95-21535. Implementation Plan for the Environmental Impact Statement for a Multi-Purpose Canister System for Management of Civilian and Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 30, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45147-45148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21535]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Implementation Plan for the Environmental Impact Statement for a 
Multi-Purpose Canister System for Management of Civilian and Naval 
Spent Nuclear Fuel

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces the availability of the 
Implementation Plan for the Environmental Impact Statement for a 
proposed Multi-Purpose Canister System for Management of Civilian and 
Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel. The purpose of the Implementation Plan is to 
report the results of the public scoping and public participation 
processes and to serve as a plan for the preparation of the 
Environmental Impact Statement. The Implementation Plan also describes 
the alternatives and issues to be evaluated in the Environmental Impact 
Statement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Multi-
Purpose Canister Environmental Impact Statement, please contact: Gerald 
J. Parker, Multi-Purpose Canister Environmental Impact Statement 
Manager, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (RW-45), U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Room 7F-075, 
Washington, D.C. 20585, 202-586-5679.
    To request copies of the Implementation Plan, please call 1-800-
672-3304.
    For general information on the Department's National Environmental 
Policy Act review 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, D.C. 20585, 202-
586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On October 24, 1994, the Department of Energy issued a Notice of 
Intent in the Federal Register (55 FR 53442) to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement for the fabrication and deployment of a 
multi-purpose canister-based system for the management of civilian 
spent nuclear fuel (MPC Environmental Impact Statement). In the Notice 
of Intent, the Department identified the proposed action as the 
fabrication and deployment of certain components of a multi-purpose 
canister-based system. Specifically, the proposed action includes two 
sizes of MPCs (a 125-ton and a 75-ton MPC), with associated rail 
transportation casks and on-site transfer casks. The proposed action 
would provide a standardized container system to handle, store, 
transport and dispose of spent nuclear fuel in order to minimize or 
eliminate the need for the spent nuclear fuel to be removed from 
canisters or casks during storage and transportation, and, to the 
extent practicable, be compatible with disposal. DOE requested comments 
on the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement.
    The Notice of Intent established a public scoping period which 
began October 24, 1994, and ended January 6, 1995. However, the 
Department found it practicable to consider all comments received by 
March 31, 1995. The Department held public scoping meetings in Las 
Vegas, Nevada on November 21, 1994; Chicago, Illinois on November 30, 
1994; and Washington, D.C. on December 7, 1994, to provide an 
opportunity for public participation by interested individuals, 
organizations, and other governmental agencies. During the public 
scoping period, about 400 commenters provided a total of 2,832 
comments, either by participating in the meetings or by submitting 
comments via response forms, letters, postcards, toll-free telephone 
messages, facsimiles, electronic mail, or electronic bulletin board to 
the Department. In response to comments received during scoping from 
the Department of the Navy, the scope of the MPC Environmental Impact 
Statement has been expanded to include consideration of the use of 
MPCs, and alternatives to the MPC-based system, for naval spent nuclear 
fuel. The Department of the Navy will be a cooperating agency in 
preparing this EIS, in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.6 and 10 CFR 
1021.342.

MPC Environmental Impact Statement Alternatives

    The alternatives to be evaluated in the MPC Environmental Impact 
Statement address future dry storage, transportation, and disposal 
needs, and include the fabrication and deployment of a range of single- 
and dual-purpose cask and canister hardware systems, and a multi-
purpose canister hardware system. The alternative hardware systems 
differ in whether they are based on single-unit, heavily-shielded 
``casks'' that feature bolted lids, or on relatively thin-walled 
``canisters'' that are sealed by welding and used with separate, 
specialized overpacks for purposes of storage, transportation, or 
disposal.
    The five alternatives to the proposed action that will be evaluated 
in this EIS are: (1) A ``no-action'' alternative, which is the current 
technology comprising different systems of specialized single- and 
dual-purpose canisters and casks that have been certified by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission or are currently undergoing 
certification; (2) the current technology supplemented by high-capacity 
rail transportation casks; (3) a system of transportable storage casks; 
(4) a system of dual-purpose canisters; and (5) a system utilizing only 
the small (75-ton) MPCs. Alternatives (4) and (5) were added in 
response to comments received during the public scoping period.

Areas to be Addressed

    The MPC Environmental Impact Statement will address potential 
environmental impacts of the proposed action and alternatives in three 
general areas: (1) manufacturing, (2) handling and storage activities 
at facilities, and (3) transportation. The analysis of the potential 
environmental impacts of these three areas of activity will emphasize 
those impacts which discriminate among the alternatives.

Manufacturing

    Because the actual sites where manufacturing would take place have 
not been chosen, the analysis of potential manufacturing impacts will 
be based on the environmental settings of typical or representative 
manufacturing facilities (those facilities that currently produce 
hardware identical or similar to the proposed or alternative hardware 
systems), as well as a qualitative site-specific analysis at two known 
potential manufacturing locations. 

[[Page 45148]]


Handling and Storage

    The evaluation of at-reactor handling and storage activities will 
be based on representative site data derived from data collected at 
existing spent fuel storage locations. Site-specific National 
Environmental Policy Act documents for commercial reactor sites already 
have been issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Handling 
and storage activities for naval spent nuclear fuel at the Idaho 
National Engineering Laboratory will be addressed in the Naval Spent 
Nuclear Fuel Appendix to the MPC Environmental Impact Statement. The 
analysis in the MPC Environmental Impact Statement of potential impacts 
at a repository will consider the use of the MPC and alternative 
hardware systems only for surface activities, since ultimate 
disposition impacts can be meaningfully assessed only in connection 
with proposed repository acceptance criteria. Such criteria will be 
analyzed in a separate Environmental Impact Statement that the 
Department will prepare for the candidate repository at Yucca Mountain, 
Nevada.

Transportation

    The impacts of transportation activities for each alternative will 
be assessed using existing transportation impact models for shipments. 
Transportation evaluations would consider shipments between each 
existing storage location and two hypothetical Monitored Retrievable 
Storage facility locations, and subsequently to the candidate 
repository facility at Yucca Mountain, or between each existing storage 
location directly to the candidate repository facility. Representative 
routes will be chosen between origination and destination sites for 
purposes of assessing the potential risks involved in such 
transportation, including use of a potential rail spur at Yucca 
Mountain.

Availability of Implementation Plan

    Copies of the Implementation Plan are being provided to Federal 
agencies, Indian tribal organizations, State and local government 
agencies, public interest groups, manufacturers of equipment, 
transportation interests, industry and utility organizations, 
regulators, and members of the general public who indicated an interest 
in receiving a copy or who participated in the public scoping 
processes. The Implementation Plan will be provided upon request to 
additional parties who express interest by calling 1-800-672-3304. 
Copies of the Implementation Plan also have been placed in the 
Department of Energy reading rooms identified below. Please contact the 
individual reading rooms for information on their hours of operation 
and the availability of the Implementation Plan.

Department of Energy Freedom of Information Public Reading Rooms

Albuquerque Operations Office:
    National Atomic Museum, Building 20358, Wyoming Boulevard, P.O. Box 
5400, Albuquerque, NM 87185-5400, Attn: Diane Leute [phone]
    Los Alamos Community Reading Room, 1450 Central, Suite 101, Los 
Alamos, NM 87544, Attn: Tim Ribe [phone]
Bartlesville Project Office/National Institute for Petroleum and Energy 
Research, BPO/NIPER Library, U.S. Department of Energy, 220 North 
Virginia Avenue, P.O. Box 2128, Bartlesville, OK 74003, Attn: Josh 
Stroman [phone]
Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, 905 N.E. 
11th St., P.O. Box 3621-ALP, Portland, OR 97208, Attn: Gene Tollefson 
[phone]
Chicago Operations Office, Document Department, University of Illinois 
at Chicago, 801 South Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60607, Attn: John 
Shuler [phone] or 996-2738
Dallas Support Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 1420 W. Mockingbird 
Lane, Suite 400, Dallas, TX 75247, Attn: Gailene Reinhold (214) 767-
7185
Golden Field Office, DOE Public Reading Room, 14869 Denver West 
Parkway, Golden, CO 80401, Attn: Chris Powers [phone]
Headquarters Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Room 1E-190, Forrestal 
Bldg., 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, Attn: Carolyn 
Lawson [phone]
Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Public Reading Room, 1776 Science Center 
Drive, Idaho Falls, ID 83402, Attn: Carl Robertson [phone]
Morgantown Energy Technology Center, METC Library, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26505, 
Attn: Matt Marsteller [phone]
Ohio Field Office, FOI Public Reading Room, 1 Mound Road, Miamisburg, 
OH 45342, Attn: Jane Greenwalt [phone]
Richland Operations Office, Washington State University, Tri-Cities 
Branch Campus, 100 Sprout Road, Richland, WA 99352, Attn: Terri Traub 
[phone]
Rocky Flats Field Office, Public Reading Room, Front Range Community 
College Library, 3645 West 112th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80030, Attn: 
Will-Ann Lamsens [phone]
Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading 
Room, 2621 Losee Road, Building B-3, North Las Vegas, NV 89030, Attn: 
Cynthia Ashley [phone] or -0848
Oak Ridge Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading 
Room, 55 Jefferson Circle, Room 112, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, Attn: Amy L. 
Rothrock (acting) [phone]
Oakland Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading 
Room, EIC, 8th Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612-5208, Attn: 
Lauren L. Noble [phone]
Savannah River Operations Office, Gregg-Granite Library, University of 
South Carolina-Aiken, 171 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, Attn: 
Paul Lewis [phone]
Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Building 922/M210, Wallace Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, 
Attn: Ann C. Dunlap [phone]
Southeastern Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Legal 
Library, Samuel Elbert Building, 2 South Public Square, Elberton, GA 
30635-2496, Attn: Joel W. Seymour [phone]
Southwestern Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, Public 
Reading Room, 1 West 3rd St., P.O. Box 1619, Tulsa, OK 74101, Attn: 
Marti Ayers [phone]
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Project Management Office, U.S. Department 
of Energy, SPRPMO/SEB Reading Room, 900 Commerce Road, New Orleans, LA 
70123, Attn: Ulysses Washington [phone]
Superconducting Super Collider Termination Project Office, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 2550 Beckleymeade Avenue, Dallas, TX 75237, Attn: 
Gina Dan [phone]

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

    The Department expects to issue the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for public comment in December 1995; public hearings on the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be scheduled and announced at 
that time.

    Issued in Washington, D.C., this 27th day of August, 1995.
Lake H. Barrett,
Deputy Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.
[FR Doc. 95-21535 Filed 8-29-95; 8:45 am]
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