[Federal Register: January 24, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 15)]
[Notices]
[Page 3838-3839]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24ja06-53]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Section 3116 Determination for Salt Waste Disposal at the
Savannah River Site
AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a
section 3116 determination for the disposal of separated, solidified,
low-activity salt waste at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken,
South Carolina. Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 authorizes the Secretary of
Energy, in consultation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to
determine that certain waste from reprocessing is not high-level waste
(HLW) if it meets the statutory criteria set forth in Section 3116. The
Section 3116 determination sets forth the basis on which the Secretary
has determined that the salt waste is not high-level waste because it
(1) does not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic repository,
(2) has had highly radioactive radionuclides removed to the maximum
extent practical, and (3) meets the NRC performance objectives for the
disposal of low level waste. In a separate notice published in today's
Federal Register, DOE is also making available the amended Record of
Decision for Savannah River Site Salt Processing Alternatives Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, originally issued on
October 17, 2001 (66 FR 52752).
ADDRESSES: The final determination, as well as DOE's responses to the
public comments received on the draft determination, are available on
the Internet at http://apps.em.doe.gov/swd, and are publicly available
for review at the following locations: U.S. Department of Energy,
Public Reading Room, 1000 Independence Avenue,
[[Page 3839]]
SW., Room 1E-190, Washington, DC 20585, Phone: (202) 586-5955, or Fax:
(202) 586-0575; and U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah River
Operations Office, Public Reading Room, 171 University Parkway, Aiken,
SC 29801, Phone: (803) 641-3320, or Fax: (803) 641-3302.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As of November 2005 there are 36.4 million
gallons (Mgal) of liquid radioactive waste stored in underground waste
storage tanks at SRS. The waste consists of two distinct kinds of
material: approximately 2.6 Mgal of sludge, comprised primarily of
metals that settled at the bottom of the tanks; and approximately 33.8
Mgal of salt waste, which is comprised of concentrated salt solution
(supernate) and crystallized saltcake.
DOE's plans call for stabilizing and disposing of retrieved sludge
in a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level
radioactive waste. This will be done by stabilizing the HLW in a
borosilicate glass matrix through vitrification in a facility known as
the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). This process has been
ongoing since 1996.
Regarding the salt waste, DOE plans to remove cesium, strontium,
and actinides from these materials using a variety of technologies,
combining the removed cesium, strontium, and actinides with the sludge
being vitrified in DWPF, and solidifying the remaining low-activity
salt stream into a grout matrix, known as saltstone grout, suitable for
disposal in vaults at the Saltstone Disposal Facility at SRS. The
disposal of this low-activity salt stream on site is the subject of
this section 3116 determination.
DOE is separating the salt waste to segregate the low-activity
fraction using a two-phase, three-part process. The first phase will
involve two parts to treat the lower activity salt waste: (1) Beginning
in 2006, DOE will process a minimal amount of the lowest-activity salt
waste through a process involving deliquification, dissolution, and
adjustment of the waste; and (2) beginning in 2007, DOE will process a
minimal amount of additional salt waste with slightly higher activity
levels using an Actinide Removal Process and a Modular Caustic Side
Solvent Extraction Unit. The second, and longer-term phase, which is
scheduled to begin in 2011, involves the separation and processing of
the remaining (and by far the majority) of the salt waste using a high
capacity Salt Waste Processing Facility, augmented as necessary by the
Actinide Removal Process. This second phase will begin as soon as the
Salt Waste Processing Facility is constructed, permitted by the State
of South Carolina, and operational.
DOE believes that this two-phase, three-part approach to processing
and disposing of the salt waste at SRS will enable it to complete
cleanup and closure of the tanks years earlier and maximize reduction
of the potential risks that the tank wastes pose to the environment,
the public, and SRS workers. Taken together, the various technologies
that will be used are expected to result in the removal and
vitrification through the DWPF of 98 to 99 percent of the total
radioactivity currently contained in the salt waste, while minimizing
the time that waste will be stored in the underground tanks, some of
which have a known history of leaks.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2006.
James A. Rispoli,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. E6-814 Filed 1-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P