Supplemental Record of Decision; Savannah River Site Waste Management, Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Supplemental Record of Decision; Savannah River Site Waste

Management, Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Supplemental Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: DOE announces decisions concerning certain activities to be

undertaken and facilities to be constructed and operated that further

implement the Moderate Treatment Configuration Alternative for mixed

low-level radioactive waste and transuranic waste. These decisions are

based on the Savannah River Site (SRS) Waste Management Environmental

Impact Statement (WMEIS) and are consistent with the completed

negotiations between DOE and the State of South Carolina.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding SRS

waste management, write or call: A. R. Grainger, Engineering and

Analysis Division, SR NEPA Compliance Officer, Savannah River

Operations Office, P.O. Box 5031, Aiken, South Carolina 29804, Phone/

FAX: (800) 242-8269, e-mail: [email protected].

For general information on the U.S. Department of Energy National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, write or call: Ms. Carol M.

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

Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20585-0119, telephone: (202) 586-4600, or leave a message at (800) 472-

2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In July 1995, DOE issued the SRS WMEIS (DOE/EIS-0217) to evaluate

the potential environmental impacts and costs of storing, treating,

and/or disposing of certain wastes at SRS. In an October 1995 Record of

Decision (ROD) (60 FR 55249, October 30, 1995), DOE announced its

intention to implement the Moderate Treatment Configuration

Alternative, including continuation of existing activities and

operation of existing facilities, waste recycling, operation of the

Consolidated Incineration Facility (CIF), low-level radioactive waste

volume reduction, and operation of a mobile soil sort facility. The ROD

also announced decisions regarding high-and low-level radioactive,

hazardous, transuranic and alpha low-level radioactive wastes, and some

mixed (radioactive and hazardous) wastes. DOE stated that it would

issue additional RODs on mixed low-level radioactive waste and

transuranic waste, including mixed transuranic waste, after completing

negotiations with the State of South Carolina under the Federal

Facility Compliance Act of 1992 (FFCAct).

This ROD supplements the October 1995 ROD by announcing DOE's

decision to take additional measures to further implement the Moderate

Treatment Configuration Alternative for mixed low-level radioactive

waste and transuranic waste. These decisions are based on the SRS WMEIS

and are consistent with the completed negotiations between DOE and the

State of South Carolina. DOE prepared this ROD pursuant to the

regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for implementing

NEPA (Title 40--Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1580))

and DOE's NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR part 1021).

SRS occupies approximately 800 square kilometers (300 square miles)

adjacent to the Savannah River, principally in Aiken and Barnwell

counties of South Carolina, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of

Augusta, Georgia, and about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Aiken,

South Carolina. DOE's primary mission at SRS from the 1950s until the

recent end of the Cold War was the production and processing of nuclear

materials to support defense programs. The end of the Cold War has led

to a reduction in the size of the United States nuclear arsenal. Many

of the facilities that were used to manufacture, assemble, and maintain

the arsenal are no longer needed. Some of these facilities can be

converted to new uses through decontamination processes; others must be

decommissioned. Wastes generated during the Cold War must be cleaned up

in a safe and cost-effective manner. In addition, DOE must comply with

applicable environmental requirements in managing wastes that may be

generated in the future.

Mixed wastes are regulated under both the Atomic Energy Act and the

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by the

FFCAct. The FFCAct required DOE to prepare Site Treatment Plans (STP)

that identified options for treating mixed wastes currently in storage

or that will be generated within the next five years at DOE sites,

including SRS. For the SRS, DOE developed a STP that the State of South

Carolina reviewed and subsequently approved on September 20, 1995. A

Consent Order was executed between DOE and the State of South Carolina

on September 29, 1995, specifying implementation requirements for the

approved STP. Simultaneous with the development of the SRS STP, the SRS

WMEIS evaluated the potential environmental impacts of STP-identified

treatment options. Negotiations with the State of South Carolina under

the FFCAct were an essential part of the decisionmaking process

regarding mixed low-level radioactive waste and transuranic waste

management.

This ROD deals, in part, with the characterization and treatment of

certain mixed low-level radioactive waste. DOE is in the process of

completing additional programmatic analyses

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concerning the treatment and disposal of mixed low-level radioactive

waste at locations around the United States under the DOE Waste

Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, and has agreed

to continue negotiations with potentially affected States. After such

negotiations are completed and DOE has announced appropriate

programmatic decisions, DOE may issue an additional SRS ROD(s) on the

treatment and disposal of mixed low-level radioactive waste.

Alternatives Considered

In the SRS WMEIS, DOE analyzed three alternatives, in addition to

the no action alternative, for managing mixed low-level radioactive

waste and transuranic waste in a manner that would protect human health

and the environment, comply with regulatory requirements, and save

money. The three treatment alternatives considered in the SRS WMEIS

(limited, moderate, and extensive) addressed treatment, storage, or

disposal facilities required for three forecasts of potential waste

volumes (minimum, expected, and maximum).

The Moderate Treatment Configuration Alternative previously

selected by DOE consists of the siting, construction, and operation of

facilities and the implementation of management techniques to provide a

balanced mix of technologies that include extensive treatment of those

waste types that have the greatest potential to adversely affect the

public or the environment, because of their mobility or toxicity if

left untreated, or that would remain highly radioactive far into the

future. This alternative provides less rigorous treatment than the

Extensive Treatment Configuration Alternative of wastes that do not

pose high potential for harm to humans or the environment or that will

not remain highly radioactive far into the future. For each mixed waste

stream, the STP identified treatment options and a preferred treatment.

The Moderate Treatment Configuration Alternative includes the preferred

treatments for mixed waste described in the approved STP and utilizes,

to the maximum extent practicable, existing facilities.

Environmentally Preferable Alternative

In DOE's judgment, as identified in the October 1995 ROD, the

Extensive Treatment Configuration Alternative is environmentally

preferable because it would minimize potential long-term environmental

impacts as a result of achieving more stable, migration-resistant waste

forms. DOE recognizes, however, that this treatment alternative would

result in greater short-term impacts to workers.

Decision

Determination

To further implement the Moderate Treatment Configuration

Alternative for mixed low-level radioactive waste and transuranic

waste, DOE selects the following actions, which are the preferred

options in the SRS STP and were not addressed in the October 1995 ROD:

Send elemental mercury and other mercury-contaminated low-

level radioactive waste offsite for treatment. Residuals will be

returned to SRS.

Vitrify two additional wastes, uranium chromium solutions

and waste site soils (spill soils), in the M-Area Vendor Treatment

Facility.

Construct and operate a containment building for the

characterization, certification, decontamination, shredding, and

macroencapsulation of mixed low-level radioactive waste, including

glass, metal, organic, inorganic, and heterogeneous debris, bulk

equipment, and lead wastes.

Construct and operate a transuranic waste

characterization/certification facility to characterize, repackage, and

certify alpha-contaminated low-level wastes and transuranic wastes.

Reasons for Determination

DOE has reviewed the SRS WMEIS and has determined that the

information is current and the analyses remain valid. DOE previously

selected the Moderate Treatment Configuration Alternative for SRS to

provide adequate protection of human health and the environment, and to

be consistent with expected budgetary limitations. These considerations

also apply to the mixed waste characterization and treatment

technologies under the Moderate Treatment Configuration Alternative.

These technologies are consistent with the preferred treatments

identified in the approved STP.

Environmental Impacts

DOE has determined that these mixed and transuranic waste decisions

would have small impacts within the eight resource categories addressed

in the SRS WMEIS (socioeconomic, groundwater, surface water, air,

traffic, transportation, occupational health, and public health). These

activities constitute only a portion of the activities whose potential

impacts were considered under the Moderate Treatment Configuration

Alternative, and the total impacts of the Alternative as a whole are

expected to be small. Potential impacts on land use and ecological

resources are expected to be small because any additional acreage

required would be included within the current boundary of the area at

SRS designated for waste management activities.

Mitigation

DOE believes that all practicable means to avoid and minimize

environmental harm from the Moderate Treatment Configuration

Alternative have already been adopted. If archaeological resources are

found in the course of implementing the alternative, mitigation--

including avoiding the resources if possible--will be conducted in

consultation with the South Carolina State Historical Preservation

Office.

Conclusion

DOE has selected certain actions for managing some mixed low-level

radioactive waste and transuranic waste at SRS to further implement the

Moderate Treatment Configuration Alternative. In making this decision,

DOE considered beneficial and adverse environmental impacts, monetary

costs, and regulatory commitments.

Issued in Washington, DC on May 9, 1997.

Alvin L. Alm,

Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.

[FR Doc. 97-13030 Filed 5-16-97; 8:45 am]

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