96-29540. Availability of the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 19, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58871-58872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29540]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Availability of the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Final 
Programmatic 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 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Final Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), DOE/EIS-0236. The Stockpile 
Stewardship and Management PEIS analyzes the consequences to the 
environment associated with alternative ways of maintaining the safety 
and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of 
underground nuclear testing.

DATES: The Environmental Protection Agency published its Notice of 
Availability regarding this Final PEIS on November 15, 1996. DOE 
intends to issue a Record of Decision on the Stockpile Stewardship and 
Management PEIS no sooner than 30 days from the publication date of the 
Environmental Protection Agency Notice of Availability in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES AND FURTHER INFORMATION: A copy of the entire Final PEIS 
(five volumes) or its Summary may be obtained upon request by calling 
1-800-776-2765, or writing to: Reconfiguration Group, Office of 
Technical, and Environmental Support, DP-45, U.S. Department of Energy, 
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585.
    Requests for copies of the Final PEIS can also be made 
electronically via computer as follows: Federal Information Exchange 
Bulletin Board, InterNet Address: http://web.fie.com/fedix/doeoor.html, 
Modem Toll-Free: 1-800-783-3349, DC Metro Modem: 301-258-0953.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-
42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., 
Washington DC 20585, [phone] or [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to the end of the Cold War and 
changes in the world political regimes, the United States is no longer 
producing new design nuclear weapons and is no longer conducting 
underground nuclear testing. Instead, the emphasis of the United 
States' nuclear weapons program is on reducing the size of the Nation's 
nuclear stockpile by dismantling existing nuclear weapons. The DOE has 
been directed by the President and Congress to maintain the safety and 
reliability of the reduced nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of 
underground nuclear testing. In order to fulfill that responsibility, 
DOE has developed the Stockpile Stewardship

[[Page 58872]]

and Management Program to provide a single, highly integrated technical 
program for maintaining the continued safety and reliability of the 
nuclear stockpile. The Stockpile Stewardship and Management PEIS 
describes and analyzes alternative ways to implement the Stockpile 
Stewardship and Management Program.
    Stockpile stewardship refers to activities associated with 
research, design, development, and testing of nuclear weapons, and the 
assessment and certification of their safety and reliability. The 
stockpile stewardship portion of the PEIS evaluates the potential 
environmental impacts of three proposed facilities: the National 
Ignition Facility (NIF), the Contained Firing Facility, and the Atlas 
Facility. Four sites are potentially affected by the Stockpile 
Stewardship alternatives: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National 
Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL), and the Nevada Test Site (NTS).
    Stockpile management refers to activities associated with the 
production, maintenance, surveillance, refurbishment, and dismantlement 
of the nuclear weapons stockpile. The stockpile management portion of 
the PEIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the 
reasonable alternatives for carrying out the stockpile management 
functions. Alternative sites are assessed for nuclear weapons assembly/
disassembly, and for fabrication of plutonium, uranium, high 
explosives, and nonnuclear components. Eight sites are potentially 
affected: Savannah River Site (SRS), Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), 
Pantex Plant (Pantex), Kansas City Plant (KCP), LANL, LLNL, SNL, and 
NTS.
    The PEIS also evaluates the No Action alternative of relying on 
existing facilities and continuing the missions at current sites to 
achieve both stockpile stewardship and stockpile management missions. 
The No Action alternative assesses the environmental impacts of the on-
going Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program and provides a 
baseline against which alternatives can be evaluated.
    The following preferred alternatives have been identified:

Stockpile Stewardship

--Construct and operate the NIF at LLNL;
--Construct and operate the Contained Firing Facility at LLNL;
--Construct and operate the Atlas Facility at LANL.

Stockpile Management

--Secondary and Case Component Fabrication--downsize the Y-12 Plant at 
ORR;
--Pit Component Fabrication--re-establish capability and appropriate 
capacity at LANL;
--Assembly/Disassembly--downsize at Pantex;
--High Explosives Fabrication-- downsize at Pantex;
--Nonnuclear Component Fabrication-- downsize at KCP.

    Based on the analyses performed to support this PEIS, the preferred 
alternatives for strategic reserve storage are as follows: (1) Highly 
enriched uranium strategic reserve storage at Y-12; and (2) plutonium 
pit strategic reserve storage in Zone 12 at Pantex. The preferred 
alternatives for strategic reserve storage could change based upon 
analyses conducted in support of the Storage and Disposition of 
Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final PEIS. Decisions on strategic 
reserve storage are not expected to be made until both the Stockpile 
Stewardship and Management Final PEIS and the Storage and Disposition 
of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final PEIS are completed. The 
preferred alternative for plutonium-242 oxide at SRS is to transport 
the material to LANL for storage.
    DOE has distributed copies of the Stockpile Stewardship and 
Management Final PEIS to interested individuals and organizations. 
Additional copies of the Final PEIS are available to any other 
interested persons and can be requested as described above. DOE expects 
to issue a Record of Decision on the Stockpile Stewardship and 
Management PEIS no sooner than December 16, 1996.

    Signed in Washington, DC this 13th day of November 1996, for the 
United States Department of Energy.
Victor H. Reis,
Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs.
[FR Doc. 96-29540 Filed 11-18-96; 8:45 am]
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