Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Production of Tritium in a Commercial Light Water Reactor

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the

Production of Tritium in a Commercial Light Water Reactor

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Public Meetings.

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

the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Production of

Tritium in a Commercial Light Water Reactor (hereafter referred to as

the CLWR Draft EIS), and the dates and locations for public meetings to

receive comments on the CLWR Draft EIS. The purpose of the CLWR Draft

EIS is to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with producing

tritium at one or more commercial light water reactors. Tritium, a

radioactive gas, is a necessary component of every weapon in the

Nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.

ADDRESSES AND FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A copy of the CLWR Draft

EIS and/or its Summary may be obtained upon request by mail (U.S.

Department of Energy, Commercial Light Water Reactor Project Office,

Attn: Mr. Jay Rose, P.O. Box 44539, Washington, D.C. 20026-4539), by

fax (1-800-631-0612), by phone (1-800-332-0801), or electronically

(CLWR web site: http://www.dp.doe.gov/dp-62).

Specific information regarding the public meetings can be obtained

by calling 1-800-332-0801, writing to the address above, or

electronically via the CLWR web site: http://www.dp.doe.gov/dp-62.

For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact:

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, (202) 586-4600 or leave a message at (800) 472-

2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Energy is responsible for

supplying nuclear materials for strategic defense needs and for

ensuring that the nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and reliable.

Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is an essential component

of every nuclear weapon in the current and projected U.S. nuclear

weapons stockpile. Unlike other materials used in nuclear weapons,

tritium decays rapidly, at a rate of 5.5 percent per year. Accordingly,

as long as the Nation relies on a nuclear deterrent, the tritium in

each nuclear weapon must be replenished periodically. Currently, the

U.S. nuclear weapons complex does not have the capability to produce

the amounts of tritium that will be required to support the Nation's

stockpile.

The CLWR Draft EIS evaluates the environmental impacts associated

with producing tritium at one or more of the following five CLWRs: (1)

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 (Spring City, Tennessee); (2) Sequoyah

Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 (Soddy Daisy, Tennessee); (3) Sequoyah Nuclear

Plant, Unit 2 (Soddy Daisy, Tennessee); (4) Bellefonte Nuclear Plant,

Unit 1 (Hollywood, Alabama); and (5) Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Unit 2

(Hollywood, Alabama). More specifically, the CLWR Draft EIS analyzes

the potential environmental impacts associated with fabricating

tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs), transporting non-

irradiated TPBARs from the fabrication facility to the reactor sites,

irradiating TPBARs in the reactors, and transporting irradiated TPBARs

from the reactors to a tritium extraction facility that would be

established at the Savannah River Site. The CLWR Draft EIS also

evaluates the No Action alternative. Under this alternative, the

stockpile requirements for tritium would have to be met by the

construction and operation of an accelerator at DOE's Savannah River

Site.

The Department does not have a preferred alternative at this time

for the CLWR Draft EIS. The CLWR Final EIS will include any preferred

alternative. However, the Department may choose to identify a preferred

alternative prior to issuing the CLWR Final EIS.

The Department is inviting members of Congress, American Indian

Tribal Governments, state and local

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governments, other Federal agencies, and the general public to provide

comments on the CLWR Draft EIS. The 60-day comment period starts on

August 28, 1998, and will end on October 27, 1998. As part of the

review period, the Department has scheduled three public meetings for

the following dates, times, and locations.

October 1, 1998, 7 p.m.

North Augusta Community Center, 495 Brookside Avenue, North

Augusta, SC 29842, (803) 441-4290

October 6, 1998, 7 p.m.

Northeast Alabama Community College, Tom Bevill Lyceum, 138 Alabama

Highway 35 West, Rainsville, AL 35986, (205) 638-7044

October 8, 1998, 7 p.m.

Rhea County High School, Auditorium, 405 Pierce Road, Evensville,

TN 37332, (423) 775-7821

Registration will begin 45 minutes before the beginning of each

meeting.

Comments may also be submitted by mail (U.S. Department of Energy,

Commercial Light Water Reactor Project Office, Attn: Mr. Jay Rose, P.O.

Box 44539, Washington, D.C. 20026-4539), by fax (1-800-631-0612), by

phone (1-800-332-0801), or electronically (CLWR web site: http://

www.dp.doe.gov/dp-62). The Department will consider all comments

postmarked by October 27, 1998, in preparing the CLWR Final EIS. Later

comments will be considered to the extent practicable. The CLWR Final

EIS is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 1998. A Record of

Decision would be issued no sooner than 30 days after the CLWR Final

EIS is issued.

Signed in Washington, D.C. this 21st day of August, 1998.

Thomas F. Gioconda,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs.

[FR Doc. 98-23063 Filed 8-26-98; 8:45 am]

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