4404 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 14 / Tuesday, January 22, 2013 / Notices 

[FR Doc. 2013–01140 Filed 1–18–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

DOE Response to Recommendation 

2012–2 of the Defense Nuclear 

Facilities Safety Board, Hanford Tank 

Farms Flammable Gas Safety Strategy 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: On September 28, 2012 the 

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 

submitted Recommendation 2012–2, 

concerning Hanford Tank Farms 

Flammable Gas Safety Strategy, to the 

Department of Energy. In accordance 

with section 315(b) of the Atomic 

Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 

U.S.C. 2286d(b), the following 

represents the Secretary of Energy’s 

response to the Recommendation. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments, data, 

views, or arguments concerning the 

Secretary’s response to: Defense Nuclear 

Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana 

Avenue NW., Suite 700, Washington, 

DC 20004. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Steven Petras, Nuclear Engineer, 

Departmental Representative to the 

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 

Office of Health, Safety and Security, 

U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 9, 

2013. 

Mari-Josette Campagnone, 

Departmental Representative to the Defense 

Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Office of 

Health, Safety and Security. 

January 7, 2013 

The Honorable Peter S. Winokur 

Chairman 

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 

625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700 

Washington, DC 20004 

Dear Mr. Chairman: 

The Department of Energy (DOE) 

acknowledges receipt of Defense 

Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) 

Recommendation 2012–2, Hanford 

Tank Farms Flammable Gas Safety 

Strategy, issued on September 28, 2012, 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 12, 2012, and accepts the 

Recommendation. 

The Board acknowledged in its 

Recommendation that some 

improvements had been made to the 

specific administrative controls used for 

flammable gas monitoring, but noted 

that more work was needed to make the 

ventilation system a credited safety 

control. DOE agrees. In developing an 

Implementation Plan (IP), DOE will take 

the pragmatic and graded approach 

detailed below to address the sub 

recommendations that will significantly 

improve the robustness of flammable 

gas controls in the near term. DOE is 

confident this is the most expeditious 

approach to implement a more robust 

safety control for Double Shell Tank 

(DST) ventilation monitoring consistent 

with the intent of Recommendation 

2012–2. 

DOE’s approach to addressing sub 

recommendations 1 and 2 will be 

divided into the following 3 phases: 

• Phase 1 will be to complete 

implementing the DOE-approved 

Documented Safety Analysis by January 

2013. This will include supplementing 

the flammable gas monitoring control 

with a new control that will measure 

ventilation flow through each tank on a 

periodic basis. This Documented Safety 

Analysis will establish priorities for 

DST primary tank ventilation system 

maintenance, commensurate with the 

importance of maintaining active 

ventilation on these tanks. 

• Phase 2 will be to install initial 

safety-significant instrumentation for 

real-time monitoring of the ventilation 

exhaust flow from each DST that will 

not involve confined-space, radiological 

pit entry for data collection as is 

currently required. At this point, a 

robust safety-significant engineered 

control will be in place to provide exact 

flow measurement through each tank in 

real-time. 

• Phase 3 will be to refine the tank 

flow real-time monitoring to make the 

monitoring data available at remote 

locations. 

Remaining actions associated with 

sub recommendations 3 through 5 to 

reduce the potential hazards posed by 

gas release events will also be identified 

in the IP and will address: 

• Restoring and upgrading existing 

installed non-safety-related equipment 

being used to fulfill safety functions at 

the Hanford Tank Farms to the 

appropriate safety classification. 

• Implementing compensatory 

measures in the event of DST 

ventilation systems become unavailable. 

• Evaluating the means to reduce 

flammable gases retained in the DST 

waste. 

DOE is committed to the safe 

operation of its nuclear facilities 

consistent with the principles of 

Integrated Safety Management and the 

Department’s nuclear safety 

requirements. DOE values the Board’s 

input on how the Department can 

improve its activities. We look forward 

to working with the Board and its staff 

on preparing DOE’s IP for 

Recommendation 2012–2. I have 

assigned the Manager, Office of River 

Protection, to be the Department’s 

responsible manager for this 

Recommendation. He can be reached at 

(509) 376–8830. 

If you have any questions, please 

contact me or Mr. David Huizenga, 

Senior Advisor for Environmental 

Management, at (202) 586–7709. 

Sincerely, 

Steven Chu 

[FR Doc. 2013–01132 Filed 1–18–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 12690–005] 

Public Utility District No. 1 of 

Snohomish County, WA; Notice of 

Availability of Environmental 

Assessment 

In accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and 

the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission’s (Commission or FERC’s) 

regulations, 18 CFR part 380 (Order No. 

486, 52 FR 47897), the Office of Energy 

Projects reviewed the Public Utility 

District No. 1 of Snohomish County, 

Washington’s (Snohomish PUD) 

application for a 10-year pilot license 

for the proposed Admiralty Inlet Tidal 

Project No. 12690, which would be 

located in Admiralty Inlet in Puget 

Sound, near the City of Port Townsend, 

in Island County, Washington, and has 

prepared an environmental assessment 

(EA) in cooperation with the U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE/EA–1949). 

In the EA, Commission staff analyzed 

the potential environmental effects of 

constructing and operating the project 

and concludes that licensing the project, 

with appropriate environmental 

protective measures, would not 

constitute a major federal action that 

would significantly affect the quality of 

the human environment. 

A copy of the EA is available for 

review at the Commission in the Public 

Reference Room or may be viewed on 

the Commission’s Web site at 

www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link. 

Enter the docket number excluding the 

last three digits in the docket number 

field to access the document. For 

assistance, contact FERC Online 

Support at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or tollfree at 1–866–208–3676, or for TTY, 

202–502–8659. A copy of the EA can 

also be found on DOE’s Public Reading 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with