[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 235 (Friday, December 5, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74160-74162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28806]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of the Revised Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West
Valley Demonstration Project and Western New York Nuclear Service
Center
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability
of the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning
and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West Valley Demonstration Project
and Western New York Nuclear Service Center (DOE/EIS-0226-D [Revised])
(referred to as the ``Draft Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS'' or ``Draft EIS''). This Draft EIS revises the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for Completion of the West Valley
Demonstration Project and Closure or Long-Term Management of Facilities
at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (DOE/EIS-0226-D) issued
for public comment in January 1996 (referred to as the ``1996 Cleanup
and Closure Draft EIS'').
This Draft EIS was prepared in accordance with the Council on
Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Implementing Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA
Implementing Procedures (10 CFR part 1021). DOE and the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are joint lead
agencies for preparing the Draft EIS, while the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
are cooperating agencies. NYSDEC and the New York State Department of
Health (NYSDOH) are involved agencies under the New York State
Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
This Draft EIS analyzes alternatives for decommissioning the site
and/or long-term stewardship, as well as a No Action Alternative as
required by NEPA and SEQRA. The Proposed Action is the completion of
the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) and the decommissioning
and/or long-term
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management or stewardship of the Western New York Nuclear Service
Center (WNYNSC). This includes the decontamination and decommissioning
of the waste storage tanks and facilities used in the solidification of
high-level radioactive waste, and any material and hardware used in
connection with the WVDP. DOE needs to determine the manner in which
facilities, materials, and hardware for which the Department is
responsible will be managed or decommissioned in accordance with
applicable Federal and State requirements. NYSERDA needs to determine
what material or structures for which it is responsible will remain on
site, and what institutional controls, engineered barriers, or
stewardship provisions would be needed.
For the Proposed Action, the three action alternatives evaluated in
the Draft EIS are Sitewide Removal, Sitewide Close-In-Place, and Phased
Decisionmaking. A No Action Alternative is also evaluated in accordance
with NEPA, which would continue management and oversight of the WNYNSC
under the conditions that will exist at the Starting Point of this EIS
in 2011.
DATES: The public is invited to comment on the Draft EIS, and all
comments received which are postmarked no later than the end of the
public comment period, June 8, 2009, will be addressed in preparing the
Final EIS. Comments postmarked after this date will be considered to
the extent practicable. Public hearings on the Draft EIS will be held
at the following dates and locations in New York: Tuesday, March 31,
2009, Seneca Nation of Indians, William Seneca Building, 12837 Rte.
438, Irving, NY; Wednesday, April 1, 2009, Ashford Office Complex, 9030
Route 219, West Valley, NY; and Thursday, April 2, 2009, Clarion
Hotel--McKinley's Banquet and Conference Center, S-3950 McKinley
Parkway, Blasdell, NY. Information regarding these dates, times and
locations will be announced via other means such as local press
announcements. Oral and written comments will be accepted at the public
hearings.
ADDRESSES: Copies of this Draft EIS are available for review at the
Concord Public Library, 18 Chapel Street, Springville, NY 14141, (716)
592-7742, the Ashford Office Complex Reading Room, 9030 Route 219, West
Valley, NY 14171, (716) 942-4555 and the U.S. Department of Energy,
FOIA Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Bldg., 1000 Independence Ave.,
SW., Washington, DC 20585, 202-586-3142.
This Draft EIS is also available at http://www.westvalleyeis.com.
Oral and written comments on the Draft EIS will be accepted at the
public hearings, or written comments may be mailed to Catherine Bohan,
EIS Document Manager, West Valley Demonstration Project, U.S.
Department of Energy, P.O. Box 2368, Germantown, MD 20874. Comments or
requests for information may also be submitted via e-mail at http://www.westvalleyeis.com or by faxing toll-free to 866-306-9094. Please
mark all envelopes, faxes and e-mail: ``Draft Decommissioning and/or
Long-Term Stewardship EIS Comments.'' All comments received or
postmarked during the comment period will be considered during
preparation of the Final EIS. Late comments will be considered to the
extent practicable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding the WVDP or
this Draft EIS, contact Catherine Bohan at the above address. The
following Web sites may also be accessed for additional information on
the Draft EIS or the West Valley Site: http://www.westvalleyeis.com or
http://www.wv.doe.gov.
For general information on DOE's NEPA process contact: Carol
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-20), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20585; e-mail [email protected]; telephone 202-586-4600; or leave a
message at 800-472-2756. The Draft EIS will also be accessible through
the Department's NEPA Web site at http://www.gc.energy.gov./NEPA.
For general questions and information about NYSERDA, contact Paul
Bembia, Program Director, West Valley Site Management Program, New York
State Energy Research and Development Authority, Ashford Office
Complex, 9030 Route 219, West Valley, NY 14171; telephone 716-942-9960,
extension 4900; fax 716-942-9961; or e-mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The WNYNSC is located south of Buffalo, NY,
owned by NYSERDA, on behalf of New York State, and was the site of a
commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility. Spent fuel reprocessing
operations conducted from 1966 to 1972 resulted in the generation of
2,500,000 liters (660,000 gallons) of high-level radioactive waste,
which were stored in two underground tanks. WVDP was authorized by
Congress in 1980 to demonstrate the solidification of the high-level
radioactive waste remaining in the underground tanks at the WNYNSC
site. Through a Cooperative Agreement between DOE and NYSERDA, DOE
assumed control, but not ownership, of the project premises portion of
the site (the area in which the WVDP is located) in order to conduct
the WVDP. Solidification of the high-level radioactive waste was
completed in 2002, and the solidified high-level radioactive waste is
currently stored at the site and will ultimately be transported to an
appropriate Federal repository for permanent disposal.
A Draft EIS for cleanup and closure of the WNYNSC was issued for
public comment in 1996 (1996 Cleanup and Closure Draft EIS), but a
Preferred Alternative was not identified, and a Final EIS was not
issued. Instead, DOE and NYSERDA believed it was important to defer
selection of a Preferred Alternative until more studies and analyses
were completed and the NRC policy statement, including decommissioning
criteria for the WVDP, were issued. Since that time, additional data
have been collected on structural geology, local fractures, and
seismicity. Designs for potential engineering approaches for
decommissioning have been evaluated. Disposal area and facility
inventory reports have been updated; improved methods for analyzing
erosion and groundwater flow and transport have been developed and
refined; a citizen task force has been consulted on the nature of a
Preferred Alternative; and workshops to refine methods for long-term
performance assessment have been conducted. Assumptions and design
features for specific alternatives were reviewed and revised.
This Draft Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship revises the
1996 clean-up and closure EIS, and was prepared in accordance with the
Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act
NEPA Implementing Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE NEPA
Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021). DOE and NYSERDA are joint
lead agencies for preparing the Draft EIS, while NRC, EPA and NYSDEC
are cooperating agencies. NYSDEC and NYSDOH are involved agencies under
SEQRA. DOE needs to determine what material or structures for which it
is responsible will remain on site, and what institutional controls,
engineered barriers, or stewardship provisions would be needed. NYSERDA
needs to determine the manner in which facilities and property for
which NYSERDA is responsible, including the State-licensed Disposal
Area, will be managed or decommissioned, in accordance with applicable
Federal and State requirements. To this end,
[[Page 74162]]
NYSERDA needs to determine what material or structures for which it is
responsible will remain on site, and what institutional controls,
engineered barriers, or stewardship provisions would be needed.
This Draft EIS is intended to support DOE and NYSERDA decisions
regarding the Proposed Action, which is the completion of the WVDP and
the decommissioning and/or long-term management or stewardship of the
WNYNSC. This would include the disposition of the high-level
radioactive waste storage tanks, the former spent fuel reprocessing
plant, the North Plateau Groundwater Plume, the Cesium Prong, the NRC-
licensed Disposal Area (NDA), and the State-licensed Disposal Area
(SDA). The three action alternatives evaluated for the Proposed Action
are as follows:
Sitewide Removal: Under this alternative, all site facilities as
outlined in this Draft EIS would be removed; all environmental media
would be decontaminated; and all radioactive, hazardous, and mixed
waste would be characterized, packaged as necessary, and shipped off
site for disposal. Completion of these activities would allow
unrestricted use of the site (i.e., the site could be made available
for any public or private use). This alternative includes temporary
onsite storage of vitrified high-level radioactive waste canisters
pending the availability of a Federal repository.
Sitewide Close-In-Place: Under this alternative, most facilities
would be closed in place. Residual radioactivity in facilities with
larger inventories of long-lived radionuclides would be isolated by
specially designed closure structures and engineered barriers. Major
facilities and sources of contamination, such as the Waste Tank Farm
and burial grounds, would be managed at their current locations. This
would allow large areas of the site to be released for unrestricted
use. The license for remaining portions of the WNYNSC could be
terminated under restricted conditions, or those portions could remain
under long-term NRC license or permit. Facilities that are closed in-
place, and any buffer areas around them, would require long-term
stewardship.
Phased Decisionmaking: Under this alternative, decommissioning
would be completed in two phases. This alternative involves near-term
removal actions where there is agency consensus and characterization
studies to facilitate decisionmaking for the remaining facilities or
areas.
Phase 1 would include removal of the Main Plant Process Building,
the source of the North Plateau Groundwater Plume, and the lagoons on
the WVDP premises. All facilities and the lagoons would be removed,
except for the permeable treatment wall (an in-situ groundwater
mitigation technology). Phase 1 decisions would also include removal of
a number of other facilities on the WVDP premises. No decommissioning
or long-term management activities would be conducted for the Waste
Tank Farm and its support facilities, the construction and demolition
debris landfill, the non-source area of the North Plateau Groundwater
Plume, or the NDA. The SDA would continue under active management,
consistent with its permit and license requirements. Phase 1 activities
would make use of proven technologies and available waste disposal
sites to reduce the potential near-term health and safety risks from
residual radioactivity and hazardous contaminants at the site. Phase 1
would also include an ongoing assessment period during which DOE and
NYSERDA would conduct additional studies, evaluations, and
characterization of site contamination. The studies and evaluations
would be conducted to clarify and possibly reduce technical
uncertainties related to the decision on final decommissioning and
long-term management of the site, particularly uncertainties associated
with the long-term performance models, the performance of engineered
barriers and other technologies for in-place containment, the viability
and cost of technology for exhuming buried waste, and the availability
of waste disposal sites. In consultation with NYSERDA and the
cooperating and involved agencies on this Draft EIS, DOE would
determine whether the new information warrants a new or supplemental
EIS. NYSERDA also would assess the results of site-specific studies and
other information during Phase 1 to determine the need for additional
SEQRA documentation.
According to the approach determined most appropriate during the
additional Phase 1 studies and evaluations, Phase 2 would complete
decommissioning or long-term management decisionmaking. Under the
Phased Decisionmaking Alternative, the Phase 2 decision would be made
within 30 years.
No Action Alternative: Under this alternative, no actions toward
decommissioning would be taken. This alternative would involve the
continued management and oversight of all facilities located on the
WNYNSC property as of the Starting Point for this EIS in 2011. The No
Action Alternative does not meet the Purpose and Need for agency
action, but analysis of the No Action Alternative is required under
NEPA and SEQRA as a basis of comparison.
Preferred Alternative: The Phased Decisionmaking Alternative is
DOE's and NYSERDA's Preferred Alternative.
Combination Alternatives: DOE and NYSERDA recognize that, after
consideration of public comments, some combination of alternatives
analyzed in the Draft EIS may be identified as the best way to meet
agency goals and protect human health and safety and the environment.
If a specific combination alternative is identified as preferred
between the Draft and Final EISs, DOE would present the combination
alternative and its potential impacts in the Final EIS. If a
combination alternative is ultimately selected for implementation, the
Record of Decision and Findings Statement (under SEQRA) would explain
the reasons DOE and NYSERDA made that decision.
Following the end of the public comment period, DOE will consider
and respond to the comments received, and issue the Final
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS, including a Comment
Response Document. DOE will issue a Record of Decision no sooner than
30 days after EPA issues a Notice of Availability of the final EIS in
the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, November 25, 2008.
Ines R. Triay,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. E8-28806 Filed 12-4-08; 8:45 am]
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