99-10764. Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Alternative Strategies for the Long-Term Management and Use of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 82 (Thursday, April 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23058-23059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10764]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Alternative 
Strategies for the Long-Term Management and Use of Depleted Uranium 
Hexafluoride

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for 
Alternative Strategies for the Long-Term Management and Use of Depleted 
Uranium Hexafluoride (DOE/EIS-0269). This Final PEIS, prepared pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), assesses the potential 
environmental impacts of reasonable alternatives to manage DOE's nearly 
700,000 metric tons of depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) 
stored in 57,634 steel cylinders at the East Tennessee Technology Park 
(formerly known as the K-25 facility) on the Oak Ridge Reservation, and 
the gaseous diffusion plant sites at Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, 
Kentucky. The Final PEIS also includes analyses of the impacts of an 
additional 11,212 cylinders recently transferred to DOE from the United 
States Enrichment Corporation under two recent memoranda of agreement.
    The management strategies considered in the Final PEIS include 
continuation of depleted UF6 storage at

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the current locations, two long-term storage alternatives (one as 
UF6 and one as an oxide, after conversion) at a consolidated 
location, two alternatives to convert and use the material (one as 
uranium oxide and one as uranium metal), and a disposal alternative.
    DOE has identified a preferred alternative in the Final PEIS. DOE's 
preferred alternative for the long-term management and use of depleted 
UF6 is to begin conversion of the UF6 inventory 
as soon as possible, either to uranium oxide, uranium metal, or a 
combination of both, while allowing for future use of as much of this 
inventory as possible. The preferred alternative in the Final PEIS was 
revised based in part on public comments on the Draft PEIS. The Record 
of Decision, to be issued no sooner than 30 days after the 
Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability of the Final 
PEIS, will identify DOE's decision for the long-term management and use 
of depleted UF6.

ADDRESSES: Copies of this Final PEIS are available at the Office of 
Environment, Safety and Health National Environmental Policy Act home 
page at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa, or on the Office of Nuclear Energy, 
Science and Technology home page at http://www.ne.doe.gov. You may 
request copies of this Final PEIS by calling the toll-free number 1-
800-517-3191, by faxing requests to [phone], or by mailing them 
to: Scott Harlow, Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Program, Office of 
Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (NE), U.S. Department of Energy, 
19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874. You may also request 
copies of this Final PEIS via the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride home 
page at http://www.ead.anl.gov/uranium.html, or via electronic mail to: 
[e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE 
NEPA process, please contact: Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 
Policy and Assistance, Office of Environment, Safety and Health, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 
20545, [phone] or 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 25, 1996, DOE issued a Notice of Intent (61 FR 2239) to 
prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement on alternative 
strategies for the long-term management and use of depleted 
UF6. The unique properties and value of depleted 
UF6, such as its high purity and density, as well as the 
large volume (nearly 700,000 metric tons) in storage, made it 
appropriate to evaluate, analyze, and decide the long-term management 
of this material separately from other DOE materials in storage or 
awaiting disposition.
    The purpose of this PEIS was to assess and consider the potential 
environmental impacts of a range of reasonable alternative strategies 
for the long-term management and use of depleted UF6 
currently stored at sites near Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and 
Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Final PEIS addresses the potential 
environmental impacts of the activities for each strategy.
    During February 1996, public scoping meetings were held in Paducah, 
Piketon, and Oak Ridge. The Draft PEIS incorporates the public comments 
received during the scoping period. During February and March 1998, 
public hearings on the draft PEIS were held in Paducah, Kentucky; 
Piketon, Ohio; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Washington, DC. All comments 
submitted by the public were considered by DOE in preparing the Final 
PEIS.
    The Final PEIS and related documents prepared by DOE are available 
for review at the following locations:

Kentucky

U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Information Center, 175 
Freedom Boulevard, Kevil, KY 42053, [phone]

Ohio

U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Information Center, 3930 U.S. 
Route 23, Piketon, OH 45661, [phone]

Tennessee

U.S. Department of Energy, Information Resource Center, 105 Broadway 
Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, [phone]; and, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Public Reading Room, Building 1916-T2, Suite 300, 230 Warehouse 
Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830

Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Energy, Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 
1E-190, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 
586-3142

Subsequent Document Preparation

    Following issuance of the Final PEIS and Record of Decision, DOE 
will prepare additional project-specific NEPA documents as appropriate.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. April 16, 1999.
William D. Magwood, IV,
Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 99-10764 Filed 4-28-99; 8:45 am]
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