[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10163-10164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03305]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of Draft Section 3116 Basis for
Determination for Closure of H Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of
the Draft Section 3116 Basis for Determination for Closure of the H
Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site (Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document)
for public
[[Page 10164]]
comment. DOE prepared the Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document pursuant to
section 3116(a) of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA), which provides that the Secretary of
Energy may, in consultation with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC), determine that certain waste from reprocessing of spent nuclear
fuel is not high-level radioactive waste if the provisions set forth in
section 3116(a) are satisfied. To make this determination, the
Secretary of Energy must determine that the waste in the HTF: (1) Does
not require permanent isolation in a deep geologic repository for spent
fuel or high-level radioactive waste; (2) has had highly radioactive
radionuclides removed to the maximum extent practical; and (3)(A) does
not exceed concentration limits for Class C low-level waste and will be
disposed of in compliance with the performance objectives in 10 CFR
Part 61, Subpart C and pursuant to a State approved closure plan or
State-issued permit; or (3)(B) exceeds concentration limits for Class C
low-level waste but will be disposed of in compliance with the
performance objectives of 10 CFR Part 61, Subpart C; pursuant to a
State approved closure plan or State-issued permit; and pursuant to
plans developed by DOE in consultation with the NRC. Although not
required by the NDAA, DOE is making the Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document
available for public comment. The Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document
demonstrates that the cleaned and stabilized HTF tanks, ancillary
structures and their stabilized residuals at HTF closure meet the
public dose limits and other criteria in section 3116. DOE is
consulting with the NRC and will consider public comments before
preparing a final HTF 3116 Basis Document and issuing a Secretarial
determination under section 3116.
DATES: The comment period will end on May 1, 2013. Comments received
after this date will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: The Draft HTF Section 3116 Basis document is available on
the Internet at http://sro.srs.gov/f_htankfarmsdocuments.htm.
Written comments on the draft HTF Section 3116 Basis document may
be submitted by U.S. mail to the following address: Ms. Sherri Ross,
DOE-SR, Building 704-S, Room 43, U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah
River Operations Office, Aiken, SC 29802 (ATTN: H-Tank Farm Draft
Basis).
Alternatively, comments may also be filed electronically by email
to [email protected], or by Fax at (803) 208-7414.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HTF is a 45-acre site, located at the
Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina. The HTF consists
of 29 underground radioactive waste storage tanks and supporting
ancillary structures. The major HTF ancillary structures are three
evaporator systems, transfer lines, eight diversion boxes, one catch
tank, a concentrate transfer system, ten pump pits, nine pump tanks,
and eleven valve boxes. There are four waste tank types (Type I, II,
III/IIIA, and IV) in HTF with operating capacities ranging from 750,000
gallons to 1,300,000 gallons. The waste tanks have varying degrees of
secondary containment and in-tank structural features such as cooling
coils and columns. All HTF waste tanks are constructed of carbon steel.
The HTF tanks and ancillary structures contain, in part, waste from the
prior reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, and from various SRS
production, processing and laboratory facilities.
DOE is in the process of closing the HTF and is engaged in an
expansive campaign to clean, stabilize, and close the tanks and
ancillary structures in the HTF, using a process that includes removing
bulk waste from tanks and applicable ancillary structures, followed by
deployment of tested technologies to remove the majority of the
remaining waste. After completing cleaning operations, a small amount
of residual radioactive waste will remain in the tanks and ancillary
structures. DOE plans to stabilize the residuals in the tanks and
certain ancillary structures in place with grout, followed by a closure
cap system for the HTF. Tank waste storage and removal operations in
the HTF are governed by a South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control (SCDHEC) industrial wastewater operating permit.
Removal of tanks from service and stabilization of the HTF waste tanks
and ancillary structures will be carried out pursuant to a State-
approved closure plan, the Industrial Wastewater General Closure Plan
for H-Area Waste Tank Systems. Specific Closure Modules for each tank
or ancillary structure or groupings of tanks and ancillary structures
will be developed and submitted to SCDHEC for approval. After SCDHEC
approval of the specific and final closure configuration documentation
and grouting, the applicable tank or ancillary structure will be
removed from the State's industrial wastewater permit. Where
appropriate, the Draft HTF 3116 Basis Document draws upon DOE's
experience in cleaning and closing tanks at the similar F-Area Tank
Farm at SRS, for which the Secretary of Energy issued a Section 3116
Determination in March 2012.
As demonstrated and documented in the Draft HTF 3116 Basis
Document, the stabilized HTF tanks, ancillary structures and residuals
at closure meet the public dose performance objective and other
criteria set forth in section 3116(a) of the NDAA. DOE is consulting
with the NRC pursuant to section 3116, and will consider this
consultation as well as public comments before preparing a final HTF
3116 Basis Document. DOE anticipates that the final HTF 3116 Basis
Document will serve as a predicate for the Secretary to determine
whether or not the stabilized HTF tanks, ancillary structures and
residuals at closure meet the criteria in section 3116(a), are not
high-level radioactive waste, and may be disposed of in place as low-
level waste.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2013.
Mark A. Gilbertson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2013-03305 Filed 2-12-13; 8:45 am]
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