[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 246 (Friday, December 22, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66542-66543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-31186]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Medical Isotopes Production Project: Molybdenum-99 and Related
Isotopes Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement and
Public Hearings
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of
the Medical Isotopes Production Project: Molybdenum-99 and Related
Isotopes Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS), DOE/EIS-
0249D, for public review and comment. DOE also announces the dates,
times, and locations for public hearings on the Draft EIS. The
alternative facilities for the proposed project that are analyzed in
the Draft EIS are located at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
near Idaho Falls, Idaho; Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico in
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos,
New Mexico; and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
DATES: DOE filed the Draft EIS with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency on December 15, 1995, with an expected Federal Register
publication date for the notice of availability of December 22, 1995.
Written comments on the Draft EIS are invited from the public. Comments
must be postmarked by February 9, 1996, to ensure consideration;
comments postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent
practicable. The DOE will use the comments received to help prepare the
final version of the EIS. Public hearings on the Draft EIS will be held
as follows:
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory--January 17, 1996, 1:00 p.m. to
4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Shilo Inn, 780 Lindsay
Boulevard, Idaho Falls, ID 83402
Oak Ridge National Laboratory--January 25, 1996, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Pollard Auditorium, 210 Badger Avenue, Oak
Ridge, TN 37830
Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico--January 30, 1996, 1:00 p.m. to
4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Indian Pueblo Cultural Center,
Main Auditorium, 2401 12th Street, Albuquerque, NM, 87104
Los Alamos National Laboratory--February 1, 1996, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00
p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Fuller Lodge, Pajarito Room, 2132
Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM 87544.
The meetings will provide opportunities for information exchange
and discussion as well as for the submittal of prepared statements.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft EIS, written comments on
the Draft EIS, or other matters regarding this environmental review
should be addressed to: Mr. Wade Carroll, EIS Project Manager, NE-70,
U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290. Mr. Carroll may be contacted by telephone at (301) 903-7731,
facsimile (301) 903-5434.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the DOE
NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of
NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20585. Ms. Borgstrom may be
contacted by leaving a message at (800) 472-2756 or by calling (202)
586-4600. For general information on the DOE isotope production
program, please contact: Mr. Owen W. Lowe, Associate Director, Office
of Isotope Production and Distribution, NE-70, U.S. Department of
Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290. Mr. Lowe may
be contacted by calling (301) 903-5161.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft EIS was prepared pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) [42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.], the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations [40 CFR
Parts 1500-1508] and the DOE NEPA regulations [10 CFR Part 1021].
The Department proposes to establish a medical isotope production
project that would ensure a reliable domestic supply of molybdenum-99
(Mo-99) and related medical isotopes (iodine-125, iodine-131, and
xenon-133). Mo-99 decays to form technetium-99m (Tc-99m), an important
medical isotope. Radioactive isotopes are used in more than 38,000
diagnostic medical procedures each day in the United States. Tc-99m is
used in over 80 percent of these procedures.
The United States medical community now relies on a single small
nuclear reactor in Canada for its entire supply of Mo-99. The near term
goal of
[[Page 66543]]
DOE is to provide a backup capability to supply a baseline production
level of 10 to 30 percent of current United States demand for Mo-99.
The near term goal also includes establishing the capability to supply
100 percent of the United States demand for Mo-99 should the existing
Canadian source be unavailable. The baseline capability would maintain
the capabilities of the facilities and staff needed to respond on short
notice to supply the entire United States demand if necessary.
It is the Department's position that, in the long-term, the
domestic production of Mo-99 should be conducted by the private sector.
The Department encourages the development of private sources in the
United States for the production of Mo-99, and would phase out
production if a private source begins to produce Mo-99 reliably. The
long-term domestic production of Mo-99 by private sources is not within
the scope of this EIS.
The Draft EIS analyzes the environmental consequences of
alternative ways to accomplish the proposed action. The Department's
preferred alternative would be to modify and operate the Annular Core
Research Reactor and associated hot cell facility at Sandia National
Laboratories/New Mexico and the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research
facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory to produce Mo-99 and related
medical isotopes. The Draft EIS also analyzes the environmental impacts
of producing Mo-99 using the Omega West reactor at Los Alamos National
Laboratory, the Power Burst Facility at Idaho National Engineering
Laboratory, and the Oak Ridge Research Reactor at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, as well as the impacts of not establishing a Mo-99
production source (the No Action alternative).
DOE has distributed copies of the Draft EIS to appropriate
Congressional members and committees, the States of Idaho, New Mexico,
and Tennessee, American Indian tribal governments, local county
governments, other federal agencies, and other interested parties.
Additional copies are available as indicated above.
Signed in Washington, D.C., this 18th day of December, 1995, for
the United States Department of Energy.
Ray A. Hunter,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 95-31186 Filed 12-21-95; 8:45 am]
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