Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of

the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Storage

and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials (S&D Final PEIS)

(DOE/EIS-0229). In accordance with the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality regulations

(40 CFR Parts 1500-1508), and the Department's NEPA Implementation

Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021), the Department has prepared the S&D PEIS

to evaluate alternatives for the storage of weapons-usable fissile

materials and the disposition of surplus plutonium.

DATES: A Record of Decision on the Storage and Disposition program will

be issued no earlier than January 13, 1997. The Department will

consider and reflect, as appropriate, in the Record of Decision any

comments received before issuance of the Record of Decision.

ADDRESSES: To request copies of the S&D Final PEIS, copies of the

Summary, technical reports or other information; or to provide comments

on the S&D Final PEIS write to: United States Department of Energy,

Office of Fissile Materials Disposition, P.O. Box 23786, Washington, DC

20026-3786. Written (Facsimile) and oral requests and comments can also

be submitted using the toll free line at 1-800-820-5156. Facsimiles

should be marked Storage and Disposition Final PEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on DOE's National

Environmental Policy Act process, please contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom,

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department

of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, 202-

586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of the S&D Final PEIS

Copies of the S&D Final PEIS (over 4,000 pages in four volumes plus

a summary) have been distributed to Federal, State, Indian tribal, and

local officials; interested agencies; organizations; and individuals.

The S&D Final PEIS summary is available, along with numerous other

Fissile Materials Disposition Program documents on the program's

Electronic Bulletin Board/World Wide Web Page (http://web.fie.com/

htdoc/fed/doe/fsl/pub/menu/any/). Copies of the S&D Final PEIS, summary

and supporting technical reports are available to the public at the DOE

Reading Rooms listed at the end of this notice.

Background

On March 8, 1996, the Department published a Notice of Availability

(NOA) in the Federal Register (61 FR 9443) on the Storage and

Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Draft Environmental

Impact Statement for public review and comment. The NOA invited the

public to comment on the draft PEIS during a 45 day comment period that

was to end on May 7, 1996. Subsequently, in response to public

requests, the Department announced in the Federal Register (61 FR

22038; May 13, 1996) an extension of the comment period until June 7,

1996. Public workshops on the draft PEIS were held in Denver, CO on

March 26, 1996; Las Vegas, NV on March 28 and 29, 1996; Oak Ridge, TN

on April 2, 1996; Richland, WA on April 11, 1996; Idaho Falls, ID on

April 15, 1996; Washington, DC on April 17 and 18, 1996; Amarillo, TX

on April 22 and 23, 1996; and North Augusta, SC on April 30, 1996.

Alternatives Considered

Storage: The S&D Final PEIS assesses the environmental impacts of

four alternatives, and a No Action alternative, for the storage of

weapons-usable fissile materials. The action alternatives are Upgrade

at Multiple Sites alternative, Consolidate Storage of Plutonium

alternative, Collocation of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium

alternative and a combination of the other alternatives. The S&D PEIS

also analyzed sub-alternatives. The candidate sites for implementation

of the alternatives are Hanford, Nevada Test Site, Idaho National

Engineering Laboratory, Pantex Plant, Oak Ridge Reservation, and

Savannah River Site. Each of the these alternatives, except for the No

Action alternative, would phaseout the storage of weapons-usable

fissile materials at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.

Disposition: The S&D Final PEIS assesses the environmental impacts

of nine action alternatives in three categories and a No Action

alternative for the disposition of up to 50 metric tons of plutonium

that has been or in the future may be declared surplus to national

security needs. The PEIS analyzed the Deep Borehole category (two

alternatives--Direct Disposition and Immobilization); the

Immobilization category (three alternatives--Vitrification, Ceramic

Immobilization, and Electrometallurgical Treatment); and the Reactor

category (four alternatives--Existing Light Water Reactors, Partially

Completed Light Water Reactors, Evolutionary Light Water Reactors and

CANDU Reactors) and the No Action alternative. The preferred

alternative (a combination of the above alternatives) was also

analyzed.

Preferred Alternative

The Department's preferred alternative is to reduce, over time, the

number of locations where plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU)

are stored, and to pursue a disposition strategy that allows for

immobilization of the surplus plutonium in glass or ceramic forms and

use of surplus plutonium in mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at existing domestic

reactors.

Regarding storage, the Department's preferred alternative involves:

Phasing out storage of all weapons-usable plutonium at

Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) beginning in 1997;

moving pits to Pantex, and moving Rocky Flats'

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separated and stabilized non-pit materials to Savannah River Site (SRS)

when the expansion of the planned Actinide Packaging and Storage

Facility (APSF) is complete.

Upgrading storage facilities at Zone 12 South at Pantex to

store those pits currently stored at Pantex, and pits from RFETS,

pending disposition. Storage facilities at Zone 4 would continue to be

used for these pits prior to completion of the upgrade.

In accordance with the Preferred Alternative in the Final

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile Stewardship

and Management (Stockpile Stewardship and Management PEIS), store

Strategic Reserve pits at Pantex in the facilities discussed above. To

the extent not reflected above, store Strategic Reserve materials in

accordance with the Preferred Alternative in the Stockpile Stewardship

and Management PEIS.

Expanding the planned APSF at SRS to store those surplus,

non-pit plutonium materials currently at SRS and surplus non-pit

plutonium materials from RFETS, pending disposition.

Continuing current storage of surplus plutonium at

Hanford, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and Los Alamos

National Laboratory pending disposition.

Taking No Action at the Nevada Test Site (NTS).

Upgrading of storage facilities at the Y-12 Plant at Oak

Ridge Reservation to store non-surplus HEU and surplus HEU pending

disposition.

Regarding surplus plutonium disposition, the Department's preferred

alternative is to pursue a dual track strategy that allows for

immobilization of plutonium in glass or ceramic forms and burning of

the surplus plutonium as MOX fuel in existing reactors.

The Department would retain using MOX fuel in Canadian Deuterium

Uranium (CANDU) reactors in Canada in the event that a multilateral

agreement to use CANDU reactors is negotiated among Russia, Canada, and

the United States. DOE would engage in a test and demonstration for

CANDU MOX fuel as appropriate and consistent with future cooperative

efforts with Russia and Canada.

The actual percentage and timing for disposition of the surplus

plutonium using either or a combination of both of the technological

approaches would depend on the results of international agreements,

future technology development and demonstrations, site-specific

environmental assessments, and detailed cost proposals to be completed

within the next 2 years. The results of these efforts, as well as

nonproliferation considerations and negotiations with Russia and other

nations, will ultimately determine the timing and extent to which

either or both technologies are deployed for disposition of surplus

plutonium.

Deployment of this strategy would involve the implementation of

supporting actions which include constructing and operating a plutonium

vitrification or ceramic immobilization facility at either Hanford or

SRS (including use of the ``can in canister'' approach utilizing the

already operational Defense Waste Processing Facility at SRS);

constructing and operating a facility at either of these same sites for

conversion of non-pit plutonium materials (metal and oxides) to oxide

forms for immobilization; constructing and operating a pit disassembly/

conversion facility at Hanford, INEL, Pantex or SRS; and, constructing

and operating a domestic, government-owned, MOX fuel fabrication

facility at Hanford, INEL, Pantex, or SRS.

The fundamental purpose of the surplus plutonium disposition effort

is to irreversibly ensure that plutonium produced for nuclear weapons

and now declared excess to national security needs is never again used

for nuclear weapons. Both disposition approaches can achieve this goal

and preserve the long-time U.S. policy of not using civilian reactors

to produce fissile materials for nuclear weapons. Burning of surplus

plutonium in existing reactors would not involve subsequent

reprocessing of the spent fuel. Each of these technologies would

dispose of surplus weapons plutonium in a manner which would help

assure it would not again be used in nuclear weapons.

DOE Public Reading Rooms

Copies of the S&D Final PEIS and summary as well as technical data

reports and other supporting documents are available for public review

at the following locations:

Department of Energy Headquarters

Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building,

1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20825, 202-586-6020

Nevada Operations Office

U.S. Department of Energy, 2753 S. Highland Avenue, P.O. Box 98518, Las

Vegas, Nevada 89193-8518, 702-295-1274

Oak Ridge Operations Office

Public Reading Room, 55 Jefferson Avenue, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830,

615-576-0887

Public Reading Room, 200 Administration Road, P.O. Box 2001, Oak Ridge,

Tennessee 37831-8501

Rocky Flats Office

Front Range Community Reading Room, 3645 West 112th Avenue,

Westminister, CO 80030, 303-469-4435

Amarillo Area Office

Reference Department, Lynn Library and Learning Center, Amarillo

College, P.O. Box 447, Amarillo, TX 79178, 806-371-5400

U.S. Department of Energy Public Reading Room, Carson County Public

Library, 401 Main Street, P.O. Box 339, Panhandle, Texas 79068, 806-

537-3742

Richland Operations Office

Washington State University, Tri-Cities Branch Campus, 300 Sprout Road,

Room 130 West, Richland, WA 99352, 509-376-8583

Albuquerque Operations Office

Technical Vocational Institute, 525 Buena Vista, SE, Albuquerque, NM

87106, 505-845-4370

National Atomic Museum Public Reading Room, Kirtland Air Force Base,

Building 20358, Wyoming Boulevard, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87115, 505-

845-6670/4378

Los Alamos Area Office

Community Reading Room, Museum Park Office Complex, 1450 Central

Avenue, Suite 101, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544, 505-665-2127 or 1-800-

543-2342

Savannah River Operations Office

Gregg-Granite Library, University of South Carolina-Aiken, 171

University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, 803-725-1408

Sandia National Laboratory/CA

Livermore Public Library, 1000 S. Livermore Avenue, Livermore, CA

94550, 510-373-5500

Idaho Operations Office

Idaho Public Reading Room, 1776 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, ID

83402, 208-526-0271

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Issued in Washington, DC, December 13, 1996.

Gregory P. Rudy,

Acting Director, Office of Fissile Materials Disposition.

[FR Doc. 96-32198 Filed 12-18-96; 8:45 am]

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