[Federal Register: September 8, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 173)]
[Notices]
[Page 53353-53355]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08se05-44]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of a Supplement Analysis for
Transportation, Storage, Characterization, and Disposal of Transuranic
Waste Currently Stored at the Battelle West Jefferson Site Near
Columbus, OH
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a Supplement Analysis.
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SUMMARY: DOE has prepared a Supplement Analysis (SA) pursuant to DOE
regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
at 10 CFR 1021.314. The SA addresses DOE's proposal to ship
approximately 37 cubic meters (1,307 cubic feet [ft\3\]) of transuranic
(TRU) waste from the Battelle Columbus Laboratory West Jefferson site
near Columbus, Ohio, to the Savannah River Site (SRS), a DOE site near
Aiken, South Carolina, or to Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS), a
commercial facility in Andrews, Texas. The waste was generated as part
of the cleanup of the West Jefferson site and consists of approximately
12 cubic meters of Contact Handled (CH) TRU waste and approximately 25
cubic meters of Remote Handled (RH) TRU waste. For purposes of
analysis, DOE assumed that at SRS, the CH-TRU waste would be
characterized and transported to WIPP for disposal, and the RH-TRU
waste would be stored for up to 5 years; at WCS, the CH-TRU and RH-TRU
waste would be stored for up to 5 years. The waste would be maintained
in a safe, secure manner until it can be processed and disposed of at
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, NM.
The Battelle West Jefferson facility is privately owned; however,
as part of the closeout of its nuclear materials research contract, DOE
is assisting in the remediation of the site. Contract terms specify
that all radioactive waste generated during the facility cleanup is
``DOE-owned'' for the purposes of disposal. The TRU waste must be
shipped off-site by December 31, 2005, as Battelle's Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) license will expire at that time.
In the final Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (WM PEIS, DOE/EIS-0200, May 1997), DOE analyzed the potential
environmental impacts of the management (treatment and storage) of TRU
waste at DOE sites. The Record of Decision for the Department of
Energy's Waste Management Program: Treatment and Storage of Transuranic
Waste (63 FR 3629 (1998)) (TRU Waste ROD) documented DOE's decision
that, except for the Sandia National Laboratory, which would ship its
waste to Los Alamos National Laboratory, each DOE site that generated
or will generate TRU waste will prepare and store its TRU waste on the
site until it can be disposed of at WIPP. DOE noted that in the future,
it may decide to ship TRU waste from sites where it may be impractical
to prepare the waste for disposal to sites where DOE has or will have
the necessary capability. The sites that could receive such shipments
of TRU waste are the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho;
the Oak Ridge Reservation, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee; SRS; and the
Hanford site, near Richland, Washington.
Based on the SA, DOE has determined that a supplement to the WM
PEIS or a new EIS is not needed. DOE plans to issue an amended Record
of Decision (ROD) under the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (WM PEIS) for this waste no sooner than 30 days from
the publication of this Notice.
DATES: DOE will consider all public comments on this matter submitted
by October 11, 2005 before issuing a ROD.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: Mr. Harold Johnson, Carlsbad
Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 4021 National Parks Highway,
Carlsbad, NM 88220, Telephone: 505-234-7349, E-mail:
harold.johnson@wipp.ws.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the Supplement Analysis for
Transportation, Storage, Characterization, and Disposal of Transuranic
Waste Currently Stored at the Battelle West Jefferson Site near
Columbus, Ohio (DOE/EIS-0200-SA-02) will be available on DOE's Office
of Environmental Management Web site at: http://www.em.doe.gov and on DOE's NEPA Web site at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/whatsnew/html. To
To
request printed copies of this document, please write or call: 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 regarding the storage characterization, and
disposal of Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste, contact: Mr. Harold
Johnson, Carlsbad Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 4021
National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM 88220, Telephone: 505-234-7349.
For further information on the DOE program for the management of
TRU waste, contact: Ms. Lynne Smith, WIPP Office EM-13, Office of
Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, 19001 Germantown
Road, Germantown, MD 20874, Telephone: 301-903-6828.
For information on DOE's 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: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is
responsible for the disposal of approximately 37 cubic meters (m3)
(1,307 cubic feet [ft\3\]) of transuranic (TRU) waste generated as part
of the cleanup of the Battelle Columbus Laboratory West Jefferson site
near Columbus, Ohio, and currently stored on-site. TRU waste is waste
that contains alpha particle-emitting radionuclides with atomic numbers
greater than uranium (92) and half-lives greater than 20 years in
concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram of waste.
TRU waste is categorized as either contact handled (CH) or remote
handled (RH), based on the radiation level at the
[[Page 53354]]
surface of the waste container. Some TRU waste is also mixed waste,
having both radioactive and hazardous components.
The Battelle West Jefferson facility is privately owned; however,
as part of the closeout of its nuclear materials research contract, DOE
is assisting in the remediation of the site. Contract terms specify
that all radioactive waste generated during the facility cleanup is
``DOE-owned'' for the purposes of disposal. DOE needs to ship the TRU
waste off-site by December 31, 2005, to comply with Battelle's Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) license, which will expire at that time.
Removal of the TRU waste from the Battelle West Jefferson site is also
required to allow site closure in fiscal year (FY) 2006.
In the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
(WM PEIS), DOE analyzed the potential environmental impacts of the
management (treatment and storage) of TRU waste at DOE sites. The
Record of Decision for the Department of Energy's Waste Management
Program: Treatment and Storage of Transuranic Waste (63 FR 3629 (1998))
(TRU Waste ROD) documented DOE's decision that, with the exception of
the Sandia National Laboratory, which would send its waste to Los
Alamos National Laboratory, each DOE site that has generated or will
generate TRU waste will prepare and store its TRU waste on the site,
pending disposal at WIPP.
In an amended WM PEIS TRU Waste ROD issued in 2002, DOE decided to
ship the Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste to the Hanford Site for
storage and characterization prior to disposal at the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant (WIPP), located near Carlsbad, New Mexico [67 FR 56989
(2002)]. After issuing that decision, DOE completed three shipments of
the Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste to Hanford (approximately 5 m\3\
[177 ft\3\]). In March 2003, DOE suspended further shipments of this
TRU waste to Hanford, and subsequently a preliminary injunction
stopping further shipments of TRU waste to Hanford was issued by the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in response
to actions filed by the State of Washington and Columbia Riverkeeper.
Shipments of TRU waste to Hanford for storage and characterization
prior to disposal at WIPP remained suspended pending completion of the
Hanford Solid (Radioactive and Hazardous) Waste Program Environmental
Impact Statement (Hanford Solid Waste EIS) (DOE 2004a) and lifting of
the preliminary injunction. The Hanford Solid Waste EIS was completed
in January 2004, and a Record of Decision (ROD) was issued in June
2004.\1\ On May 13, 2005, the district court issued a decision allowing
the shipment of non-mixed TRU waste from the Battelle West Jefferson
site to Hanford. However, the court has retained a preliminary
injunction against off site shipments of mixed TRU to Hanford.
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\1\ Record of Decision for the Solid Waste Program, Hanford
Site, Richland, Washington: Storage and Treatment of Low-Level Waste
and Mixed Low-Level Waste; Disposal of Low-Level Waste and Mixed
Low-Level Waste; and Storage, Processing, and Certification of
Transuranic Waste for Shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,
69 FR 39449 (2004) (Hanford Solid Waste ROD).
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Although shipment of non-mixed TRU waste to Hanford is no longer
enjoined, DOE has discovered information that calls into question the
accuracy of some of the analyses contained in the Hanford Solid Waste
EIS. Until these questions can be addressed, DOE has decided not to
ship additional waste from Battelle West Jefferson to Hanford.
Nevertheless, by the end of 2005, DOE needs to ship all Battelle West
Jefferson TRU waste to off-site storage so that Battelle can comply
with its NRC license and site closure can occur in FY 2006.
DOE is now proposing to ship the Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste
to the Savannah River Site (SRS), a DOE site near Aiken, South
Carolina, or to Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS), a commercial
facility in Andrews, Texas. For purposes of analysis, at SRS, the CH-
TRU waste would be characterized and transported to WIPP for disposal,
and the RH-TRU waste would be stored for up to 5 years pending ultimate
disposal at WIPP. At WCS, the CH- and RH-TRU waste would be stored for
up to 5 years pending ultimate disposal at WIPP.
DOE has a Hazardous Waste Facility Permit modification request
pending before the New Mexico Environment Department that seeks to
modify the characterization requirements for CH-TRU waste, apply those
modified requirements to RH-TRU waste, and allow DOE to dispose of RH-
TRU waste at WIPP. If DOE's request is granted without substantial
modification, it may be possible to characterize the Battelle West
Jefferson waste based on knowledge of the contents of the waste,
without performing sampling and analysis currently required for CH-TRU
waste under the WIPP Hazardous Waste Facility Permit. If
characterization can be performed without additional sampling and
analysis, DOE would ship the stored waste directly from SRS or WCS to
WIPP.
If the WIPP TRU waste characterization requirements that are
established by the hazardous waste facility permit modification cannot
be met at SRS or WCS, then DOE would ship the waste from SRS or WCS to
Hanford, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) (formerly known as the Idaho
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory), or Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (ORNL) for characterization prior to shipment to
WIPP for disposal. If SRS can meet the characterization requirements,
but WCS cannot, the waste might also be shipped from WCS to SRS for
characterization prior to shipment to WIPP for disposal.
Future decisions regarding where to characterize the Battelle West
Jefferson TRU waste would be made based on (1) consideration of the
characterization requirements that are eventually established for that
waste, and (2) the characterization capabilities existing or to be
established at the different DOE sites to meet those requirements.
After TRU waste characterization requirements have been established, if
additional characterization were needed, DOE would conduct appropriate
further National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, for any
additional characterization activities if necessary, including the
associated transportation and shipment of the TRU waste to WIPP for
disposal.
DOE has prepared the SA in accordance with DOE NEPA regulations (10
CFR 1021.314) to determine whether the proposed shipment of the
Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste for storage at SRS or WCS prior to
disposal at WIPP is a substantial change to the proposal or whether
there are significant new circumstances or information, relevant to
environmental concerns, such that a supplement to the WM PEIS or a new
EIS would be needed. DOE has concluded, based on the analysis in the SA
that the impacts of shipping the waste to WCS or SRS would be very
small and would not add significantly to impacts reported in prior NEPA
analyses. Accordingly, DOE has determined that a supplement to the WM-
PEIS or a new EIS is not needed.
DOE plans to issue an amended ROD under the WM PEIS for this waste
no sooner than 30 days from the publication of this Notice. DOE will
consider all public comments on this matter submitted by October 11,
2005 before issuing a ROD.
[[Page 53355]]
Issued in Washington, DC, September 1, 2005.
James A. Rispoli,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 05-17791 Filed 9-7-05; 8:45 am]
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