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Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 12)]
[Notices]
[Page 4803-4805]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ja01-51]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored
at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Amended Record of Decision.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to revise its
approach to managing approximately 315 kg of plutonium fluoride
residues (containing approximately 142 kg of plutonium) that currently
are stored at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (Rocky
Flats Site). In an earlier Record of Decision (63 FR 66136, December 1,
1998), DOE decided that these plutonium fluoride residues would be
shipped to the Savannah River Site (SRS) for processing and storage
pending disposition. Due to the opening of the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico on March 26, 1999, and other circumstances,
including delays in securing shipping container certification required
prior to transporting the plutonium fluoride residues to SRS, DOE has
now decided to prepare the plutonium fluoride residues appropriately
and ship them to WIPP for disposal. This will help avoid delays in
meeting the closure schedule for the Rocky Flats Site.
ADDRESSES: The potential environmental impacts of alternative
approaches for management of these residues are analyzed in the Final
Environmental Impact Statement on Management of Certain Plutonium
Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the Rocky Flats Environmental
Technology Site (hereinafter referred to as the Residues EIS) (DOE/EIS-
0277F, August 1998) and were part of the basis for three prior Records
of Decision issued for the plutonium-bearing residues at the Rocky
Flats Site. Copies of the Residues EIS; the first and second Records of
Decision (63 FR 66136, December 1, 1998, and 64 FR 8068, February 18,
1999, respectively); the first Amended Record of Decision (64 FR 47780,
September 1, 1999); and this Amended Record of Decision and the
Supplement Analysis (referenced herein) can be accessed from the DOE's
NEPA Web site at http://www.tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa, under NEPA Analyses,
or can be obtained by contacting the Center for Environmental
Management Information, P.O. Box 23769, Washington, DC 20026-3769,
telephone 1-800-736-3282 (in Washington, DC: 202-863-5084).
For further information concerning the management of plutonium
residues and scrub alloy currently stored at the Rocky Flats Site,
contact: Dr. W. Eric Huang, Program Manager, Rocky Flats Office (EM-
33), Office of Site Closure, Environmental Management, U.S. Department
of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874, Telephone: 301-
903-4630.
For further information concerning DOE's National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) process, contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, Director,
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-42), 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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In August 1998, DOE issued the Residues EIS that assessed the
potential environmental impacts of processing certain plutonium
residues and scrub alloy stored at the Rocky Flats Site near Golden,
Colorado, in preparation for disposal or other disposition. These
materials were produced in conjunction with nuclear weapons activities
conducted by DOE during the Cold War and the materials are no longer
needed. Currently, DOE is cleaning up and disposing of (where
appropriate) such materials. The plutonium residues analyzed in the
Residues EIS included approximately 315 kg of plutonium fluoride
residues containing approximately 45 percent plutonium by weight
(approximately 142 kg of plutonium). In the Residues EIS, the plutonium
fluoride residues were included as part of a category called ``wet
residues,'' having an average of approximately 7 percent plutonium by
weight. (Residues EIS Table 2-1.)
The Residues EIS analyzed three alternative technologies and a no-
action alternative for processing plutonium fluoride residues stored at
the Rocky Flats Site. The selected alternative for the plutonium
fluoride residues in the first Record of Decision in 1998 was the
preferred alternative in the Residues EIS, which is Purex processing
and storage at SRS pending disposition (italicized below).
Alternative 1. Dissolving the plutonium fluoride residues
in acid and precipitating the plutonium with oxalic acid, at the Rocky
Flats Site. The
[[Page 4804]]
recovered plutonium would be packaged for storage at the Rocky Flats
Site. (This is the no-action alternative.)
Alternative 2. Blending down the plutonium fluoride
residues at the Rocky Flats Site with an inert material so that each
container would meet the safeguards termination limit for plutonium
fluorides (0.2 percent plutonium by weight). The blended material would
then be packaged into pipe overpack components and subsequently
packaged into 55-gallon drums for transportation and disposal at the
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant\1\ (WIPP).
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\1\ The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, located near Carlsbad, New
Mexico, is DOE's geologic repository for disposal of defense-related
transuranic wastes. Transuranic waste contains alpha-emitting
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 20 years in
concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram of waste at time
of assay.
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Alternative 3. Two technologies for separation of
plutonium from plutonium fluoride residues were analyzed.
--Repackaging the plutonium fluoride residues at the Rocky Flats Site
for transportation to SRS and separation of the plutonium there using
the Purex process. The processed plutonium would be stored at SRS
pending disposition as mixed oxide nuclear fuel or disposed of as
vitrified high-level waste in a geologic repository.
--Dissolving the plutonium fluoride residues in acid and precipitating
the plutonium with oxalic acid at the Rocky Flats Site (this is the
same as the no-action alternative). The recovered plutonium then would
be dispositioned as mixed oxide nuclear fuel or disposed of as
vitrified high-level waste in a geologic repository.
II. Original Decision
In addition to this amended Record of Decision, DOE has issued two
Records of Decision and an earlier amended Record of Decision for the
final Residues EIS. The first Record of Decision, issued on November
25, 1998 (63 FR 66136, December 1, 1998), addressed materials from each
of the categories of Rocky Flats plutonium residues (i.e., ash, salt,
wet, and direct repackage) and scrub alloy. This first Record of
Decision (Section VII.D.1) stated that DOE had decided to transport the
plutonium fluoride residues to SRS and use the F-Canyon, where the
Purex plutonium separation process is located, to separate plutonium
(i.e., one of the two sub-alternatives of Alternative 3 in the Residues
EIS). The separated plutonium would then have been subject to
disposition as mixed oxide fuel or disposed of as vitrified high-level
waste pursuant to decisions that DOE made after completion of the
Surplus Plutonium Disposition Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-
0283, November 1999; Record of Decision, 65 FR 1608, January 11, 2000).
The first Record of Decision (Section VII.D.2) explained that the
Purex plutonium separation process at SRS was selected for the
plutonium fluoride residues because it posed less technical risk and
would cost less than the establishment of a new acid dissolution/
plutonium oxide recovery capability at the Rocky Flats Site
(Alternative 1). The Record of Decision further explained that blend
down \2\ (to meet the safeguards termination limit) (Alternative 2)
would result in a very large increase in the amount of transuranic
waste requiring disposal, which would increase the cost of disposing of
the material.
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\2\ Blend down is a process in which an inert material is mixed
with a plutonium-bearing residue to reduce its plutonium
concentration.
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III. Events Since Issuance of the First Record of Decision
Since issuance of the first Record of Decision in 1998, DOE has
been preparing to ship the plutonium fluoride residues to SRS for
separation and has not undertaken any activity that would alter the
chemical or physical conditions of these residues. Initially, DOE had
planned to begin shipment of the plutonium fluoride residues to SRS by
January 2000 and to complete these shipments by September 2000. Removal
of these materials from the Rocky Flats Site by September 2000 would
have supported near-term closure of the Protected Area \3\ of the Site
and, subsequently, closure of the entire Site by 2006.
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\3\ The Protected Area is the area at the Rocky Flats Site that
is encompassed by physical barriers, subject to access control,
surrounding a material access area or area containing special
nuclear material.
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Before shipping plutonium fluoride residues to SRS, however, DOE
must certify the shipping container for plutonium fluoride residues,
and additional testing required before certification would take at
least 15 months to complete. Further delay in implementing the earlier
decision (i.e., plutonium separation using the Purex process at SRS)
would in turn delay closure of the Protected Area and associated
buildings, extend decommissioning schedules, and ultimately delay
closure of the entire Rocky Flats Site. A delay in the closure of the
Rocky Flats Site would be costly due to extended site security needs
and site services, eliminating the cost advantages of implementing the
earlier decision.
At the time the Residues EIS was being prepared, DOE believed that
it was impractical to apply a variance to safeguards termination limits
for plutonium fluoride residues due to the high plutonium concentration
and the relative ease of recovering the plutonium from the residue
matrix. Although the amount of the plutonium fluoride residues was
small (315 kg), the amount of plutonium present in these residues
(about 142 kg) subjected them at that time to a set of safeguards
requirements to maintain control of the residues and to ensure that the
plutonium in them was not stolen or diverted for illicit use (e.g., to
construct a nuclear weapon). Therefore, the Residues EIS only analyzed
the impacts of blending and repackaging the plutonium fluorides to meet
the safeguards termination limits for them (0.2 weight percent), and
did not analyze an alternative to blend these particular residues down
to less than 10 weight percent plutonium.
The Rocky Flats Site has since developed a blending matrix of inert
material that would result in a blended material from which plutonium
recovery is difficult. This development, in addition to the application
of other conditions, has allowed the Rocky Flats Site to obtain a
``variance'' to the safeguards termination limits from DOE's Office of
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. The other conditions applied include
a modification of the packaging components of the pipe overpack
container to make it more difficult to divert any plutonium and a re-
evaluation of the recovery processing steps required to separate
plutonium from the plutonium fluoride residues in their present
condition. All these special conditions have made the application of a
variance for the plutonium fluoride residues and their shipment to WIPP
practical.
WIPP's opening in March 1999 and the issuance of WIPP's hazardous
waste permit by the New Mexico Environment Department in November 1999
provided DOE with the option to dispose of a blended-down plutonium
fluoride residues matrix at WIPP. Because the plutonium fluoride
residues contain hazardous constituents, these residues would be
subject to the requirements of WIPP's hazardous waste permit.
IV. Decision
After consideration of the potential environmental impacts
identified in the Residues EIS, the new circumstances discussed above,
and a Supplement
[[Page 4805]]
Analysis (DOE/EIS-0277-SA-1), discussed below, DOE has decided to blend
down the plutonium fluoride residues with inert material to less than
10 percent, apply a variance to the safeguards termination limits, and
dispose of these residues at WIPP.
V. Basis for the Decision
The delay in obtaining the certification for the shipping container
needed to transport the plutonium fluoride residues to SRS could
prevent DOE from closing the Rocky Flats Site by 2006. DOE now has the
ability to blend down this category of residues to less than 10 weight
percent of plutonium and meet the variance requirements for safeguards
termination limits. For the reasons described below in Section VI, DOE
has concluded that blending the plutonium fluoride residues down to
less than 10% plutonium by weight and shipping them to WIPP for
disposal would have low impacts, well within those analyzed in the
Residues EIS.
DOE's decision complies with Section 309 of the Fiscal Year 2001
Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 106-377),
which specifies that: ``None of the funds in this Act may be used to
dispose of transuranic waste in WIPP which contains concentrations of
plutonium in excess of 20 percent by weight for the aggregate of any
material category on the date of enactment of this Act, or is generated
after such date. For the purposes of this section, the material
categories of transuranic waste at the Rocky Flats Environmental
Technology Site include: (1) Ash residues, (2) salt residues, (3) wet
residues, (4) direct repackage residues, and (5) scrub alloy as
referenced in the `Final Environmental Impact Statement on Management
of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub Alloy Stored at the Rocky Flats
Environmental Technology Site.' '' (Plutonium fluoride residues are
part of the ``wet residues'' category, which overall contains
approximately 7 percent plutonium by weight.)
Furthermore, disposal of the plutonium fluoride residues at WIPP
now provides the least technical risk and most cost-effective approach
to the management of plutonium fluoride residues, and supports the
Rocky Flats closure schedule of 2006. Therefore, there are no longer
cost, waste management, or schedule advantages in shipping the
plutonium fluoride residues to SRS for separation.
VI. Prior NEPA Analysis
DOE prepared a Supplement Analysis for the Final Environmental
Impact Statement on Management of Certain Plutonium Residues and Scrub
Alloy Stored at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (DOE/EIS-
0277-SA-1). This Supplement Analysis was developed to determine whether
the activities and impacts associated with blending down the plutonium
fluoride residues to less than 10 percent plutonium by weight with a
matrix of inert material, applying a safeguard termination limit
variance, and disposing of the resulting blend at WIPP were encompassed
within previous NEPA reviews or would present any significant new
information or circumstances relevant to environmental concerns.
The results of this Supplement Analysis indicated that the
activities and potential environmental impacts associated with the new
action are encompassed within the activities and impacts analyzed under
Alternative 2 (blend down) of the Residues EIS. In addition, the
overall impacts for the new action will be very small for both the
public and workers and within the levels of impacts considered in the
Residues EIS. Worker exposure during the new blend down activities
would be reduced to 8 person-rem from 365 person-rem estimated in the
Residues EIS. The number of Latent Cancer Fatalities (LCF) for the
total worker population would be smaller for the new action (0.003)
than for Alternative 2 (0.142). The difference in LCF for the total
worker population between Alternative 2 and the new action is a result
of two factors. The first is a reduced duration of the blend down
operation as blending down to less than 10 weight percent plutonium
rather than 0.2 weight percent plutonium will result in a shorter
period in which the material is handled. Secondly, enhanced worker
shielding will reduce worker exposure during the blend-down activities.
Additionally, the new action has fewer drums for transportation
reducing the potential for traffic accidents during transportation of
plutonium fluoride residues to WIPP. Accordingly, DOE determined that
carrying out the new action would not constitute a substantial change
in actions previously analyzed and would not constitute significant new
circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and
bearing on the previously analyzed action or its impacts. Therefore,
DOE did not need to undertake additional NEPA analysis before issuing
this amendment to the 1998 Record of Decision.
VII. Conclusion
This Amended Record of Decision is effective upon being made
public, in accordance with DOE's NEPA implementation regulations (10
CFR 1021.315).
Issued in Washington, D.C., this 11th day of January 2001.
Carolyn L. Huntoon,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 01-1478 Filed 1-17-01; 8:45 am]
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