95-26844. Availability of Implementation Plan for the Medical Isotopes Production Project: Molybdenum-99 and Related Isotopes Environmental Impact Statement

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 209 (Monday, October 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 55249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-26844]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Availability of Implementation Plan for the Medical Isotopes 
Production Project: Molybdenum-99 and Related Isotopes Environmental 
Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the Implementation Plan for the Medical Isotopes Production Project: 
Molybdenum-99 and Related Isotopes Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS), DOE/EIS-0249-IP.

DATES: The Department intends to issue the Draft Medical Isotopes 
Production Project EIS for public comment later this fall. A 45-day 
public comment period will be provided. The Department plans to hold 
public hearings on the Draft EIS during the public comment period. The 
public hearings are tentatively scheduled to be held in the following 
locations: Idaho Falls, Idaho, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Albuquerque, New 
Mexico, Los Alamos, New Mexico.
    The meetings will provide opportunities for information exchange 
and discussion as well as for the submittal of written statements or 
oral comments. Specific times, dates, and locations for the hearings 
will be announced at a later date.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Medical Isotopes Production 
Project EIS Implementation Plan or other correspondence regarding this 
environmental review should be addressed to: Mr. Wade Carroll, MIPP EIS 
Project Manager, NE-70, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown 
Road, Germantown, MD 20874. Mr. Carroll may be contacted by telephone 
at [phone], facsimile [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE 
NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Office of NEPA 
Policy and Assistance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20585. Ms. Borgstrom may be 
contacted by leaving a message at [phone] or by calling (202) 
586-4600. For general information on the DOE isotope production 
program, please contact: Mr. Owen W. Lowe, Associate Director, Office 
of Isotope Production and Distribution, NE-70, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874. Mr. Lowe may be 
contacted by calling [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed medical isotopes production 
project would establish a production capability to ensure a reliable 
domestic supply of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which decays to form the 
medical isotope technetium-99m (Tc-99m). The proposed project would 
also enable the production of related medical isotopes (iodine-125, 
iodine-131, and xenon-133).
    Tc-99m is an important medical isotope, used in more than 30,000 
diagnostic medical procedures each day in the United States. The United 
States medical community is reliant upon a single 38 year old reactor 
in Canada for its entire supply of Mo-99, from which Tc-99m is 
obtained. The Department's near-term goal would be to provide a backup 
capability to supply a baseline production level of 10 to 30 percent of 
current United States demand for Mo-99 and 100 percent of the United 
States demand should the existing Canadian source be unavailable. The 
baseline production level would serve to maintain the capabilities of 
the facilities and staff to respond on short notice to supply the 
entire United States demand on an as-needed basis. The Department's 
longer term objective is to support private sector production of Mo-99 
in the United States.
    The Department is preparing the Medical Isotopes Production Project 
EIS to evaluate the environmental impacts of reasonable alternatives 
for the domestic production of Mo-99. The EIS will also evaluate the 
required ``no action'' alternative. Short descriptions of the 
alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS are included in the 
Implementation Plan.
    The EIS Implementation Plan has been distributed to appropriate 
Congressional members and committees, the States of Idaho, New Mexico, 
and Tennessee, American Indian tribal governments, local county 
governments, other federal agencies, and other interested parties. The 
Implementation Plan is available for review at the following locations:

DOE Headquarters, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1E-190, 
Washington, DC, 20585, phone [phone];
National Atomic Museum, Building 20358, Wyoming Boulevard, Kirtland Air 
Force Base, New Mexico, 87158, phone [phone];
Los Alamos National Laboratory Community Reading Room, 1450 Central 
Avenue, Suite 101, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87544, phone [phone];
Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Public Reading Room, 1776 Science Center 
Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83402, phone [phone];
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, 138 
Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, phone [phone];
Georgia Institute of Technology, Price Gilbert Memorial Library, 225 
North Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0900, phone [phone];
Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center, South Ferry Road, Naragansett, 
Rhode Island, 02882, phone [phone]; and
University of Missouri-Columbia, Ellis Library, Columbia, Missouri, 
65201, phone [phone].

    Signed in Washington, D.C., this 10th day of October, 1995, for 
the United States Department of Energy.
Ray A. Hunter,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 95-26844 Filed 10-27-95; 8:45 am]
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