[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7180-7181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3008]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Additional Public Meeting and Request for Comment on a
Draft Outline for a Technical Study Concerning the National Ignition
Facility and the Issue of Nonproliferation
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of additional public meeting and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) held a workshop on September 8,
1994, to begin a dialogue with the public concerning issues arising
from building and operating the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Two
public meetings held on January 24, 1995, in Oakland, CA, and on
January 30, 1995, in Washington, DC, continued this dialogue, focusing
on a draft outline for a technical study that DOE is writing concerning
the NIF and the issue of nonproliferation. Today's notice is to
announce that DOE is adding an additional public meeting in Livermore,
CA, on the draft outline for the study and extending the written
comment period. DOE is requesting both oral and written comments on the
outline for the technical study.
DATES: Written comments (11 copies) are requested to be received by DOE
on or before March 16, 1995. Oral views and data may be presented at an
additional public meeting to be held in Livermore, CA, on March 9,
1995, beginning at 1:30 p.m. and concluding at 9:00 p.m. with a break
for dinner from 4:30-6:30 p.m. The length of each oral presentation is
limited to 10 minutes.
ADDRESSES: All written comments (11 copies) and requests to speak at
the public meeting should be addressed to U.S. Department of Energy,
NN-40, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, 20585, (202) 586-
3012. In the event any person wishing to submit a written comment
cannot provide eleven copies, alternate arrangements can be made in
advance by calling the phone number referenced above.
The public meeting be held at the following location: Research
Drive Conference Center, Room One, 2140 Research Drive, Livermore, CA.
Copies of the public meeting transcripts and written comments
received may be read and photocopied at DOE Freedom of Information
Reading Room, U.S. Department of Energy, Room 1E-190, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, 20585, (202) 586-6020, between the hours of
9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday except Federal holidays.
These documents may also be read during the same hours at DOE Oakland
Operations Office, Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, Room 1070N (10th
Floor), Oakland, CA, 94612 (510) 637-1762.
For further information concerning public participation, see the
``Opportunity For Public Comment'' section of this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIF and its potential impact on the
nonproliferation of nuclear weapons was an issue which was raised at
the September 8, 1994, NIF public workshop held in Washington, DC. As a
result of this meeting, DOE has prepared an outline for a technical
study of this issue. The purpose of the public meetings is to seek the
comments of the public on the outline for the technical study and to
ensure that the issues the Department plans to address in this study
are comprehensive. As such, DOE is soliciting the public to provide
oral statements concerning the outline at public meetings and/or to
provide written comments. Addresses, dates and times are provided at
the beginning of this notice.
Draft Outline
The working title that DOE is using is, ``The National Ignition
Facility and its Potential Impact on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear
Weapons.''
The outline that DOE is proposing to use for the technical study
is:
I. Introduction
Thermonuclear weapons
--fusion secondaries
Controlled thermonuclear reactions
--inertially-confined fusion
--ignition and burn
II. The National Ignition Facility
Overview
How NIF differs from
--magnetic confinement
--its predecessors, NOVA, etc., and similar facilities in the
U.S. and other countries
III. Fusion Science and High-Energy-Density Physics
What important science can be learned at NIF?
How is it learned?
What may NIF do that couldn't be done before?
What do scientists want to do?
--how does this differ from nuclear weapons science?
IV. Horizontal Proliferation
What could proliferators learn by
--access to NIF or comparable facilities?
--access to unclassified NIF data and reports?
What could proliferators do with this information?
How can this information be kept from proliferators?
--classification/declassification issues
--access/experimental program control [[Page 7181]]
Alternate paths to the same or equivalent information (or
what could/could not be done without this kind of information?)
Other country plans for ICC
V. Vertical Proliferation
What could U.S. weapons designers do with NIF data?
--impact on advanced designs
--ability to address stockpile problems
Plans for ICF research in other nuclear weapons states
Opportunity for Public Comment
A. Written Comment Procedures
Interested persons and organizations are invited to participate by
submitting data and views with respect to the proposed outline and
issues addressed by the technical study.
Written comments (11 copies) should be identified on the envelope
and on the documents themselves with the designation ``NIF &
Nonproliferation'' and should be received by the date specified at the
beginning of this notice.
B. Public Meeting Procedures
DOE will hold an additional public meeting on the outline and
issues addressed above. The additional public meeting will be held on
the date and at the location indicated at the beginning of this notice.
A request to speak at the public meeting should be addressed to the
address or phone number indicated at the beginning of this notice. The
person should provide a phone number where he or she may be contacted
during the day. Persons will be notified as to the approximate time
they will be speaking. The length of each presentation will be limited
to 10 minutes or based on the number of persons requesting an
opportunity to speak.
A DOE official will preside at the public meeting. The additional
public meeting will be another opportunity for the public to provide
DOE with its comments concerning the outline and issues to be addressed
by the technical study. A transcript of these meetings will be made and
will be retained by DOE and made available for inspection at DOE
Freedom of Information Reading Room and DOE Oakland Operations Office
at the address indicated at the beginning of this notice.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 1, 1995.
Kenneth N. Luongo,
Director, Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation.
[FR Doc. 95-3008 Filed 2-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M
