treatment beyond stabilization for

disposal in WIPP or other disposition.

4. Direct Repackage Residues. The direct repackage residue category

consists of about 39,000 kg of material, containing about 300 kg of

plutonium, and comprises those plutonium residues that are considered

to be stable and do not require stabilization for storage. These

residues consist of materials such as paper, rags, cloth, plastic,

personal protective equipment, and gaskets. Approximately 8 percent of

the direct repackage residue (3,100 kg) would require

treatment for disposal in WIPP.

5. Scrub Alloy. Scrub alloy is predominately a magnesium/aluminum/

americium/plutonium metal mixture that was created as an interim step

in plutonium recovery. The entire Rocky Flats scrub alloy inventory of

approximately 700 kg, containing approximately 200 kg of plutonium,

will require treatment to put it in a form that would meet the

requirements for disposal in WIPP or other disposition.

Preliminary Alternatives

Discussed below are the preliminary alternatives identified for

management of certain Rocky Flats Site plutonium residues

(approximately 42,300 kg) and scrub alloy (approximately 700 kg),

including transportation to reasonable treatment sites and treatment to

prepare them for disposal or other disposition. DOE welcomes comments

on these or other reasonable alternatives and on the identification of

a preferred alternative.

Alternative 1--No Action: The No Action alternative consists of

ongoing residue storage activities, and activities addressed in the

Solid Residue Treatment, Repackaging, and Storage Environmental

Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact, plus the on-site storage

of the scrub alloy inventory in its current form. Under the No Action

alternative, stabilization, repackaging, and monitoring of the entire

plutonium residue inventory for safe interim storage would continue.

Interim storage would be in containers and under conditions appropriate

for a period of approximately 20 years, with approximately 64,300 kg of

the residues prepared for waste disposal. The other 42,300 kg of

plutonium residues and the scrub alloy would remain in a form that is

not suitable for disposal as waste, or other disposition.

Alternative 2--On-Site Treatment: This alternative would involve

treatment at the Rocky Flats Site, as discussed below:

a. Treatment Without Plutonium Separation--This alternative

includes treating the plutonium residues or scrub alloy to prepare the

material for disposal as waste without removal of the plutonium. This

treatment alternative would use techniques such as immobilization,

(e.g., ceramification or vitrification), or dilution by blending with

other matrix materials (e.g., blending the salt residues with depleted

uranium oxide or additional salt). The resulting waste form would meet

the planning basis waste acceptance criteria for disposal in WIPP. The

material would no longer be attractive as a potential source of

plutonium since it would be in a physical and chemical form from which

it would be difficult to recover the plutonium, or the resulting

material would have too low a concentration of plutonium. However, the

dilution approach would result in substantially greater amounts of

transuranic waste.

b. Treatment With Plutonium Separation--Plutonium separation would

consist of removing the plutonium from the residue or scrub alloy.

Plutonium separation would generate two distinct forms of material; a

treated waste form and a plutonium metal or oxide. The treated waste

would meet the planning basis waste acceptance criteria for disposal in

WIPP. The plutonium metal or oxide would be in a form that would be

suitable for disposition in accordance with the decisions resulting

from the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials

Programmatic EIS. The Rocky Flats Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy

EIS will include analysis of any actions needed to manage separated

plutonium until the decisions resulting from the Storage and

Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Programmatic EIS are

implemented. Under this treatment alternative, there would be no need

to dilute the plutonium-bearing materials to allow them to meet

transuranic waste disposal requirements, although other types of waste

would be produced that are more easily disposed of.4 The recovered

[[Page 58869]]

plutonium could not be used for nuclear explosive purposes under the

DOE Secretarial policy established in December 1994.5

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 Both low-level radioactive and hazardous wastes could be

generated as a result of such treatment. Any hazardous wastes would

be sent to a licensed commercial treatment, storage and disposal

facility. Any low-level radioactive wastes would be disposed of

along with other low-level radioactive wastes generated at the Rocky

Flats Site.

5 Such plutonium would be stabilized, packaged for storage

(under DOE safe storage criteria suitable for 50 years) and would be

stored at Rocky Flats pending implementation of storage and

disposition decisions. While in storage, the plutonium metal/oxide

would remain safe and in a secured facility.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alternative 3--Off-Site Treatment: Under this alternative, the

plutonium residues or scrub alloy would be treated off-site using

various treatment technologies, with or without plutonium separation,

as discussed under Alternative 2 above. The plutonium residues might

require pre- treatment at Rocky Flats to modify the material

composition and physical packaging so that the material would be in a

condition suitable for transportation. Potential locations for off-site

treatment include: the Savannah River Site, the Los Alamos National

Laboratory (LANL), and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

(LLNL). The Savannah River Site has the capability to treat most

residues and all scrub alloy efficiently. LANL and LLNL each have

facilities that could treat only part of the salt residues (about

13,400 kg), but at much slower rates than treatment at the Savannah

River Site. The cost of treatment at LANL and LLNL is expected to be

slightly higher than the cost of treatment at the Savannah River Site.

None of these facilities, including the Rocky Flats Site, currently is

capable of treating all of the ash residues. Further, treatment at LANL

and LLNL may be difficult to accommodate in light of the other missions

of those sites. Taking account of all these circumstances, the Savannah

River Site appears to be a more likely offsite location for treating

the Rocky Flats plutonium residues and scrub alloy than LANL or LLNL.

Nevertheless, DOE cannot rule out the possibility that further analysis

or changing circumstances might provide reasons to treat some of these

materials at LANL or LLNL.

Any plutonium that might be separated under the ``Treatment With

Plutonium Separation'' option would be placed in storage pending

implementation of decisions made after completion of the Storage and

Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Programmatic EIS. As

specified for Alternative 2.b above, the Rocky Flats Plutonium Residues

and Scrub Alloy EIS will include analysis of any actions needed to

manage separated plutonium until the decisions made after completion of

the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials

Programmatic EIS are implemented.

Public Scoping Process

To ensure that the full range of issues related to the Rocky Flats

Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS is addressed, comments on the

proposed scope of the EIS are invited from all interested parties

during the scoping period. Written comments should be directed to Mr.

Charles R. Head at the address indicated above under the heading

ADDRESSES. Agencies, organizations, and the general public are also

invited to present oral comments at the public scoping meetings to be

held at the times and dates listed in the DATES section above.

Written and oral comments will be given equal consideration.

Individuals desiring to speak at a public scoping meeting (or meetings)

should pre-register by telephoning or writing the contact person(s)

designated for the meeting as specified above in the DATES section of

this Notice. Pre-registration should occur at least four days before

the designated meeting. Persons who register at the meeting will be

called on to speak as time permits, after the pre-registered speakers.

To ensure that everyone has an adequate opportunity to speak, each

speaker at a scoping meeting will be allotted five minutes. Depending

on the number of persons who request an opportunity to speak, more time

may be allowed for speakers representing several parties or

organizations. Persons wishing to speak on behalf of organizations

should identify the organization in their request. Written comments

also will be accepted at the meetings, and speakers at scoping meetings

are encouraged to provide written versions of their oral comments for

the record.

DOE will record and prepare transcripts of the oral comments

received during the public scoping meetings. Interested persons will be

able to review the transcripts, written comments, reference material,

related NEPA documents, and background information during normal

business hours at the following locations:

U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Room, Room 1E-190,

Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20585, Telephone: 202-586-6020

U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading Room, Gregg Graniteville

Library, 171 University Parkway, Aiken, South Carolina 29801,

Telephone: 803-641-3465

County Library, 2002 Bull Street, Savannah, Georgia 31299-430,

Telephone: 912-234-5127

County Library, 404 King Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403,

Telephone: 803-723-1645

Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board, Public Reading Room, 9035

Wadsworth Avenue, Suite 2250, Westminster, Colorado 80021, Telephone:

303-420-7855

Standley Lake Public Reading Room, 8485 Kipling Street, Arvada,

Colorado 80005, Telephone: 303-456-0806

U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field Office, Public Reading Room,

14869 Denver West Parkway, Golden, Colorado 80401, Telephone: 303-275-

4742

U.S. EPA Superfund Records Center, 999 18th Street, 5th Floor, Denver,

Colorado 80202-2405, Telephone: 303-312-6473

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Information

Center, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South, Denver, Colorado 80222,

Telephone: 303-692-2037

Rocky Flats Public Reading Room, Front Range Community College Library,

3645 West 112th Avenue, Westminster, Colorado 80030, Telephone: 303-

469-4435

Albuquerque Operations Office, National Atomic Museum, 20358 Wyoming

Blvd. S.E., Kirtland Air Force Base, P.O. Box 5400, Albuquerque, New

Mexico 87185-5400, Telephone: 505-845-4378

Los Alamos Community Reading Room, 1450 Central, Suite 101, Los Alamos,

New Mexico 87544, Telephone: 505-665-2127

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, East Gate Visitors Center,

Greenville Road, Livermore, California 94550, Telephone: 510-424-4026

Oakland Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading

Room, EIC, 8th Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, California 94612-5208,

Telephone: 510-637-1762

DOE plans to issue the draft EIS in the Spring of 1997. DOE will

announce availability of the draft in the Federal Register and other

media, and will provide the public, organizations, and agencies with an

opportunity to submit comments. These comments will be considered and

addressed in the final EIS, scheduled for issuance in the Fall of 1997.

Preliminary Issues: DOE has preliminarily identified the

[[Page 58870]]

environmental issues listed below for analysis in the Rocky Flats

Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS. This list is presented to

facilitate discussion concerning the scope of the EIS and is not

intended to exclude consideration of other pertinent issues that may be

suggested during the scoping period or to predetermine the scope of the

EIS. DOE invites comments on these and any other issues relevant to the

analysis in the EIS. The environmental issues identified by DOE are as

follows:

1. Public and Occupational Safety and Health: The potential

radiological and non-radiological impacts of the management

alternatives for the plutonium residues and scrub alloy, including

projected effects on workers and the public from routine operations and

potential accidents at the Rocky Flats Site, Savannah River Site, Los

Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,

and along transportation routes from the Rocky Flats Site to the other

sites.

2. Environmental Media: Potential impacts on soil, water, and the

air.

3. Sensitive Environmental Resources: Potential impacts on plants,

animals, and habitat, including impacts to flood plains, wetlands, and

threatened and endangered species and their habitat.

4. Resource Consumption: Potential impacts from consumption of

natural resources and energy, including water, natural gas, and

electricity.

5. Socioeconomic: Potential impacts on local communities, including

labor force employment and support services.

6. Environmental Justice: Potential for disproportionately high and

adverse impacts of DOE activities on minority and low-income

populations.

7. Cultural Resources: Potential impacts on cultural resources,

such as historic, archaeological, scientific, or culturally important

sites.

8. Regulatory Compliance: The impacts of the alternatives on

compliance of the Rocky Flats Site, Savannah River Site, Los Alamos

National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with

applicable Federal and state laws and regulations.

9. Cumulative Impacts: The impacts of these alternatives in

conjunction with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future

actions regardless of agency (Federal or non-federal) or persons

undertaking such other actions.

10. Potential Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitment of

Resources: The potential irreversible and irretrievable commitment of

resources that would be involved in each alternative.

11. Non-Proliferation and International Plutonium-processing

Policy: The potential impacts to international policy regarding the

non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and processing of plutonium that

would be involved with the alternatives involving separation of

plutonium.

Related NEPA Documentation: Documents that have been or are being

prepared that may relate to the scope of the Rocky Flats Plutonium

Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS include the following:

12. Solid Residue Treatment, Repackaging, and Storage Environmental

Assessment (DOE/EA-1120) and Finding of No Significant Impact, issued

April 1996. This Environmental Assessment addressed the stabilization

of the plutonium residue inventory currently at the Rocky Flats Site.

The actions being implemented based on the Environmental Assessment are

included in the No Action alternative of the Rocky Flats Plutonium

Residues and Scrub Alloy Environmental Impact Statement.

13. Rocky Flats Site-wide Environmental Impact Statement Notice of

Intent (59 FR 40011, August 5, 1994). This Notice announced DOE's

intention to prepare a site-wide EIS for the Rocky Flats Environmental

Technology Site. In a Federal Register Notice dated July 17, 1996, DOE

deferred completion of the Site-wide EIS pending the completion of a

new cleanup agreement (since completed) with the Environmental

Protection Agency and the State of Colorado and decisions that may

result from issuance of the WM PEIS (see item 5, below).

14. Interim Storage of Plutonium at the Rocky Flats Environmental

Technology Site Environmental Impact Statement Notice of Intent (61 FR

37247, July 17, 1996). This Notice announced DOE's intention to prepare

an environmental impact statement to evaluate the alternatives for

providing safe interim storage of approximately 10 metric tons of

plutonium at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site pending

implementation of decisions based on the Storage of Disposition of

Weapons--Usable Fissile Materials Programmatic EIS. Any plutonium that

would be separated through the treatment at Rocky Flats of residues and

scrub alloy would be stored in accordance with decisions that may

result from the analysis in the Interim Storage of Plutonium at the

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site EIS, pending implementation

of decisions based on the Storage and Disposition of Weapons--Usable

Fissile Materials Programmatic EIS.

15. Draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Disposal Phase Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0026-S2). This is the second

supplemental EIS for WIPP, a DOE research and development project that

is proposed for the disposal of transuranic wastes. The Department's

proposed action is to dispose of transuranic waste at the facility. The

Notice of Intent for the second supplemental EIS was issued on August

23, 1995 (60 FR 43779). The Rocky Flats plutonium residues (including

transportation to WIPP) are considered in the scope of the supplemental

EIS. The draft supplemental EIS is scheduled to be issued in late 1996

and the final supplemental EIS and Record of Decision are scheduled to

be issued in the Summer of 1997. The Rocky Flats Plutonium Residues and

Scrub Alloy EIS will be prepared in coordination with the WIPP

supplemental EIS.

16. Draft Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement (WMPEIS) (DOE/EIS-0200-D, August 1995). The WMPEIS considers

alternative approaches for consolidating the management of the

Department of Energy's low-level, low-level mixed, hazardous,

transuranic, and high-level waste. Records of Decision based on the

WMPEIS are scheduled to be issued starting in 1997 and will be made by

waste type. The Rocky Flats Phutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS will

be prepared in coordination with the WMPEIS and applicable records of

decision that may be issued before completion of this EIS.

17. Draft Storage and Disposition of Weapons--Usable Fissile

Materials Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0229-D,

February 1996). This Programmatic EIS analyzes the potential

environmental impacts associated with approaches to storage and

disposition of the Department's weapons-usable fissile materials,

including plutonium. Under the No Action alternative, Rocky Flats

plutonium metals and oxides, including any plutonium metals or oxides

generated as part of plutonium residue treatment, would remain at Rocky

Flats. Under all other alternatives, stabilized weapons-usable Rocky

Flats material would be transferred to another DOE site. The treatment

alternatives discussed in this Notice of Intent that involve separation

of plutonium would generate weapons-usable plutonium metals and oxides

that would be stored and dispositioned according to decisions made

based on the Storage and Disposition of Weapons--Usable Fissile

Materials Programmatic EIS. The final Storage and Disposition of

[[Page 58871]]

Weapons--Usable Fissile Material Programmatic EIS is scheduled to be

issued in late 1996.

18. Final Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE/EIS-0157, August 1992, the

``LLNL Site-wide EIS''). This document analyzes the potential

environmental impacts of a proposed action to continue operation of

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National

Laboratories, Livermore. The LLNL site-wide EIS also analyzes the

potential environmental impacts associated with a no-action alternative

involving continuing operations at FY 1992 funding levels without

further growth, an alternative to modify operations to reduce adverse

environmental impacts of operations or facilities, and a shutdown and

decommissioning alternative. The Record of Decision for the LLNL Site-

wide EIS (58 FR 6268, January 27, 1993) announced that DOE had decided

to continue the operation of LLNL and Sandia National Laboratories,

Livermore, including near-term (within 5 to 10 years) proposed

projects. This action included current operations plus programmatic

enhancements and facility modifications required to support the

research and development missions established for the Laboratories by

Congress and the President. The alternatives to be analyzed in the

Rocky Flats Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS that would involve

treatment of a portion of the Rocky Flats plutonium residues at LLNL

will represent activities beyond those considered in the LLNL Site-wide

EIS.

19. Los Alamos National Laboratory Site-wide EIS Notice of Intent

(60 FR 92:25697-8, May 12, 1995). This notice announced DOE's intention

to prepare a Site-wide EIS to address operations and planned activities

at the Los Alamos National Laboratory foreseen in the next 5 to 10

years. DOE anticipates that this EIS will provide an analysis of all

activities at LANL and all DOE land management activities related to

operations at LANL. The draft LANL Site-wide EIS is scheduled to be

issued in mid-1997. The alternatives to be analyzed in the Rocky Flats

Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy EIS that would involve treatment of

a portion of the Rocky Flats plutonium residues at LANL will be

prepared in coordination with the analyses being performed for the LANL

Site-wide EIS.

20. Plutonium Finishing Plant Stabilization Environmental Impact

Statement (DOE/EIS-0244, May 1996). This EIS addressed the potential

environmental impacts associated with alternative technological

processes at the Hanford Site for stabilizing plutonium-bearing

materials, including plutonium residues. In the Record of Decision for

this EIS (61 FR 36352, July 10, 1996), DOE decided that the plutonium

residues having a low plutonium content (less than 50 weight percent)

and meeting criteria established by DOE will be immobilized at the

Plutonium Finishing Plant through a cementation process and stored

pending disposal. This EIS provided the NEPA analyses required for

management of the plutonium residues currently stored at the Hanford

Site.

21. Interim Management of Nuclear Materials at the Savannah River

Site Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0220, the IMNM EIS). The

IMNM EIS addressed the potential environmental impacts associated with

alternatives that the Department could implement to stabilize a variety

of nuclear materials that are at the Savannah River Site for improved

safety or to convert them to another form to support the Department's

programs. This analysis also included an evaluation of the alternatives

for the treatment of approximately 1,000 kg of plutonium residues and

approximately 6 kg of scrub alloy (discussed in IMNM EIS Section 2.3.3,

``Plutonium and Uranium Stored in Vaults''), some of which originated

at Rocky Flats Site and is currently in storage at the Savannah River

Site. Three Records of Decision have been issued for the IMNM EIS (60

FR 65300, December 19, 1995; 61 FR 6633, February 21, 1996; and 61 FR

48474, September 13, 1996), each covering different materials. The

decision regarding the plutonium residues and scrub alloy, specified in

the first Record of Decision, was to process these materials through

the canyon facilities to a form that meets the DOE storage criteria

(DOE-STD-3013-94) and to store the plutonium at the Savannah River

site.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on this 15th day of November, 1996.

Peter N. Brush,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.

[FR Doc. 96-29650 Filed 11-15-96; 12:52 pm]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P