Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Closure of High-Level Waste Tanks at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for

Closure of High-Level Waste Tanks at the Savannah River Site, Aiken,

South Carolina

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) intends to prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) on the proposed closing of high-

level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South

Carolina. DOE proposes to close the tanks to protect human health and

the environment and to promote safety. DOE's preferred alternative is

to remove the residual waste from the tanks to the extent technically

and economically feasible, and then to fill them with a reducing grout

to bind up residual waste and a structural material to prevent collapse

of the tanks. DOE proposes to close these tanks and their associated

waste handling equipment in accordance with the Industrial Wastewater

Closure Plan for F- and H-Area High-Level Waste Tank Systems, prepared

by DOE and approved by the South Carolina Department of Health and

Environmental Control (SCDHEC). In closing the tanks, DOE will comply

not only with the Closure Plan, which is required by Industrial

Wastewater Permits that SCDHEC issued to DOE, but also with the

applicable requirements of DOE Orders, including DOE 5820.2A

(Radioactive Waste Management). DOE invites comments on the scope of

the EIS.

DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this

Notice and concludes February 12, 1998. DOE invites Federal agencies,

Native American tribes, State and local governments, and the public to

comment on the scope of this EIS. DOE will consider fully all comments

received by the close of the scoping period, and will consider comments

received after that date to the extent practicable.

Two public scoping workshops will be held during the scoping

period:

January 14, 1999

2:00-4:00 pm and 6:00-8:00 pm, North Augusta Community Center, 101

Brookside Drive, North Augusta, South Carolina, and,

January 19, 1999

2:00-4:00 pm and 6:00-8:00 pm, Holiday Inn Coliseum, 630 Assembly

Street, Columbia, South Carolina.

These scoping workshops will provide information about the high-

level waste tank closure process and alternatives for closure of high-

level waste tanks at SRS. The workshops will provide opportunities to

comment orally or in writing on the EIS scope, including the

alternatives and issues that the Department should consider in the EIS.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the scope of the EIS may also be mailed to the

address below or sent by fax, voice mail, or electronic mail. Written

comments on the scope of this EIS should be sent to: Andrew Grainger,

NEPA Compliance Officer, Savannah River Operations Office, U. S.

Department of Energy, Building 742A, Room 183, Aiken, South Carolina

29802, Attention: Tank Closure EIS.

Toll-free 24-hour fax and voice mail (local and nationwide): 800-

881-7292; E-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request information about this EIS

and the public scoping workshops, or to be placed on the EIS

distribution list, use any of the methods listed in ADDRESSES above.

For general information about the DOE NEPA process, contact: Carol

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

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

20585-0119, Phone: 202-586-4600, Voice mail: 800-472-2756, Fax: 202-

586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose and Need for Agency Action

At its inception in the 1950s, the primary mission of the SRS was

to produce special nuclear materials to support the defense, research,

and medical programs of the United States. This mission largely ended

and production of nuclear materials ceased following the dissolution of

the Soviet Union. Before the cessation of production, however, chemical

separation of irradiated fuel at SRS had resulted in product streams

(that is, special nuclear materials) and waste streams consisting of

acidic liquids bearing radioactive fission products and small amounts

of transuranic elements. This waste was chemically converted to an

alkaline solution and stored as insoluble sludges, salts, and liquid

supernate in 51 large underground tanks constructed between 1952 and

1981 at the SRS F-and H-Area Tank Farms. Two tanks, both in the F-Area

Tank Farm, were closed in 1997 and no longer store high-level waste.

Approximately 129 million liters (34 million gallons) of high-level

radioactive waste are now stored in 49 tanks. SRS still operates

facilities to stabilize nuclear materials that were in various stages

of processing when strategic nuclear materials production ceased; this

activity generates additional small amounts of high-level radioactive

waste.

DOE proposes to close the tanks and their associated waste handling

equipment to protect human health and the environment and to promote

safety, in accordance with (1) the Industrial Wastewater Closure Plan

for F- and H-Area High-Level Waste Tank Systems, prepared by DOE and

approved by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental

Control (SCDHEC), (2) South Carolina Regulation R.61-82, ``Proper

Closeout of Wastewater Treatment Facilities,'' and (3) applicable

requirements of DOE Orders, including DOE 5820.2A (Radioactive Waste

Management).

Removal, treatment, storage, and disposal of bulk waste from the

tanks will be in accordance with previous decisions, and are not within

the scope of this environmental impact statement. High-level waste will

be removed and treated to separate the high-activity fraction from the

low-activity fraction. The high-activity fraction will be transferred

to the Defense Waste Processing Facility and mixed into borosilicate

glass to immobilize the radioactive constituents. Stainless steel

canisters containing the borosilicate glass will be stored in Glass

Waste Storage Buildings at the SRS pending a decision on disposal in a

geologic repository. The low-activity fraction will be transferred to

the Saltstone Facility and mixed with grout to make saltstone, a

concrete-like material disposed of onsite in concrete vaults. The

environmental impacts of these processes and facilities were evaluated

[[Page 71629]]

in environmental impact statements for the Defense Waste Processing

Facility (DOE/EIS-0082-S, Record of Decision: 60 FR 18589, April 12,

1995), and Savannah River Site Waste Management (DOE/EIS-0217, Record

of Decision: 60 FR 552499, October 30, 1995). DOE is currently

evaluating processes and facilities required to replace one component

of the high-level waste processing system, the In-Tank Precipitation

process, and will conduct separate NEPA review of its environmental

impacts.

Closure of the high-level tanks after bulk waste removal is the

subject of this environmental impact statement. The primary concerns in

the closure process are how to deal with the waste that cannot be

technically or economically removed from the bottom of a tank and what

to do with the tank itself. The potential environmental impacts of tank

closure could vary, depending upon how DOE resolves these issues.

Upon completing closure activities for proximate groups of tanks,

environmental restoration actions to remediate groundwater would be

considered under the SRS Environmental Restoration Program, which is

not within the scope of this EIS.

The EIS Schedule

DOE plans to publish the draft EIS in August 1999 and the final EIS

in March 2000. A record of decision would be issued no sooner than 30

days from the Environmental Protection Agency's Federal Register

publication of the notice of availability of the final EIS.

DOE will not close additional high-level waste tanks before

completing the EIS process, but will continue to remove waste from the

tanks. The EIS schedule will fully support compliance with existing

schedules for additional tank closures. DOE is committed under the SRS

Federal Facilities Agreement between DOE, EPA, and SCDHEC to close

another high-level waste tank by fiscal year 2003 and to complete

closure of 24 additional tanks by 2022. Under the Savannah River High

Level Waste System Plan, DOE will close the remaining high-level waste

tanks by 2028.

Phased Action

Under each alternative except no action, DOE would close 49 high-

level waste tanks at SRS by implementing the Industrial Wastewater

Closure Plan for F- and H-Area High-Level Waste Tank Systems in

accordance with DOE Orders. Associated with each tank is additional

waste handling equipment, such as evaporators, pumps, and transfer

lines; a tank and its associated equipment are referred to as a ``tank

system.'' Each tank system would be closed in three phases:

The Evaluation and Cleaning Phase consists of determining

closure performance objectives and identifying cleaning and

stabilization methods required to meet those performance objectives.

The Approval Phase consists of DOE obtaining SCDHEC and

EPA approval of a DOE tank-systems-specific closure plan module that

describes the end state of the tank, the performance modeling results,

and closure details. Depending upon the tank-specific performance

objectives and the amount and type of waste left in the tank after bulk

waste removal, several alternative cleaning methods and stabilization

methods could be employed.

The Stabilization Phase would involve execution of the

tank closure in accordance with the approved closure plan module.

Alternatives

Preferred Alternative: DOE's preferred alternative is first to

clean the tank, to the extent technically and economically feasible,

with spray washing or, if needed to meet performance objectives, oxalic

acid cleaning. DOE then would fill the tank with a pumpable material

(for example, grout, sand, or saltstone) to immobilize any remaining

waste and stabilize the tanks themselves to prevent future collapse.

Clean to Allow Removal of the Tank Alternative: This alternative

consists of cleaning the tank only sufficiently to allow safe removal

and transferring it to the SRS Radioactive Waste Burial Grounds or a

high-level waste repository for disposal. This alternative would

eliminate potential migration of contaminants from closed tanks left in

place at the SRS tank farms.

No Action Alternative: This alternative consists of bulk waste

removal (that is, without further cleaning) and abandonment of the

tank. No fill material would be used to immobilize the remaining waste

or to stabilize the tank.

Related NEPA Decisions and Reviews

This EIS will use the information and analyses found in several

final DOE NEPA reviews that address high-level waste management systems

at SRS. These documents are available in these DOE public reading

rooms:

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

190, 1000 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 200585, Phone: 202-

586-6020

and

DOE Public Document Room, University of South Carolina, Aiken Campus,

University Library, 2nd Floor, 171 University Parkway, Aiken, S.C.

29801, Phone: 803-648-6851

Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Defense

Waste Processing Facility, DOE/EIS-0082-S, 1994.

Final Environmental Impact Statement, Savannah River Site

Waste Management, DOE/EIS-0217, 1995.

Environmental Assessment for the Closure of the High-Level

Waste Tanks in F- and H-Areas at the Savannah River Site, DOE/EA-1164,

1996.

DOE also will use additional information and analyses, including

the Industrial Wastewater Closure Plan for F- and H-Area High-Level

Waste Tank Systems, the Closure Modules for Tanks 17 and 20,

information from DOE tank closure workshops, and information developed

in consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding

whether waste left in the high-level waste tanks can be managed as

waste incidental to reprocessing plant operations.

Preliminary Identification of EIS Issues

DOE intends to address the following issues when assessing the

potential environmental impacts of the alternatives in this EIS. DOE

invites comment from Federal agencies, Native American tribes, State

and local governments, and the public on these and any other issues

that should be addressed in the EIS.

Potential impacts of the proposed action and alternatives

on release of contaminants to groundwater.

Relationship to land use plans for the SRS.

Compliance with applicable Federal, State and local

requirements and agreements.

Potential effects on the public, including minority and

low-income populations, and SRS workers from exposure to radiological

and hazardous materials.

Potential effects on air, soil, and water quality from

normal operations and reasonably foreseeable accidents.

Potential effects on SRS waste management operations and

facilities.

Pollution prevention, waste minimization, and energy and

water use reduction technologies to eliminate or reduce use of energy,

water, and hazardous substances and to minimize environmental impacts

during closure activities.

Potential socioeconomic impacts, including potential

impacts associated

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with the workforce needed for operations during closure activities.

Potential impacts on cultural and historic resources.

Potential cumulative environmental impacts of past,

present, and reasonably foreseeable future operations at the SRS.

Potential irreversible and irretrievable commitment of

resources.

Issued in Washington, D.C. on December 22, 1998.

David Michaels,

Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.

[FR Doc. 98-34458 Filed 12-28-98; 8:45 am]

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