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Notice of Availability of the West Valley Demonstration Project Draft Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: May 16, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 95)]
[Notices]
[Page 26587-26588]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16my03-58]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of the West Valley Demonstration Project
Draft Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of
the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Draft Waste Management
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for public review and comment.
This Draft EIS has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as amended (NEPA)(42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); Council on Environmental Quality regulations
implementing NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 1500-
1508); and DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR part 1021).
DOE's proposed action (and preferred alternative) is to ship
radioactive wastes that are either currently in storage on the WVDP
site, or that will be generated from WVDP operations over the next ten
years, to offsite disposal locations, and to continue managing its
onsite waste storage tanks. The potential environmental consequences of
the proposed action are evaluated in this Draft EIS, including impacts
to workers and the public from waste transportation and waste
management. The Draft EIS also analyzes a No Action Alternative, under
which most wastes would continue to be stored over the next ten years,
and an alternative under which certain wastes would be shipped to
interim offsite storage locations prior to disposal, along with the
addition of retrievable grout to the waste storage tanks for interim
stabilization. Indefinite waste storage onsite was considered but not
analyzed.
The public is invited to comment on the Draft EIS during a 45-day
public comment period, which ends on June 30, 2003. All comments
received during the public comment period will be considered in
preparing the Final EIS. Comments received after the public comment
period ends will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Requests for information about this Draft EIS should be
directed to: Daniel W. Sullivan, EIS Document Manager, DOE West Valley
Area Office, 10282 Rock Springs Road, WV-49, West Valley, New York
14171-9799, Telephone: (716) 942-4016.
Copies of the document can be requested by telephone at (716) 942-
2152 or (800) 633-5280.
Written comments on the Draft EIS can be mailed to: Daniel W.
Sullivan, WVDP WM EIS, 10282 Rock Springs Road, WV-49, West Valley, New
York 14171-9799.
Written comments may also be submitted by fax to: (716) 942-4199,
or submitted electronically to allens@wvnsco.com.
Oral comments on the Draft EIS will be accepted only during the
public hearing scheduled for the date and location provided in the
DATES section of this Notice.
For information regarding the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Ms.
Carol M. 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
(800) 472-2756.
The Draft EIS will be available at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa/docs.
docs.htm or www.wv.doe.gov. Copies of the Draft EIS and supporting
technical reports also are available for review at the locations listed
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice.
DATES: The public is invited to submit written and/or oral comments on
the Draft EIS. The comment period on the Draft EIS begins on the date
of this Notice and ends on June 30, 2003. DOE will consider all
comments postmarked by that date in preparing the Final EIS. Comments
postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent
practicable.
DOE will hold public hearings on June 11, 2003, at: Ashford Office
Complex, 9030 Route 219, Town of Ashford, Buffalo, New York, 1:30 p.m.
to 3:30 p.m.,7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Requests to speak at the public hearings can be made by calling or
writing the EIS Document Manager (see ADDRESSES, above). Requests to
speak that have not been submitted prior to the hearing will be
accepted in the order in which they are received during the hearing.
Speakers are encouraged to provide written versions of their oral
comments for the record. Each speaker will be allowed five minutes to
present comments unless more time is requested and available. Comments
will be recorded by a court reporter and will become part of the public
hearing record.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The WVDP is located on the Western New York
Nuclear Service Center (also referred to as the Center). The Center
comprises approximately 13.5 square kilometers (five square miles) in
West Valley, New York, and is located in the town of Ashford,
approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Buffalo, New York.
The Center was the site of the world's first commercial nuclear fuel
reprocessing plant, which was the only one to have operated in the
United States. The Center operated under a license issued by the Atomic
[[Page 26588]]
Energy Commission (now the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC])
in 1966 to Nuclear Fuel Services, Incorporated, and the New York State
Atomic and Space Development Authority, now known as the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
During reprocessing, spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear
power plants and DOE sites was chopped, dissolved, and processed by a
solvent extraction system to recover uranium and plutonium. Fuel
reprocessing ended in 1972 when the plant was shut down for
modifications to increase its capacity, reduce occupational radiation
exposure, and reduce radioactive effluents.
In 1976, Nuclear Fuel Services estimated that over $600 million
would be required to modify the facility to increase its capacity and
to comply with changes in regulatory standards. As a result, the
company decided to withdraw from the nuclear fuel reprocessing business
and exercise its contractual right to yield responsibility for the
Center to NYSERDA. Nuclear Fuel Services withdrew from the Center
without removing any of the in-process nuclear wastes. NYSERDA now
holds title to and manages the Center on behalf of the people of the
State of New York.
In 1980, Congress passed the WVDP Act (Pub. L. 96-368). This Act
requires DOE to demonstrate that the liquid high-level radioactive
waste (HLW) from reprocessing can be safely managed by solidifying it
at the Center and transporting it to a geologic repository for
permanent disposal. In addition to HLW, the WVDP also manages low-level
radioactive waste (LLW), transuranic (TRU) waste, and mixed waste
(radioactive and hazardous) generated as a result of Project
activities.
The Project Facilities and areas storing the waste are: the Process
Building, which includes approximately 70 rooms and cells that
comprised the NRC-licensed spent nuclear fuel reprocessing operations
(one of the cells--the Chemical Process Cell--now serves as the storage
facility for the vitrified HLW canisters); the Tank Farm, which
includes the underground HLW storage tanks; Waste Storage Areas, which
include several facilities such as Lag Storage Areas and the Chemical
Process Cell Waste Storage Area; and the Radwaste Treatment System Drum
Cell (Drum Cell), which stores cement-filled drums of stabilized LLW.
The scope of this Draft EIS departs from that which was announced
in a March 2001 Notice of Intent (NOI) (66 FR 16447, March 26, 2001).
The scope is now limited to onsite waste management and offsite waste
transportation activities, and no longer includes decontamination
activities as proposed in the NOI. DOE modified the scope of this EIS
as a result of public comments received during scoping and the
Department's further evaluation of activities that might be required
independently of final decisions on decommissioning and/or long-term
stewardship (LTS) at the WVDP. DOE published an Advance NOI (66 FR
56090, November 6, 2001) inviting preliminary public comment on a
proposed scope for a decommissioning and/or LTS EIS and recently
published an NOI (68 FR 12004, March 13, 2003).
Description of Alternatives
DOE analyzed three alternatives in the Draft EIS. Under the No
Action Alternative, Continuation of Ongoing Waste Management
Activities, waste management would include continued storage of most of
the existing LLW, the TRU waste, and the HLW, and limited shipments of
some LLW to offsite disposal. The emptied HLW storage tanks and their
surrounding vaults would continue to be ventilated to manage moisture
levels as a corrosion prevention measure.
Under Alternative A, Offsite Shipment of HLW, LLW, Mixed LLW, and
TRU Wastes to Disposal and Ongoing Management of the Waste Storage
Tanks (DOE's preferred alternative), DOE would ship the LLW and mixed
LLW to one of two DOE potential disposal sites (in Washington or
Nevada) or to a commercial disposal site (such as the Envirocare
facility in Utah), ship TRU waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) in New Mexico, and ship the HLW to the proposed Yucca Mountain
HLW Repository in Nevada. LLW and mixed LLW would be shipped over the
next ten years. TRU waste shipments to WIPP could occur within the next
ten years if the TRU waste is determined to meet all the requirements
for disposal in this repository; however, if some or all of WVDP's TRU
waste does not meet these requirements, the Department would need to
explore other alternatives for disposal of this waste. Offsite disposal
of HLW would occur at the proposed Yucca Mountain HLW Repository
sometime after 2025, assuming a license to operate is granted by NRC
and a disposal contract between DOE and the State of New York is in
place. The HLW storage tanks would continue to be managed as described
under the No Action Alternative.
Under Alternative B, Offsite Shipment of LLW and Mixed LLW to
Disposal, Shipment of HLW and TRU Waste to Interim Storage, and Interim
Stabilization of the Waste Storage Tanks, the LLW and mixed LLW would
be shipped offsite for disposal at the same locations as Alternative A.
TRU wastes would be shipped for interim storage at one of five DOE
sites: Hanford Site in Washington; Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee;
Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina; or WIPP in New Mexico. TRU
wastes would subsequently be shipped to WIPP (or would remain at WIPP)
for disposal. The HLW would be shipped to SRS or Hanford for interim
storage with subsequent shipment toYucca Mountain for disposal. The HLW
storage tanks and their surrounding vaults would be partially filled
with a retrievable grout to provide for interim stabilization of the
tanks.
Availability of the Draft EIS
Copies of this Draft EIS have been distributed to Federal, State,
and local officials, Members of Congress, and agencies, organizations,
and individuals who may be interested or affected. This Draft EIS will
be available on the Internet at: http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa/docs.docs.htm
or http://www.wv.doe.gov 
Additional copies can also be
requested by telephone at (716) 942-2152 or (800) 633-5280.
Copies of the Draft EIS and supporting technical reports are also
available for public review at the locations listed below.
Hulbert Library of the Town of Concord, 18 Chapel Street, Springville,
New York 14141
Central Library of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System,
Science and Technology Department, Lafayette Square, Buffalo, New York
14203
West Valley Central School Library, 5359 School Street, West Valley,
New York 14171
The Olean Public Library, 134 North 2nd Street, Olean, New York 14760
Ashford Office Complex, 9030 Route 219, West Valley, New York 14171
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 2, 2003.
Jessie Hill Roberson,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 03-12280 Filed 5-15-03; 8:45 am]
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