[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 217 (Thursday, November 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27780]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: November 10, 1994]
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Alternative Strategies for the Long-Term Management of Depleted
Uranium Hexafluoride Resources at Several Geographic Locations
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Advance notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact
statement.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy is providing advance notice of its
intent to prepare an environmental impact statement pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The environmental
impact statement will assess the potential environmental impacts of
alternative strategies for the long-term management or uses of depleted
uranium hexafluoride (UF6) resources currently stored at Paducah,
Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
This environmental impact statement will consider general strategy
options, including the general impacts of siting potential facilities
or transporting materials to or from such facilities. In addition, such
analyses would focus on those issues that would affect strategy
selection, such as consolidation at one site. The specific
environmental impacts of the transportation of materials or impacts
from the actual siting of any projects that would result from strategy
selection would be further assessed by any necessary project NEPA
documents to follow.
DATES AND ADDRESSES: The Department of Energy requests comments by
January 9, 1994, but comments sent after that time will be considered
to the extent possible. The anticipated date for the formal notice of
intent is June 1995. The dates and locations of all scoping meetings
will be announced in that notice of intent or subsequent Federal
Register notices as well as in local media, prior to the planned
meetings.
Written comments on the scope of the environmental impact
statement, questions concerning the proposed action, and requests for
copies of referenced material should be directed to: Mr. Charles E.
Bradley Jr., Office of Uranium Programs, Office of Nuclear Energy,
United States Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown,
Maryland 20874, (301) 903-4781.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the
Department of Energy NEPA review process, please contact Ms. Carol M.
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Oversight, United States Department
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585,
(202) 586-4600 or 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Depleted UF6 is stored as a solid
compound of uranium and fluorine in large cylinders. It is produced by
an enrichment process that divides a single stream of UF6 into two
separate streams--one enriched in uranium-235 and one depleted in
uranium-235. The enriched UF6 is withdrawn from the process and
used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. The depleted
UF6 is withdrawn from the process and stored in large cylinders.
The purpose of the environmental impact statement is to assess the
potential impacts of a range of technological or market options related
to the management of depleted UF6 (currently stored at Paducah,
Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee), including use,
reuse, conversion, or disposal, and to select a strategy for the long-
term management of such depleted UF6 in light of the changed
missions and functions. Should the Department of Energy develop any
proposal in the future to use any fraction of the depleted UF6
inventory for its own research or other activity, that proposal would
be the subject of a separate NEPA document, and would not affect this
notice.
The environmental impact statement will focus on the Department of
Energy's depleted UF6 stored at the Paducah, Portsmouth, and Oak
Ridge sites. Other forms of depleted uranium (e.g., uranium oxides and
uranium metal) and depleted UF6 used or stored at other sites
would not be analyzed in the environmental impact statement since they
exist only in small quantities (taken all together they total about 7
percent of the quantity of the subject depleted UF6), would not
affect strategy selection, and would involve different management and
potentially different uses. Should the Department propose an action
that involves these other forms of depleted uranium, such a proposal
would receive appropriate NEPA review.
The Department of Energy is publishing elsewhere in today's Federal
Register a Request for Recommendations for potential uses for the
depleted UF6, which includes a request for suggestions of
technologies that could facilitate the long-term management of the
material. The request will also be published in industry and trade
publications.
The Department of Energy intends to use technical experts to
evaluate the responses that are received from the requests. Following
the Department's receipt of the technical evaluations, the Department
will determine which responses evaluated are reasonable and include
them as alternatives to be assessed in the environmental impact
statement. The Department will provide opportunities for the public to
participate in the technology evaluation process. The Department will
also initiate a separate study on the costs of the depleted UF6
uses and management options assessed in the environmental impact
statement. This request to the public, industry, and other Government
agencies is the first step in the process to consider alternative
approaches. The request and the evaluations that follow will help to
ensure that the resulting long-range management strategy will consider
all reasonable alternatives.
The Department of Energy will also initiate a study of the life
cycle costs of each environmental impact statement alternative. That
study will also be considered, along with the final environmental
impact statement, when the Department selects a strategy from among the
reasonable alternatives.
Invitation To Comment
The Department of Energy intends to conduct a full and open process
to define the scope of the environmental impact statement and is
issuing this Advance Notice of Intent as a preliminary step in seeking
public comment on the proposed action, the range of alternatives, and
the scope of impact analysis. Written comments from all interested
parties are invited in order to assist the Department in defining the
scope of the environmental impact statement, including the
identification of the likely alternatives and significant environmental
issues. Written comments should be sent to the address shown at the
beginning of this notice.
Following the completion of this preliminary public comment period,
the Department of Energy will publish a notice of intent to initiate
the scoping process, including the schedule of public meetings to
receive oral or written comments on the scope of this environmental
impact statement. At this time, the Department is not scheduling any
public meetings in advance of the notice of intent. If there is
significant interest in holding earlier public meetings, however, the
Department will consider any requests and would publish notices for
such meetings prior to holding them.
Background
Uranium is a naturally-occurring radioactive element containing
different isotopes, notably Uranium-238 and Uranium-235. The ability to
use uranium for controlled fission in nuclear chain reactions in most
nuclear reactors depends on increasing the proportion of the Uranium-
235 isotope in the material through an isotopic separation process
called enrichment. This process divides a single stream of UF6
into two separate streams--one enriched in Uranium-235 and the other
depleted in Uranium-235. The first large-scale enrichment process was
developed by the United States through the Manhattan Project in the
1940s. The enrichment technology employed in the United States is
called ``gaseous diffusion,'' which has continued under the auspices of
the Atomic Energy Commission and its successor agencies including the
Department of Energy. On July 1, 1993, general responsibility for
uranium enrichment in the United States was transferred from the
Department to the United States Enrichment Corporation.
Gaseous diffusion was developed, on a large scale, first at the Oak
Ridge Reservation in Tennessee and later at plants located near
Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. Using UF6 as feed
material for the enrichment process, these plants produced highly
enriched uranium for the defense needs of the United States, as well as
low enriched uranium for use in making fuel for commercial nuclear
power reactors. All diffusion operations at the Oak Ridge facility
ceased in 1985, and that facility is awaiting decontamination and
decommissioning.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 established the United States
Enrichment Corporation as a new Government corporation which generally
has responsibility for enriched uranium production at the Portsmouth
and Paducah plants, as well as United States marketing rights for
enriched uranium produced or blended at those plants. The United States
Enrichment Corporation is leasing the plants from the Department of
Energy, has signed an agreement for division of responsibilities
between the Department and the Corporation at the two plants, and
assumed responsibility for enriched uranium production on July 1, 1993.
All depleted UF6 created beginning July 1, 1993, is the
responsibility of the Corporation. Consequently, the proposed
Department strategy for depleted UF6 management does not include
material created after July 1, 1993; however, the Department's
decisions on depleted UF6 disposition could affect the
Corporation's operating plans and policies. The environmental impact
statement will include a discussion of the likely impacts of any of the
Department's decisions on the Corporation, but cannot commit to a
course of action for material controlled by the Corporation without
prior agreement. Public comment on the scope of possible actions and
agreements is welcome.
A major consequence of the gaseous diffusion process is the
accumulation of a significant amount of depleted UF6. Most of this
material is stored at the Paducah and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion
Plants and at the Oak Ridge Reservation. The total amount of depleted
UF6 stored at these three sites is approximately 560,000 metric
tons. Depleted UF6 is stored in large steel cylinders holding
approximately 14 tons each, stacked two layers high, in large ``yards''
at the sites. The cylinders are inspected regularly to detect and
repair any leaks should they occur. About 29,000 cylinders are stored
at Paducah, 13,000 at Portsmouth, and 5,000 at Oak Ridge.
Potential uses of depleted UF6 and its chemical constituents
include: (1) use of uranium metal in armament manufacture or as metal
or oxide-based shielding in the management of radioactive materials,
including wastes or spent nuclear fuel; and (2) use of hydrogen
fluoride, hydrofluoric acid, and fluorine for commercial industrial
processes.
Purpose of the Environmental Impact Statement
The purpose of the environmental impact statement is to evaluate
the impacts of alternative strategies for the long-term management and
use of depleted UF6 stored at the Paducah, Portsmouth, and Oak
Ridge sites. Such alternatives would be analyzed for their impacts on
the human environment, including risks to public health and safety,
occupational health and safety, and effects upon the natural
environment. The need for the proposed action arises from changes in
various domestic and international factors. These factors include: the
changed mission and functions of the Department of Energy programs for
nuclear materials production and research; changes brought about by the
end of the Cold War; the shift in emphasis mandated by the President's
budget requests; and by directives of the Secretary of Energy to
reconsider future Department missions, functions, and responsibilities.
The unique properties and value of depleted UF6, as well as the
large volumes in storage, suggest that the evaluation, analysis, and
decisions on the fate of this material be made separate from those of
other materials in storage or awaiting disposition. The Department has
determined that such an action is a major Federal action with
potentially significant environmental impacts and requires the
preparation of an environmental impact statement in accordance with
NEPA. This environmental impact statement will aid in making management
decisions on depleted UF6 by evaluating the environmental impacts
of a range of reasonable alternatives, as well as providing a means for
a public voice in the decision-making process. The Department is
committed to ensuring that the public has a full and complete
opportunity to be heard on this matter and is providing this advance
notice of intent to that end.
Preliminary Description of Alternatives for Environmental Impact
Statement
The Department of Energy requests public input on all relevant
aspects of the long-term management and use of depleted UF6 and
potential alternatives. At this time, the Department has no preferred
alternative and will consider for inclusion in the environmental impact
statement all reasonable alternatives. The following is a discussion
about the preliminary list of alternatives for the environmental impact
statement that may be modified by additions or deletions; public
comment on the range of alternatives is hereby requested.
Continue Current Storage and Management Practices (NO ACTION)
This alternative would continue present storage and management
practices for depleted UF6 at the Paducah, Portsmouth, and Oak
Ridge locations for at least twenty to thirty years, until shutdown and
decommissioning of the facilities. At this time, the depleted UF6
at the Department of Energy's Paducah, Portsmouth, and Oak Ridge
facilities is stored in steel cylinders the specifications for which
are typically: a capacity of 14 tons, a diameter of 48 inches, a length
of 12 feet, and wall thickness of \5/16\ inch. There are approximately
47,000 such cylinders in storage at the three sites (29,000 at Paducah,
13,000 at Portsmouth, and 5,000 at Oak Ridge).
Current management practices consist of: (1) use of special
equipment to transport cylinders within the storage yards; (2) regular
visual inspection of all cylinders to verify cylinder integrity; (3)
replacement/refurbishment of deteriorating cylinders, as necessary; (4)
construction/reconstruction of cylinder storage yards, as necessary;
(5) operating procedures for control of radioactive and hazardous
material exposure to workers and for response to any unanticipated
releases of depleted UF6; (6) restacking of cylinders when needed
to facilitate inspections, and replacing wood ``saddles'' (storage
chocks) with concrete saddles; (7) technical assessments of cylinder
performance and development of improved inspection methods; and (8)
research on coatings to apply to cylinder surfaces to control
corrosion.
Modifications to Depleted UF6 Storage Facilities and Procedures
This alternative would include significant changes in the
Department of Energy's facilities and management procedures for
depleted UF6 in storage. Such changes could consist of one or more
of the following:
(1) redesign of the storage yards to add diking and runoff
collection;
(2) construction of storage buildings in lieu of outdoor storage;
(3) provision of double-walled containers for the cylinders; and
(4) increased inspection frequency.
Use of Depleted UF6
This alternative would consist of a number of sub-alternatives for
depleted UF6 use by means of conversion through chemical processes
that separate the uranium from the fluorine. Likely end products could
be uranium oxide, calcium fluoride, depleted uranium metal, depleted
uranium concrete, hydrogen fluoride or hydrofluoric acid, the latter
having commercial value in industrial processing. Locations for such
conversions could include one or more of the following: (1) Department
of Energy facilities where depleted UF6 is stored; (2) One or more
commercial nuclear fuel fabrication plants or industrial facilities in
the United States; or (3) Commercial nuclear facilities outside of the
United States. The analysis of this alternative would include the
results of feasibility studies of each subalternative, as well as a
discussion of the relative impacts of each subalternative.
Use of the converted depleted UF6 would be evaluated as
subalternatives including: (1) use as radiation shielding in the
management of nuclear materials including waste and spent nuclear fuel,
and (2) use in armament manufacture.
Disposal of Depleted UF6
This alternative would consist of the analysis of potential impacts
from the disposal of depleted UF6 either in its present form, or
in other forms, at appropriate waste disposal facilities.
Identification of Environmental Issues. The impact analysis would
consider, for each alternative, the health and safety risks to workers
and to the public of material transportation, storage, and use, as well
as any potential impacts to environmental resources. As to the site-
specific impacts of technologies, the analyses would be generic rather
than site-specific for any technology alternative; selection of a site
is not part of the proposed Department of Energy action and will be
preceded by appropriate NEPA documentation. The environmental impact
statement would provide estimates of the maximum impacts expected.
Related and Other Department of Energy NEPA Documentation. Should
the depleted UF6 strategy selection result in site-specific
actions, additional NEPA documents would be prepared to consider the
specific impacts on the site and vicinity from any proposed action.
Such analyses would address site-specific issues such as historic
resources, threatened and endangered species, critical environmental
resources, floodplain, and land use.
The Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements on the
Alternative Strategies for the Long-Term Management of Depleted Uranium
Hexafluoride Resources at Several Geographic Locations, and related
documents, will be available for inspection, when completed, at the
Department of Energy's Freedom of Information Reading Rooms. The
location of these Reading Rooms will be announced in the Notice of
Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
Issued in Washington, D.C., this 21st day of October, 1994.
Peter N. Brush,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 94-27780; Filed 11-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
