Second Record of Decision for a Dry Storage Container System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Navy

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Second Record of Decision for a Dry Storage Container System for

the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2) of the National Environmental

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

regulations implementing NEPA procedures, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508; Chief

of Naval Operations Environmental and Natural Resources Program Manual,

OPNAV Instruction 5090.1B; and the Department of Energy NEPA

regulations (10 CFR Part 1021); the Department of the Navy and the

Department of Energy, as a Cooperating Agency, announce their decisions

regarding the location of temporary dry storage facilities for naval

spent nuclear fuel and special case waste at the Idaho National

Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The need for these

decisions was identified in the final Environmental Impact Statement

for a Container System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

(EIS) dated November 1996. The Department of Energy (DOE), which

participated as a cooperating agency, formally adopted that final EIS

on October 9, 1996 (designated as DOE/EIS-0251). The need for the

decisions was also identified in the first Record of Decision (ROD) (62

FR 1095, January 8, 1997) for that EIS, in which the Department of the

Navy and the Department of Energy announced their decision regarding

selection of a dual-purpose canister system for the loading, storage,

transport, and possible disposal of naval spent nuclear fuel following

examination.

In this second ROD, the Navy and DOE announce their decision that

the naval spent nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the

Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) will be loaded into dual purpose

canisters at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF). Both the ICPP and the

NRF are located on the INEEL in southeastern Idaho. The Navy and DOE

also announce the additional decision that all dual purpose canisters

loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and special case waste will be

stored at a site adjacent to the Expended Core Facility (ECF) at the

NRF. The storage of these canisters containing naval spent nuclear fuel

at the NRF will occur regardless of whether the contained fuel had

previously been stored at the ICPP, or had been received at INEEL

before or after the dry storage facility at the NRF commenced

operations. This Record of Decision neither decides nor presumes that

naval special case waste will be shipped to a geologic repository or a

centralized interim storage facility as will naval spent nuclear fuel.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the final EIS and other information related to

this second Record of Decision or the first Record of Decision are

available in the public reading rooms and libraries identified in the

Navy's Federal Register notice that announced the availability of the

Final EIS (61 FR 59423, November 22, 1996). For further information on

the Navy's utilization of a dry storage container system for naval

spent nuclear fuel, or to receive a copy of the final EIS and the first

ROD, contact William Knoll, Department of the Navy, Code NAVSEA 08U,

2531 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22242-5160, (703)603-6126.

For information on the DOE's NEPA process, please contact Carol M.

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.

Introduction

More than 40% of the Navy's principal combatant warships are

nuclear powered. Since 1955, U.S. nuclear powered warships have steamed

safely more than one hundred ten million miles and accumulated over

4,800 reactor years of safe operation. Continued operation of the

Navy's nuclear powered warships remains a vital element of the Navy's

ability to fulfill its national security mission in support of our

nation's defense.

The Navy creates spent nuclear fuel through the operation of its

nuclear powered warships and training reactors. When a warship is

refueled for continued service or is defueled because it is being

inactivated, its spent nuclear fuel is removed at a shipyard.

Similarly, naval spent nuclear fuel is removed from afloat and land-

based training reactors when they are refueled or deactivated. In all

cases, the naval spent nuclear fuel is transported to the INEEL in

southeastern Idaho where it is examined at the Expended Core Facility

(ECF) located at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF). This examination is

essential to verify the performance of current naval nuclear fuel and

to support the effort to design naval fuel with longer lifetimes. After

examination, the naval spent nuclear fuel is transferred to the Idaho

Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) for storage in water pools pending

final disposition. Currently, there are approximately 13 metric tons of

heavy metal of naval spent nuclear fuel at the INEEL. A total of

approximately 65 metric tons of heavy metal of naval spent nuclear fuel

will exist by the year 2035.

The Navy is committed to ensuring that post-examination naval spent

nuclear fuel is managed in a fashion which: (1) facilitates ultimate

safe shipment to a permanent geologic repository or centralized interim

storage facility outside the State of Idaho once one becomes available;

(2) protects the environment while being temporarily stored at the

INEEL; (3) is consistent with the DOE Programmatic Spent Nuclear Fuel

Management and INEL Environmental Restoration and Waste Management

Programs Final Environmental Impact Statement (April 1995) and Records

of Decision dated May 30, 1995 and February 28, 1996; and (4) complies

with the Settlement Agreement/Consent Order among the State of Idaho,

the DOE, and the Navy, which is discussed in this Record of Decision

under LEGAL AND REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS.

Until a geologic repository or centralized interim storage facility

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outside the State of Idaho (discussed in Section 2.8.2 of the final

EIS) is available, the Navy is committed to a number of actions to

ensure uninterrupted operation of the Navy's nuclear powered fleet.

These actions include transfer of all naval spent nuclear fuel at the

INEEL out of wet storage facilities into dry storage, completion of a

Dry Cell expansion project at the ECF, completion of Hot Cell facility

upgrades at the ECF, construction of an ECF dry storage container

loading station, and performance of certain environmental restoration

work at the NRF. The high integrity and rugged nature of naval spent

nuclear fuel make it exceptionally well suited for safe transport,

storage, and ultimate disposal after service. It is expected that the

naval spent nuclear fuel will be stored at the INEEL until the time

that a geologic repository or centralized interim storage facility is

ready to accept it, and in any event not later than 2035.

To aid in determining the dry storage container system to be used

in managing naval spent nuclear fuel, the Department of the Navy, with

the Department of Energy (DOE) participating as a cooperating agency,

prepared the final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container

System for the Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel (EIS) dated

November 1996 (61 FR 59435, November 22, 1996). (The Department of

Energy formally adopted that final EIS and designated it as DOE/EIS-

0251.) In the first Record of Decision (ROD)(62 FR 1095) for that EIS,

the Department of the Navy and the Department of Energy, as a

cooperating agency, announced their decision regarding selection of a

dual-purpose canister system for the loading, storage, transport, and

possible disposal of naval spent nuclear fuel following examination.

The EIS and the first ROD identified that a decision was still needed

on the location(s) for the loading, into dual purpose canisters, of

that naval spent nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the

Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP). Those documents further stated

that a decision was also needed on the location(s) for temporary

storage of the dual purpose canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear

fuel and special case waste.

Decisions

The Navy and DOE have determined the location where naval spent

nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the ICPP will be

loaded into dual purpose canisters, and the location where all dual

purpose canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and special case

waste will be temporarily stored prior to the naval spent nuclear fuel

being shipped to a permanent geologic repository or centralized interim

storage facility outside of the State of Idaho when one becomes

available. In this second Record of Decision, the Navy and DOE announce

the decision to load the naval spent nuclear fuel which is, or which

will be, stored at the ICPP, into dual purpose canisters at the Naval

Reactors Facility (NRF). Both the ICPP and the NRF are located on the

INEEL in southeastern Idaho. The Navy and DOE also announce the

additional decision that all dual purpose canisters loaded with naval

spent nuclear fuel and special case waste will be stored at a developed

area on the INEEL site to the east of the Expended Core Facility (ECF)

at the NRF. This storage of canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear

fuel at the NRF will occur regardless of whether the fuel had

previously been stored at the ICPP, or had been received at INEEL

before or after the dry storage facility at the NRF commenced

operations. This location offers several important advantages,

including immediate proximity to existing fuel handling facilities,

rail access, and trained personnel. In addition, use of the site

adjacent to ECF eliminates the need to develop previously undisturbed

areas. Development of these undisturbed sites would incur increased

adverse environmental impacts while offering no technical or other

advantage. This Record of Decision neither decides nor presumes that

naval special case waste will be shipped to a geologic repository or a

centralized interim storage facility as will naval spent nuclear fuel.

When evaluating options for the above decisions, the Navy and DOE

considered existing facilities at INEEL and currently undeveloped

locations potentially not above the Snake River Aquifer. The technical

feasibility of building a dry storage facility within INEEL at a point

removed from above the Snake River Plain Aquifer was considered in the

final EIS. Only two potential locations were identified, one along the

west boundary of INEEL and the other in the northwest corner of the

INEEL reservation. However, analyses in the final EIS indicate that

neither of these locations is hydrologically removed from above the

Snake River Plain and both would be closer to seismic faults than

existing INEEL facilities. The State of Idaho, in its comments on the

Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the

Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel, agreed that the seismic

disadvantages of these locations would, in all probability, eliminate

them from further consideration.

In addition, both of these locations are technically less desirable

than locations at the NRF and the ICPP. A facility located at either of

these remote sites would be closer to the site boundaries

(approximately 1 mile from the INEEL boundary at its closest point) and

the local population than existing INEEL facilities. Environmental

impacts would result from construction of a road and possibly a rail

spur to the location as well as construction of facilities at the

location. An evaluation of these areas indicates that the development

of a dry storage facility at either of these remote locations might

have a greater impact on Native American cultural resources and

ecological resources than providing for dry storage at a previously

developed site adjacent to the ECF at the NRF or at an ICPP site.

A number of factors were considered in evaluating potential sites

at the NRF and the ICPP for loading of naval spent nuclear fuel into

canisters and the storage of the loaded canisters. These factors

included: (1) The effort required for the Navy to achieve compliance

with quality assurance requirements, such as verification of individual

spent fuel unit identity and condition, recording of each spent fuel

unit's permanent location in a storage canister, and the control of the

resultant records; (2) minimization of the number of organizations

needing to interact in connection with obtaining certifications for

transportation of canisters loaded with naval spent nuclear fuel and

for the acceptability of those loaded canisters for placement in a

permanent geologic repository or a centralized interim storage facility

outside the State of Idaho when one becomes available; (3) simplicity

of procedures and facilities involved in loading and storage of the

canisters; (4) operational flexibility, since facilities which would be

built at ECF to accommodate the return of naval spent nuclear fuel from

the ICPP for loading into dry storage canisters would be more easily

used to support possible future emergent naval spent nuclear fuel

loading or unloading/reloading needs than facilities which had been

built at the ICPP; (5) the potential for delays and emergent problems

caused by performing dry storage canister loadings of both naval and

non-naval spent nuclear fuel at a single facility; (6) the amount of

handling of the naval spent nuclear fuel required; (7) cost; (8) the

time needed to load the existing inventory of naval spent nuclear fuel

into dry storage canisters; (9) environmental

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consequences, which were similar and small for both the NRF and the

ICPP sites, thus both would be environmentally preferred to the remote

undeveloped sites considered; and (10) the expected condition of the

naval spent nuclear fuel which would be handled in the loading process.

The evaluations of these factors supported the selection of the NRF as

the location for loading the naval spent nuclear fuel from the ICPP and

for storage of loaded canisters.

Mitigation

The DOE and the Navy have orders and regulations for conduct of

spent nuclear fuel management operations and have adopted stringent

controls for minimizing occupational and public radiation exposure. The

policy of these programs is to reduce radiation exposures to as low as

reasonably achievable (ALARA). Singly and collectively, these measures

minimize potentially significant adverse environmental impacts from

spent nuclear fuel management activities, including those associated

with dry storage. The Navy and the DOE have not identified a need for

additional mitigation measures.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

The first Record of Decision for the DOE Programmatic Spent Nuclear

Fuel Management and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Environmental

Restoration and Waste Management Programs Final Environmental Impact

Statement was published on May 30, 1995 (60 FR 28680). On October 17,

1995, the Federal District Court entered a Consent Order that resolved

all issues related to the EIS raised by the State of Idaho and the

Governor of Idaho. The Consent Order incorporated as requirements all

of the terms and conditions of the parties' Settlement Agreement,

including a reduction in the number of spent nuclear fuel shipments

coming to the State of Idaho.

The settlement agreement among the State of Idaho, the U.S. Navy,

and the DOE included obligations to request funding for a dry storage

container loading station and to commence moving DOE spent nuclear fuel

currently in water pool storage into dry storage by July 1, 2003.

Proposed actions by the Navy will commence placing naval spent nuclear

fuel into dry storage on a schedule consistent with that required of

the DOE in the Settlement Agreement/Consent Order and will be in full

compliance with the requirements of that agreement.

No on-site land use restrictions due to Native American treaty

rights would exist for any of the alternatives. The INEEL site does not

lie within any of the land boundaries established by the Fort Bridger

Treaty.

The Department of the Navy and DOE are mandated to comply with

various laws, regulations and other requirements applicable to the

management of naval spent nuclear fuel. The Department of the Navy

Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Container System for the

Management of Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel, in Chapter 8, identifies the

major applicable laws and regulations. The selected dry storage loading

and temporary storage locations provide for compliance with these and

other applicable laws and regulations governing actions within the

Navy's and DOE's responsibilities.

Public Involvement

On October 24, 1994, the DOE published a Notice of Intent in the

Federal Register (59 FR 53442) to prepare an EIS for a multi-purpose

canister system for the management of civilian spent nuclear fuel. As

part of the public scoping process, the scope of the EIS for the multi-

purpose canister system was broadened to include naval spent nuclear

fuel. This determination was included in the Implementation Plan whose

availability was announced in the Federal Register on August 30, 1995

(60 FR 45147). However, DOE halted its proposal to fabricate and deploy

a multi-purpose canister based system and ceased preparation of that

EIS.

On December 7, 1995 the Department of the Navy published a notice

in the Federal Register (60 FR 62828) assuming the lead responsibility

for an Environmental Impact Statement evaluating container systems for

the management of naval spent nuclear fuel. The Department of the Navy

assumed the lead responsibility from the DOE and narrowed the focus of

the EIS to include only naval spent nuclear fuel. Despite the narrowing

of the focus to only naval spent nuclear fuel and the change in lead

agency, the range of container alternatives being considered did not

change. Thus, the EIS did not require another scoping process. The DOE

participated as a cooperating agency rather than the lead agency in the

preparation of the EIS.

On May 1, 1996, the Navy distributed the Draft EIS. The Navy's

Notice of Availability of the Draft EIS was published in the Federal

Register on May 14, 1996 along with the locations and dates of the

public hearings. The Draft EIS was widely distributed to public

officials, tribal officials, and state agencies in the areas of

potential interest, as well as to individuals requesting the document.

The public comment period for the EIS was originally scheduled to be 45

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

State of Nevada. During the public comment period, six public hearings

were held and both written and oral comments were received. Oral and

written comments were received from 51 parties, representing: federal,

state, and local agencies and officials; special interest groups; and

individuals. No substantive changes to the Draft EIS were needed as a

result of public comments, although several clarifications and

editorial changes were made in response to comments.

A new Chapter 11 was added to the Final Environmental Impact

Statement in which each comment was reprinted in its entirety, followed

immediately by individual responses to each of the major points. The

Environmental Protection Agency formally announced the availability of

the final EIS on November 22, 1996 (61 FR 59435). The Navy also

announced the availability of the final EIS on November 22, 1996 (61 FR

59423).

Approval

This Record of Decision constitutes the Navy's and The Department

Of Energy's final action with regard to a location where the naval

spent nuclear fuel which is, or which will be, stored at the Idaho

Chemical Processing Plant will be loaded into dual purpose canisters.

It also constitutes final action for a location for the temporary dry

storage of all dual purpose canisters containing naval spent nuclear

fuel and special case waste.

Issued in Washington, D.C. this 16th day of April 1997.

Richard Danzig,

Acting Secretary of the Navy.

Alvin L. Alm,

Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, U.S. Department of

Energy.

[FR Doc. 97-11244 Filed 4-30-97; 8:45 am]

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