[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 47 (Monday, March 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15358-15359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05509]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
DOE's Preferred Alternative for Certain Tanks Evaluated in the
Final Tank Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement
for the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of DOE's preferred alternative.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing its
preferred alternative for wastes contained in underground radioactive
waste storage tanks evaluated in the Final Tank Closure and Waste
Management Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site,
Richland, Washington (Final TC & WM EIS, DOE/EIS-0391, December 2012).
With regard to those wastes that, in the future, may be properly and
legally classified as mixed transuranic waste (mixed TRU waste) \1\
DOE's preferred alternative is to retrieve, treat, package, and
characterize and certify the wastes for disposal at the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, a geologic repository for
the disposal of mixed TRU waste generated by atomic energy defense
activities. This Notice supplements DOE's expression of its preferred
alternatives identified in the Final TC & WM EIS in Section S.7 of the
Summary, and in Chapter 2, Section 2.12, of Volume 1. (Also see
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.)
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\1\ Transuranic (TRU) waste is waste that contains alpha
particle-emitting radionuclides with atomic numbers greater than
that of uranium (92) and half-lives greater than 20 years in
concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram of waste.
``Mixed waste'' is radioactive waste containing hazardous
constituents regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final TC & WM EIS (paper or electronic) may be
obtained by contacting: Ms. Mary Beth Burandt, NEPA Document Manager,
Office of River Protection, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 1178,
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Richland, Washington 99352, Email: [email protected].
The Final TC & WM EIS and its DOE Notice of Availability are available
on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://energy.gov/nepa. Additional
information on the Final TC & WM EIS is also available through the
Hanford Web site at http://www.hanford.gov/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Final
TC & WM EIS, contact Ms. Burandt as listed in ADDRESSES or by telephone
at 1-888-829-6347. For general information regarding the DOE NEPA
process, contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA
Policy and Compliance, GC-54, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, Telephone: 202-586-4600,
or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756, Email: [email protected].
For further information about DOE's preferred alternative for the
tanks discussed herein, contact: Mr. Todd Shrader, U.S. Department of
Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone:
202-586-3784.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington State along
the Columbia River, is approximately 586 square miles in size.
Hanford's mission from the early 1940s to approximately 1989 included
defense-related nuclear research, development, and weapons production
activities. These activities created a wide variety of chemical and
radioactive wastes. Hanford's mission now is focused on the cleanup of
those wastes and ultimate closure of the Site.
To support its decision making process, DOE prepared the TC & WM
EIS pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and in
accordance with Council on Environmental Quality and DOE NEPA
implementing regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508; 10 CFR Part 1021);
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington State
Department of Ecology are cooperating agencies on this EIS. The TC & WM
EIS addresses proposed actions in three major areas: The retrieval and
treatment of waste from 177 underground radioactive waste storage
tanks, including 149 single-shell tanks (SSTs), and closure of the
SSTs; decommissioning the Fast Flux Test Facility and its auxiliary
facilities; and continued and expanded management of low-level
radioactive waste and mixed low-level radioactive waste.
[[Page 15359]]
TC & WM EIS Evaluation of Candidate Tank Waste for Classification as
Mixed TRU Waste
This notice pertains only to the retrieval, treatment, packaging,
and characterization and certification, for disposal at WIPP, of wastes
contained in the 20 tanks evaluated in the TC & WM EIS as being
candidates for classification as mixed TRU waste. The total volume of
waste in these tanks is approximately 3.1 million gallons, all of which
the EIS evaluations assumed to be mixed TRU waste for the purposes of
analysis. Currently, DOE has not classified any of the waste as mixed
TRU waste. The 20 tanks were included in five of the tank closure
alternatives evaluated in the TC & WM EIS.\2\ Information about these
tanks and further details of the evaluation can be found in the Summary
(Page S-57) and in Appendix E of the TC & WM EIS.
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\2\ Tank Closure Alternatives 3A, 3B, 3C, 4, and 5.
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Preferred Alternatives
DOE's preferred alternatives for all three major areas listed above
are described in the Summary, Section S.7, and in Chapter 2, Section
2.12, of Volume 1 of the Final TC & WM EIS. Regarding wastes contained
in the 20 tanks evaluated as candidates for classification as mixed TRU
waste, the EIS stated that: ``Retrieval of tank waste identified as
mixed TRU waste would commence only after DOE had issued a Federal
Register notice of its preferred alternative and a ROD''.\3\
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\3\ ``ROD'' refers to a Record of Decision.
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To make progress in the overall tank waste retrieval process, and
in view of recent information about potential tank leaks, DOE now
prefers to retrieve, treat, package, and characterize and certify the
wastes that are properly and legally classified as mixed TRU waste for
disposal at WIPP. Initiating retrieval of tank waste classified as
mixed TRU waste would be contingent on DOE's obtaining the applicable
and necessary permits, ensuring that the WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria
and all other applicable regulatory requirements have been met, and
making a documented determination that the waste is properly classified
as mixed TRU waste. Further, retrieval of waste would not commence
until a ROD had been issued. DOE may issue such a ROD regarding the
candidate TRU wastes no sooner than 30 days from the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2013.
David Huizenga,
Senior Advisor for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-05509 Filed 3-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P