[Federal Register: November 18, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 222)]
[Notices]
[Page 69512-69513]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18no02-35]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Disposal Phase Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Amendment to a Record of Decision.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to revise its
approach for managing approximately 0.97 metric tons (MT) of plutonium-
bearing materials (containing about 0.18 MT of surplus plutonium) that
are currently located at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site
(RFETS). The Department has decided to repackage and transport these
materials for direct disposal as transuranic waste (TRUW) at the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico instead of
shipping them to the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina for
storage pending possible disposition. These materials will be
repackaged to meet the WIPP waste acceptance criteria (WAC) for TRUW
and safeguards termination requirements. DOE has prepared a supplement
analysis for this action pursuant to 10 CFR 1021.314, entitled
Supplement Analysis for the Disposal of Certain Rocky Flats Plutonium-
Bearing Materials at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP SA) (DOE/
EIS-0026-SA-3, November 2002). On the basis of that document, DOE has
concluded this action would not result in significant environmental
impacts or in impacts significantly different from those analyzed in
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Disposal Phase Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS-II) (DOE-EIS-0026-FS2, September
1997).
ADDRESSES: Copies of the SEIS-II, the WIPP SA, this Amended Record of
Decision, and other documents referenced herein, can be obtained by
contacting the Center for Environmental Management Information, P.O.
Box 23769, Washington, DC 20026-3769, telephone 1-800-736-3282 (in
Washington, DC: 202-863-5084).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning the
management of plutonium-bearing materials currently stored at Rocky
Flats, contact: Dr. W. Eric Huang, Program Manager, Rocky Flats Office
(EM-33), Office of Site Closure, Environmental Management, U.S.
Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874,
Telephone: 301-903-4630.
For information concerning DOE's National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) process, contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA
Policy and Compliance (EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone (202) 586-
4600, or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Historically, Rocky Flats has used a material identification system
that segregated plutonium-bearing materials by process origin and/or to
designate the subsequent process steps for plutonium recovery and
recycle. The categorization is known as Item Description Codes (IDCs).
In January 1993, these IDCs were grouped into two major categories,
Product and Residue, in order to plan and manage the future disposition
of the Site's plutonium-bearing materials. The characterization of
plutonium-bearing materials as Product or Residue was based on the
average plutonium concentration of each IDC, the relative ease or
difficulty of recovery, and/or whether an IDC was traditionally
considered Product or Residue. In general, the Product category was
comprised of IDCs with average plutonium concentrations greater than 50
percent by weight. However, an IDC could be designated as residue
material although some individual items within this IDC exceed 50
percent by weight. Similarly, an IDC could be designated as Product
material although some individual items within this IDC are less than
50 percent by weight.
DOE has already decided to dispose of the Residue materials at WIPP
as transuranic waste (TRUW).\1\ See ``Record of Decision on the
Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site,'' 63 FR 66136 (December 1,
1998) and ``Amended Record of Decision on Management of Certain
Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the Rocky Flats
Environmental Technology Site,'' 66 FR 4803 (January 18, 2001). The
Product materials were originally part of a set of materials destined
to be repackaged and sent to the Savannah River Site (SRS) for storage
and possible subsequent disposition. See ``Record of Decision on the
Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials,'' 62 FR
3014 (January 21, 1997) and ``Amended Record of Decision on the
[[Page 69513]]
Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program,'' 67 FR 19432 (April 19, 2002).
However, as the Rocky Flats closure plans matured, a more detailed
review has been undertaken of the items within the Product oxide IDCs.
This evaluation revealed that a significant quantity of the materials
in the Product oxide IDCs contained plutonium concentrations comparable
to the Residue materials. Additionally, these items contained the same
plutonium compounds and many of the same impurities and physical
characteristics as the materials in the Residue IDCs. In fact, these
low assay oxides from the Product IDCs:
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\1\ For waste classification, DOE specifically defines TRUW as
waste containing more than 100 nanocuries of alpha emitting
transuranic isotopes per gram of waste with half-lives greater than
20 years except as noted in Chapter III of DOE Guide 435.1-1.
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[sbull] Originated from the same aqueous recovery processes and/or
contain impurities similar to the Wet Residue category; or
[sbull] Originated from the same pyrochemical processes and/or
contained impurities similar to the Salt Residue category; or
[sbull] Originated from the same process lines and/or contained
impurities comparable to the Ash Residue category.
DOE has therefore concluded that by reason of their similarity to
the materials already slated for disposal at WIPP, an additional
approximately 0.97 MT of low assay oxides (containing about 0.18 MT of
surplus plutonium) from the Product IDCs should be disposed of in the
same fashion after being repackaged to meet the requirements for
safeguards termination and the WIPP waste acceptance criteria (WAC).
Additional NEPA Review
DOE has prepared a supplement analysis for this proposed action,
entitled Supplement Analysis for the Disposal of Certain Rocky Flats
Plutonium-Bearing Materials at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (DOE/
EIS-0026-SA-3, November 2002). This supplement analysis was prepared to
determine whether the activities associated with repackaging
approximately 0.97 MT of plutonium-bearing materials (containing about
0.18 MT of surplus plutonium) at RFETS, shipping the materials to WIPP,
and disposal at WIPP would present any significant new information or
circumstances relevant to environmental concerns. The supplement
analysis indicated that the potential impacts of the proposed action
were small and not significantly different from the impacts evaluated
in the SEIS-II.
With respect to repackaging, the impacts of ordinary operations
would be bounded by the analysis in the SEIS-II, even when adding the
very small impacts from repackaging the proposed action material to
those of repackaging the other Rocky Flats material currently slated
for disposal at WIPP. This is due to the fact that the SEIS-II
contemplated the repackaging of considerably more plutonium than the
total amount of plutonium that will actually be repackaged at RFETS.
The SEIS-II analyzed repackaging and sending to WIPP 17,000 cubic
meters of TRUW, but DOE projects that no more than approximately 12,500
cubic meters will eventually be sent. With regard to the most severe
accident scenario, an earthquake, the impacts would be greater than
predicted in the SEIS-II because the proportion of plutonium in the
containers being repackaged is larger than in the containers analyzed
in the SEIS-II. But the difference is not significant because the
impacts are still small, and because the earthquake scenario has a
predicted frequency of less than once over 100,000 years.
The impacts from transporting and disposing of the proposed action
materials are small and bounded by those predicted in the SEIS-II. With
respect to transportation, the impacts are bounded by the analysis
contained in the SEIS-II for two reasons. First, once the material has
been repackaged for shipment, the shipments containing those packages
will be in all applicable respects similar to the shipments analyzed in
the SEIS-II. Second, the actual number of shipments from RFETS to WIPP
will be fewer than the number of shipments analyzed in the SEIS-II,
even when the shipments of the proposed action materials are included.
The SEIS-II assumed that approximately 2,100 shipments would be sent
from RFETS to WIPP, but DOE projects that no more than 1,700 shipments,
including the 45 shipments for the proposed action, will be sent. With
respect to disposal, once the material at issue has been repackaged, it
will meet the WIPP waste acceptance criteria, the relevant
consideration used in analyzing the impacts of disposing of the
material analyzed in the SEIS II. Furthermore, the volume (and impacts)
of material slated for disposal from all sites, including the proposed
action material, will remain well below the total analyzed in the SEIS-
II.
Other Considerations
This proposed action will reduce the technical uncertainty
associated with removing these materials from RFETS and thus will
enhance DOE's ability to meet the RFETS site closure schedule. In order
to send these materials to SRS as originally planned, they would need
to be stabilized and repackaged to meet DOE-STD-3013 requirements.
Because of their low density, it would be difficult to efficiently
repackage these materials to meet these requirements. The 3013
containers are relatively small and were developed for high density
plutonium metal and oxides. Also, these materials contain impurities
which present a significant technical challenge to maintaining the
moisture specifications of the DOE-STD-3013 requirements. Sending these
materials to WIPP as TRUW eliminates this technical risk.
Conclusion
DOE has determined that repackaging and transporting approximately
0.97 MT of RFETS plutonium-bearing materials (containing about 0.18 MT
of surplus plutonium) for direct disposal at the WIPP would not
constitute a substantial change in actions previously analyzed.
Furthermore, this proposed action would not constitute significant new
circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and
bearing on the previously analyzed action or its impacts. The potential
impacts associated with the new action are encompassed within the
activities and impacts analyzed under Action Alternative 1 of the SEIS-
II. Therefore, DOE does not need to undertake additional NEPA analysis
before issuing this amendment.
Decision
After consideration of the potential environmental impacts
identified in the SEIS-II and the WIPP SA, DOE has decided to dispose
of at WIPP approximately 0.97 MT of the plutonium-bearing materials
(containing about 0.18 MT of surplus plutonium) currently located at
RFETS. These materials would be repackaged to meet the WIPP WAC and
safeguards termination requirements.
This Amended Record of Decision is effective upon being made
public, in accordance with DOE's NEPA implementation regulations (10
CFR 1021.315).
Issued in Washington, DC, on November 8, 2002.
Jessie Hill Roberson,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 02-29161 Filed 11-15-02; 8:45 am]
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