Notice of Availability of the Department of Navy Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

Notice of Availability of the Department of Navy Final

Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the

Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy (Navy) is giving notice of the

availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a

Container System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel.

The Final EIS was prepared in accordance with the requirements of

the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); Council on

Environmental Quality regulations implementing NEPA, 40 CFR Parts 1500-

1508; and Chief of Naval Operations Environmental and Natural Resources

Program Manual, OPNAV Instruction 5090.1B. The Final EIS addresses the

need, alternatives, and environmental impacts of manufacturing

containers; loading containers, and handling and storage of naval spent

nuclear fuel at the Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering

Laboratory (INEL); transportation of naval spent nuclear fuel loaded

containers to a notional repository or a centralized interim storage

site; and the storage, handling, and transportation of certain

radioactive waste associated with naval spent nuclear fuel management.

The Department of Energy is participating as a cooperating agency and

adopted this Final EIS (DOE/EIS-0251) on October 9, 1996.

Upon completion of general distribution of the document, DOE will

file the Final EIS with the Environmental Protection Agency, which will

then publish this Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. The

Final EIS will also be available to the public in DOE reading rooms and

designated information locations which are identified in the

Availability of Copies section of this notice. The Navy plans to issue

a Record of Decision on the Final EIS by December 31, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Final EIS and for further

information on the Final EIS should be directed to: Mr. William Knoll

of the Naval Propulsion Program of the Department of the Navy, Code

NAVSEA 08U, 2531 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22242-

5160, Telephone: 703-602-8229. Copies of the Final EIS may be obtained

by following instructions given below in the availability of copies

section.

Background

The Navy issued a Draft EIS for public comment and published a

Notice of Availability in the Federal Register on May 14, 1996 (61 CFR

24293). Thereafter, the Navy held six public hearings in three

locations in the States of Idaho and Utah, in order to obtain public

comments on the Draft EIS. The comment period was originally scheduled

for 45 days, but a 15-day extension was granted based on a request from

the State of Nevada. Public comments were received by mail, telephone,

and facsimile. Comments on the DEIS were received from a broad spectrum

of private citizens, local, state, and federal officials. Native

American Tribes and public interest groups also provided comments.

Comments are reprinted in the Final EIS in Chapter 11, which is new in

its entirety. The response to each comment is provided following the

text of the comment.

Public comments on the Draft EIS were assessed and considered both

individually and collectively by the Navy and DOE. Some comments

resulted in modifications to the EIS. Changes to the EIS are annotated

by sidebars in the margins. For other comments, the Navy explained why

a change to the EIS was not warranted. Most responses to such comments

communicated government policy, indicated that the comment was beyond

the scope of the EIS, explained the relationship of this EIS to other

related NEPA documents, referred commenters to information in the EIS,

answered technical questions, or further explained technical issues.

The Final EIS, like the Draft EIS, addresses the potential

environmental impacts associated with the need and alternatives for

selecting a container system for the management of naval spent nuclear

fuel on a national level. The Final EIS also addresses potential

environmental impacts related to manufacturing containers; loading

containers, handling and storage of naval spent nuclear fuel at the

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL); transportation of naval

spent nuclear fuel to a notional repository or centralized interim

storage site; and the storage, handling, and transportation of low-

level radioactive waste, referred to as special case waste, associated

with naval spent nuclear fuel management.

The six container system alternatives considered are:

[[Page 59424]]

(1) No-Action Alterative--Use of existing technology to handle,

store, and subsequently transport naval spent nuclear fuel to a

geologic repository or a centralized interim storage site using the

Navy M-140 transportation cask. Prior to shipment to a repository or

centralized interim storage site, naval spent nuclear fuel would be

managed at INEL in water pools or dry containers, then loaded into M-

140 transportation casks. At the repository, the naval spent fuel would

be unloaded from the M-140 transportation casks and placed in a

geologic repository's surface facilities for loading into disposal

containers. Following unloading, the M-140 transportation casks would

be returned to INEL for reuse.

(2) Multi-Purpose Canister Alternative--Use of large multi-purpose

canisters for storage, transportation, and disposal of naval spent

nuclear fuel, without repackaging or further handling of individual

spent nuclear fuel assemblies. In addition to the sealed metal

canisters, specialized casks or overpacks would be required for

different stages of the process, such as on-site transfer, dry storage,

transportation to a geologic repository or a centralized interim

storage site, and disposal.

(3) Current Technology/Supplemented by High Capacity Rail

Alternative--Use of existing M-140 transportation casks, but with

redesigned internal structures to accommodate a larger amount of naval

spent nuclear fuel per cask, thus reducing the total number of

shipments required.

(4) Transportable Storage Cask Alternative--Use of an existing,

commercially available cask for storage at INEL and shipment of naval

spent nuclear fuel to a geologic repository or centralized interim

storage site. At a repository, the naval spent fuel would be unloaded

from the casks and placed in a geologic repository's surface facilities

for loading into disposal containers. The unloaded transportable

storage casks could be returned to INEL for further storage and

transport.

(5) Dual-Purpose Canister Alternative--Use of an existing,

commercially available canister and overpack system for storage at INEL

and shipment of naval spent nuclear fuel to a geologic repository or

centralized interim storage site. At a repository, the naval spent fuel

would be unloaded from the canisters and placed in a geologic

repository's surface facilities for loading into disposal containers.

(6) Small Multi-Purpose Canister Alternative--Use of smaller multi-

purpose canisters, rather than large multi-purpose canisters. The small

multi-purpose canisters would be similar in design, operations, and

function to the large multi-purpose canisters, but would offer a lower

weight and size alternative for transportation and handling at a

geologic repository or centralized interim storage site.

In addition, the environmental evaluations in this Final EIS

include several actions which are related to the container system

choice: manufacturing the container system; handling and transportation

associated with the container system; modifications at INEL to support

loading naval spent nuclear fuel into containers for dry storage; the

location of the dry storage at INEL; and the storage, handling, and

transportation of special case waste associated with naval spent

nuclear fuel. The Draft EIS did not contain a preferred alternative and

concluded that the environmental impacts were small and comparable

among all alternatives. The identification of a preferred alternative

in the Final EIS takes into consideration the following factors: (1)

public comments; (2) protection of human health and the environment;

(3) cost; (4) technical feasibility; (5) operational efficiency; (6)

regulatory impacts; and (7) storage or disposal criteria which may be

established for a notional repository or centralized interim storage

site outside the State of Idaho.

The Navy's preferred alternative for a container system for the

management of naval spent nuclear fuel is the Dual-Purpose Canister

Alternative. A system allowing the naval spent fuel assemblies to be

loaded into a canister with a welded closure, which can be placed into

separate shielded storage overpacks and transportation overpacks, would

allow the Navy to take advantage of savings in costs, occupational

exposure, handling, complexity, and environmental impacts associated

with handling and waste generation in comparison to cask-based designs

which require additional handling of individual fuel assemblies.

While a multi-purpose canister system has the potential to produce

even greater savings in these areas, the disposal container design and

waste acceptance requirements for a geologic repository have not yet

been established. When these standards are established, they could

result in a need to open canisters originally intended for disposal for

purposes such as inspection or changes in the contents. The future

requirements might even require the individual fuel assemblies to be

transferred to some different container for disposal. This means that

multi-purpose canister systems do not provide any definite functional

advantages over the dual-purpose canister system at this time. On the

other hand, it is possible that the canisters for dual-purpose canister

systems may prove suitable for disposal in a geologic repository once

the standards are determined.

Dates

A 45 day comment period following issue of the Draft EIS would have

ended on July 3, 1996; however, the comment period was extended to July

18, 1996 based on a request from the State of Nevada. The Record of

Decision is expected to be issued by December 31, 1996.

Availability of Copies of the Final EIS

Copies of the Final EIS are being distributed to Federal, State,

and local officials and agencies; and to organizations and individuals

known to be interested in the EIS. Additional copies may be obtained by

contacting Mr. Knoll at the above address (see ADDRESSES). Copies of

the Final EIS will be available for public review at the locations

listed below. Copies of selected reference materials and public hearing

transcripts are available in Reading Rooms and Other Information

Locations listed below. Copies of the reference material may also be

obtained upon request.

The Final EIS is about 700 pages in length. Separately bound copies

of the 19-page Executive Summary are available for review for those who

do not wish to have the entire Final EIS. When requesting copies of the

Final EIS, please indicate whether you wish to receive only the

Executive Summary, or the entire Final EIS.

Location of Reading Rooms

--Public Reading Room for U. S. DOE Headquarters; 1000 Independence

Avenue, SW; 1E-190 Forrestal Building; Washington, DC

--Public Reading Room for U .S. DOE--Idaho Operations Office; 1776

Science Center Drive; Idaho Falls, ID

--Public Reading Room for U. S. DOE--Nevada Operations Office; 3004

South Highland Drive; Las Vegas, NV

--Flagstaff Public Library; 300 West Aspen Street; Flagstaff, AZ

--Sacramento Library; Central Office; 828 I Street; Sacramento

--Denver Public Library; 1357 Broadway; Denver, CO

--Boise Public Library; 715 South Capital Boulevard; Boise, ID

--Shoshone-Bannock Library; Bannock and Pima Streets; HRDC Building;

Ft. Hall, ID

--Idaho Falls Public Library; 457 Broadway; Idaho Falls, ID

[[Page 59425]]

--Pocatello Public Library; 912 East Clark Street; Pocatello, ID

--Albuquerque Bernalillo County Library; 501 Copper NW; Albuquerque, NM

--Deschutes County Library; 507 NW Wall Street; Bend, OR

--Salt Lake City Public Library; 209 East 500 South; Salt Lake City, UT

--Laramie County Library; 2800 Central Avenue; Cheyenne, WY

Other Information Locations

--Lost River Community Library; 126 South Front Street, Box 170; Arco,

ID

--Idaho State Library; 325 West State Street; Boise, ID

--City of Burley, Public Library; 1300 Miller Avenue; Burley, ID

--Coeur d'Alene Public Library; 201 Harrison Avenue; Coeur d'Alene, ID

--City of Emmett, Public Library; 275 South Hayes; Emmett, ID

--City of Gooding Public Library; 306 5th Avenue West; Gooding, ID

--Consolidated Free Library; 8385 North Government Way; Hayden Branch;

Hayden Lake, ID

--City of Homedale, Public Library; 125 West Owyhee; Homedale, ID

--Ketchum Public Library; 415 Spruce Avenue North; Ketchum, ID

--Las Vegas Public Library; 833 Las Vegas Boulevard North; Las Vegas,

NV

--Moscow Public Library; 100 South Jefferson; Moscow, ID

--University of Idaho Library; Rayburn Street Moscow, ID

--Ola District Library; 11475 Ola School Road; Ola, ID

--Clearwater Memorial Library; 402 Michigan Avenue; Orofino, ID

--Idaho State University Library, Documents Department; 741 South 7th

Avenue; Pocatello, ID

--Salmon Public Library; 204 Main Street; Salmon, ID

--Shoshone Public Library; 211 South Rail Street; Shoshone, ID

--Twin Falls Public Library; 434 Second Street East; Twin Falls, ID

--Caliente Public Library, 120 Depot Avenue; Caliente, NV

--Carson City Public Library; 900 North Roop Street; Carson City, NV

--Elko Public Library; 720 Court Street; Elko, NV

--Lincoln County Public Library; Alamo Branch; First West Street;

Alamo, NV

--Lincoln County Public Library; Pioche (Main Branch); Number 1 Main

Street; Pioche, NV

--Pahrump Public Library; 2101 East Calvado Boulevard; Pahrump, NV

--Smokey Valley Library District; Hadley Circle; Round Mountain, NV

--Tonopah Public Library; 171 Central; Tonopah, NV

--Brigham City Library; 20 North Main Street; Brigham City, UT

--Cedar City Library; 136 West Center; Cedar City, UT

--Delta City Library; 76 North 200 West; Delta, UT

--Logan City Library; 255 North Main; Logan, UT

--Marriott Library; University of Utah; Salt Lake City, UT

Dated: November 18, 1996.

F.L. Bowman,

Admiral, USN, Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.

[FR Doc. 96-29935 Filed 11-21-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3810-FF-P