[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 202 (Thursday, October 19, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54068-54069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-25949]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for
the Proposed Interim Storage of Enriched Uranium at the Y-12 Plant, Oak
Ridge, TN
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability--Finding of No Significant Impact.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of
the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Environmental
Assessment (EA), ``Proposed Interim Storage of Enriched Uranium Above
the Maximum Historical Storage Level at the Y-12 Plant Oak Ridge,
Tennessee'' (DOE/EA-0929), as modified in September 1995. After careful
consideration of all comments received, and after consideration of the
impact of transporting only three metric tons of low enriched uranium
(LEU) as analyzed in the modification to the EA, the Department has
determined that the receipt, prestorage processing, and interim storage
at the Y-12 Plant of up to 506 metric tons of enriched uranium,
including storage of up to 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium
(HEU) and 6 metric tons of LEU (3 metric tons more than is currently
stored at the Y-12 Plant), does not constitute a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within
the meaning of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969.
Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required and
the Department has issued a FONSI.
DATES: The EA (DOE/EA-0929), as modified, and FONSI were approved by
DOE on September 14, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Questions regarding the EA and FONSI should be addressed to:
Mr. William R. Lynch, U.S. Department of Energy, DP-24, 19901
Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20585, (301) 903-3011.
Copies of the EA and FONSI are available for public review at the
following Department of Energy reading rooms:
U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room,
Forrestal Building, Room 1E-190, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, D.C. 20585, (202) 586-6020
U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Public Reading Room, 55 Jefferson
Avenue, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, (615) 241-4780
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the Y-12
project,
[[Page 54069]]
interested parties may contact Mr. Lynch at the address and phone
number above. For general information regarding the DOE NEPA process,
please contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy
and Assistance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Ave., SW., Washington DC 20585, (202) 586-4600 or 1-800-472-2756
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE prepared an EA for the ``Proposed
Interim Storage of Enriched Uranium Above the Maximum Historical
Storage Level at the Y-12 Plant Oak Ridge, Tennessee'' (DOE/EA-0929,
September, 1994). The EA was prepared pursuant to NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations (40 CFR
Parts 1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR Part 1021). The
EA evaluates the environmental effects of transportation, prestorage
processing, and interim storage of bounding quantities of enriched
uranium over a ten-year period. The bounding quantities of enriched
uranium analyzed in the EA include the transportation of up to 7,102.9
metric tons of LEU and about 100 metric tons of highly enriched uranium
plus HEU shipments from the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. The
bounding quantities of enriched uranium analyzed for interim storage
include the existing inventories (approximately 3 metric tons LEU and
170 metric tons HEU) plus the bounding quantities that would be
shipped. HEU placed in interim storage at the Y-12 Plant would not
exceed 500 metric tons. Storage of HEU beyond this interim period is
being addressed by the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for
the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials (DOE/
EIS-0229); the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0236); and the Environmental
Impact Statement for the Disposition of Surplus Highly Enriched Uranium
(DOE/EIS-0240), all of which are currently in preparation.
A predecisional draft EA was first released to the State of
Tennessee and the public in February 1994, followed by public meetings
and workshops in March and April 1994. After careful consideration of
all comments, DOE issued a revised pre-approval EA in September 1994
followed by additional public meetings in December 1994 and March 1995.
Additional comments were received and were carefully considered by DOE.
Because the preapproval EA analyzed bounding quantities of enriched
uranium as discussed above, an additional analysis was conducted in
August 1995 to determine the potential impacts of the transportation of
only three metric tons LEU. This analysis is attached to the FONSI, is
incorporated into the EA, and refines the analysis in the pre-approval
EA. As a result of this process, the Department decided that, in
addition to its existing inventory (which includes approximately 3
metric tons LEU), DOE will receive an additional 3 metric tons of LEU
and up to a total of 500 metric tons HEU for interim storage of up to
506 metric tons enriched uranium at the Y-12 Plant.
Based on the public participation process, the analyses in the EA,
the attachment to the FONSI, and after careful consideration of all
comments received, DOE has determined that transportation, prestorage
processing and interim storage at the Y-12 Plant of up to 506 metric
tons of enriched uranium, including up to 500 metric tons of HEU and 6
metric tons of LEU, does not constitute a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, within
the meaning of NEPA. Therefore, an EIS is not required and the DOE
approved the EA, as modified, and issued a FONSI on September 14, 1995.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 12th day of October, 1995, for
the United States Department of Energy.
Henry K. Garson,
Acting Associate Deputy Secretary for Facility Transition and Technical
Support, Office of Defense Programs.
[FR Doc. 95-25949 Filed 10-18-95; 8:45 am]
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