51358 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 160 / Thursday, August 18, 2011 / Notices 

demonstrated need and after all other 

market options are exhausted. 

The National Nuclear Security 

Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous agency within DOE, is 

responsible for the administration and 

implementation of the AFS. Downblending of the 17.4 metric tons of 

surplus HEU began in 2007 and is 

scheduled for completion in 2012. 

When complete, the down-blending will 

result in approximately 290 metric tons 

of LEU, of which approximately 230 

metric tons will form the reserve. The 

remainder will be used to pay for the 

down-blending and processing costs. 

For additional information on the 

potential environmental impacts of 

DOE’s ongoing HEU disposition 

activities and the AFS initiative in 

particular, please see ‘‘Amended Record 

of Decision: Disposition of Surplus 

Highly Enriched Uranium 

Environmental Impact Statement,’’ also 

published in today’s Federal Register. 

II. Policy and Process for Accessing 

AFS Material 

DOE intends to implement the 

following policies and processes to 

evaluate requests for purchases and the 

sale of LEU from the AFS. 

Policy. DOE intends for the AFS to be 

made available to eligible recipients that 

meet certain nonproliferation criteria in 

the case of supply disruptions in the 

nuclear fuel market. DOE will sell LEU 

from the AFS consistent with applicable 

laws, regulations, and Departmental 

policies concerning excess uranium 

disposition. DOE will sell LEU to U.S. 

persons who will in turn sell to 

domestic or foreign recipients only 

where DOE has confirmed that there is 

a fuel supply disruption that cannot be 

addressed by normal market 

mechanisms. If foreign reactor operators 

face a supply disruption, the AFS will 

be available to them through their U.S. 

suppliers. 

The sale of LEU from the AFS will be 

conducted consistent with the policies 

and guidance in the ‘‘Secretary of 

Energy’s 2008 Policy Statement on 

Management of Department of Energy’s 

Excess Uranium Inventory’’ (March 11, 

2008) and the DOE Excess Uranium 

Inventory Management Plan. In all 

cases, the U.S. person purchasing the 

LEU must meet all applicable licensing 

requirements and other authorizations 

for the possession, use, and 

transportation of nuclear materials. If 

the AFS is used to supply a foreign 

recipient, the U.S. person exporting the 

LEU must obtain or possess an 

appropriate license from the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission. DOE will 

establish the price of the LEU at the 

time of delivery using commercially 

acceptable market indices, to the extent 

practical, and ensure that reasonable 

value is obtained. All proceeds from the 

sale will be deposited in the U.S. 

Treasury. 

Process. Any U.S. person requesting 

to purchase LEU from the AFS must 

submit a request in writing to the NNSA 

Office of Nonproliferation and 

International Security. The request must 

set forth facts demonstrating that there 

is a fuel supply disruption for which 

fuel cannot be obtained through normal 

market conditions and that the end-user, 

if foreign, has good nonproliferation 

credentials. In addition, the request 

must include specific information about 

the purchase, including but not limited 

to: the time and place of delivery; the 

desired quantity and composition of 

LEU; the recipient and associated 

country of final end-use; confirmation of 

qualification for an export license, as 

required; and, if applicable, information 

on any intermediate consignee and 

country. Any foreign persons requesting 

to purchase LEU from the AFS can do 

so through their U.S. supplier. 

The U.S. person purchasing LEU from 

the AFS will be solely responsible for 

transportation, insurance, safety, and 

liability issues once title to the LEU 

transfers. The LEU will be in the form 

of uranium hexafluoride at a specific 

assay (generally 4.95% U–235); DOE 

will assume no responsibility beyond 

certification that the LEU meets ASTM 

International, formerly American 

Society for testing (ASTM), 

specifications and is of a certain 

quantity and assay. 

DOE will respond to requests within 

a reasonable time period, consistent 

with the requester’s needs, the 

circumstances surrounding the request, 

and other relevant and necessary 

governmental interests. DOE reserves 

the right to prioritize requests, and to 

seek additional information as necessary 

to review the request. 

DOE will establish an AFS 

Committee, which will be responsible 

for reviewing requests for LEU in the 

AFS and make recommendations to the 

Secretary of Energy on the sale of LEU 

from the AFS. The Committee will be 

chaired by the NNSA Office of 

Nonproliferation and International 

Security and include representatives 

from NNSA’s Office of Fissile Material 

Disposition, DOE’s Office of Nuclear 

Energy, DOE’s Office of Environmental 

Management, and the DOE and NNSA 

Offices of General Counsel. For 

transactions that trigger the 

requirements of section 3112(d) of the 

USEC Privatization Act, DOE will assess 

the impact of a sale from the AFS on the 

domestic uranium market, and will 

provide its recommendation to the 

Secretary to make the requisite 

determination that the transfer will not 

have an adverse material impact on the 

domestic uranium enrichment, 

conversion, or mining industries. 

DOE will receive concurrence from 

the Department of State, and consult 

with the Department of Commerce and 

the Department of Defense, prior to the 

approval and sale of AFS material to a 

U.S. person for use in a foreign country. 

For all sales from the AFS, DOE will 

notify other federal agencies (e.g., U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Department of State, Department of 

Commerce and the Department of 

Defense) prior to the sale, as 

appropriate. 

III. Projected Timeline 

The LEU for the AFS will come from 

down-blending 17.4 metric tons of HEU. 

When complete, the down-blending will 

result in approximately 290 metric tons 

of LEU, of which approximately 230 

metric tons will form the reserve. The 

remainder will be used to pay for the 

down-blending and processing costs. 

This will leave the AFS with 

approximately 6 reloads for an average 

1000 MW reactor. The down-blending 

will be completed in 2012. 

As of the publication of this notice, 

most of the down-blending for the AFS 

has been completed. DOE will begin 

accepting requests for purchases of the 

AFS material pursuant to the abovestated policy and process at this time. 

Issued in Washington, DC, this 13th day of 

May, 2011. 

Steven Chu, 

Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–21067 Filed 8–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

National Nuclear Security 

Administration Amended Record of 

Decision: Disposition of Surplus 

Highly Enriched Uranium 

Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Amended Record of Decision. 

SUMMARY: The National Nuclear 

Security Administration (NNSA), a 

semi-autonomous agency within the 

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is 

amending the August 5, 1996, Record of 

Decision (the 1996 ROD) (61 FR 40619) 

for the Disposition of Surplus Highly 

Enriched Uranium Environmental 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 160 / Thursday, August 18, 2011 / Notices 51359 

Impact Statement (HEU EIS) (DOE/EIS– 

0240). The 1996 ROD included DOE’s 

decision to implement a program to 

render a nominal 200 metric tons of 

surplus highly-enriched uranium (HEU) 

non-weapons-usable by blending it 

down to low-enriched uranium (LEU) 

and selling as much of the resulting LEU 

as possible (up to 85 percent) for use as 

reactor fuel. In 2007, NNSA prepared a 

Supplement Analysis (DOE/EIS–0240– 

SA1) to the HEU EIS but did not make 

a decision at that time. The Supplement 

Analysis analyzed the potential 

environmental impacts associated with 

ongoing HEU disposition activities and 

potential changes to those activities: 

supplying LEU to reactors in foreign 

countries through U.S. persons under 

certain circumstances; establishing new 

pathways for disposing of HEU 

materials that would not be converted to 

LEU for reactor fuel; and down-blending 

additional quantities of HEU for use as 

reactor fuel. NNSA now is amending the 

1996 ROD to make decisions regarding 

each of these proposals. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information about the Surplus 

HEU Disposition Program and the 

American Assured Fuel Supply, contact: 

Robert M. George, HEU Disposition 

Program Manager, Office of Fissile 

Materials Disposition, National Nuclear 

Security Administration, U.S. 

Department of Energy, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586–1530. 

For general information concerning 

the DOE National Environmental Policy 

Act (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; (202) 586–4600; 

leave a message at (800) 472–2756; or 

send an e-mail to 

askNEPA@hq.energy.gov. Additional 

information regarding DOE NEPA 

activities and access to many DOE 

NEPA documents are available on the 

Internet through the DOE NEPA Web 

site at http://nepa.energy.gov. Some of 

these documents, including the HEU 

EIS referenced in this Amended ROD, 

are available upon request as described 

at http://nepa.energy.gov/ 

nepa_request.cfm. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Following the end of the Cold War, 

the United States identified a surplus of 

weapons-usable HEU. HEU has a 

concentration of 20 percent or more of 

uranium-235, which is a fissile material 

that can be used to make nuclear 

weapons. In 1994, the United States 

declared 174 metric tons of HEU to be 

surplus to defense needs. In the HEU 

EIS, DOE analyzed alternatives to 

disposition a nominal 200 metric tons of 

surplus HEU in order to reduce the 

threat of nuclear weapons proliferation 

in an environmentally safe manner by 

reducing stockpiles of weapons-usable 

fissile materials, setting a 

nonproliferation example for other 

nations, and allowing peaceful 

beneficial re-use of the material. 

Alternatives analyzed in the HEU EIS 

involved the continued storage of HEU 

or mixing the surplus HEU with other 

uranium materials (LEU, natural 

uranium, or depleted uranium) to lower 

the concentration of uranium-235 so 

that it is not weapons-usable, a process 

called ‘‘down-blending.’’ DOE analyzed 

a range of scenarios regarding how 

much HEU would be down-blended (to 

approximately four percent uranium235) for use in commercial reactors as 

opposed to blending to approximately 

0.9 percent uranium-235 for disposal as 

low-level radioactive waste (LLW). 

The HEU EIS evaluated the potential 

environmental impacts of downblending at up to four existing U.S. 

facilities: DOE’s Y–12 National Security 

Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; DOE’s 

Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, 

South Carolina; The Babcock & Wilcox 

Company (now B&W Nuclear 

Operations Group, Inc. [B&W NOG]) in 

Lynchburg, Virginia; and Nuclear Fuel 

Services, Inc., (NFS) in Erwin, 

Tennessee. These sites were considered 

because they have technically viable 

HEU conversion and blending 

capabilities and could down-blend 

surplus HEU to LEU for use in 

commercial fuel or for disposal as 

waste. B&W NOG and NFS, which is 

now owned by B&W NOG, are both 

licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) to process HEU. 

As described in the 1996 ROD (61 FR 

40619; August 5, 1996), DOE planned to 

down-blend as much surplus HEU as 

possible (then assumed to be up to 85 

percent of the 200 metric tons, i.e., 

approximately 170 metric tons) into 

LEU for use as commercial reactor fuel. 

The remainder (approximately 30 metric 

tons) would be down-blended and then 

disposed of as low-level waste (LLW). 

DOE planned to use a combination of 

the four sites and estimated that the 

blend-down program would be 

completed in about 15–20 years. This 

alternative was identified in the 1996 

ROD as the environmentally preferable 

alternative. To date, almost 15 years 

after the ROD was issued, DOE has 

down-blended approximately 120 

metric tons of surplus HEU to LEU and 

provided all the LEU for use in 

commercial or research reactors. 

In the fall of 2005, up to an additional 

200 metric tons of HEU were declared 

surplus to nuclear weapon program 

needs. Of this, up to 160 metric tons 

were designated for the U.S. Naval 

Reactors Program for use as reactor fuel. 

However, based on historical data, DOE 

anticipated that up to approximately 32 

metric tons of this HEU might be 

unsuitable for use as naval reactor fuel, 

and proposed to down-blend rejected 

material to LEU. Another 20 metric tons 

of the 200 metric ton declaration were 

designated for down-blending. Downblending this HEU began in 2009, 

consistent with the 1996 ROD. 

American Assured Fuel Supply 

Initiative 

In 2005, the Secretary of Energy 

announced that DOE would set aside a 

stockpile of LEU derived from 17.4 

metric tons of surplus HEU to be held 

in reserve to address potential 

disruptions in the nuclear fuel supply of 

eligible foreign recipients that meet 

certain nonproliferation criteria. In the 

Explanatory Statement accompanying 

the House Appropriations Committee 

Print for the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. 110– 

161), which was given the same effect 

as a joint explanatory statement, 

Congress recommended that DOE also 

make the LEU available to domestic 

reactors in the event of a supply 

disruption. This effort to establish and 

manage an LEU reserve was originally 

referred to as the Reliable Fuel Supply 

Initiative, but now is called the 

American Assured Fuel Supply (AFS). 

Proposed Action and Program Changes 

NNSA proposes to implement the 

AFS initiative and modify certain 

elements of the existing surplus HEU 

disposition program: 

(1) American Assured Fuel Supply. 

Under the AFS, a portion of LEU 

derived from down-blending surplus 

HEU would be held in reserve to 

respond, through U.S. intermediaries, to 

disruptions in the foreign or domestic 

supply of nuclear fuel. In the 2007 

Supplement Analysis, this initiative was 

referred to as the Reliable Fuel Supply 

Initiative and was limited in scope to 

ensuring that foreign countries with 

good nonproliferation credentials have 

access to the nuclear fuel market and 

the benefits of nuclear power. Under the 

current proposal, the AFS would supply 

LEU in the event of a supply disruption 

both to recipients in foreign countries 

through a U.S. person or recipients in 

the United States. This would further 

nuclear nonproliferation objectives by 

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51360 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 160 / Thursday, August 18, 2011 / Notices 

1NNSA awarded the contract for down-blending 

to a team consisting of WesDyne International (a 

subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Company) and 

NFS. NFS is down-blending the surplus HEU to 

LEU at its facility in Erwin, Tennessee. 

2These documents are available on the internet 

at: http://www.ne.doe.gov/pdfFiles/ 

Excess%20Uranium%20Inventory.pdf and http:// 

www.ne.doe.gov/pdfFiles/inventory_ 

plan_unclassified.pdf. 

3Low-equity items include materials with varying 

enrichments that are no longer needed to meet 

programmatic needs, have no further defined use, 

and are commonly considered uneconomical for 

recovery due to low concentration of HEU or due 

to impurities. 

4The Supplement Analysis also analyzes the 

potential environmental impacts of direct disposal 

in a geologic repository of 15 metric tons of spent 

nuclear fuel containing HEU. That fuel currently is 

in safe and secure storage along with a much larger 

quantity of spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National 

Laboratory, and DOE is not proposing any change 

at this time in the management of that material. 

supporting civilian nuclear energy 

development while minimizing 

proliferation risks. 

Down-blending the 17.4 metric tons of 

surplus HEU commenced in 2007 and is 

scheduled to be completed by 2012.1

These operations are the same as 

analyzed in the HEU EIS and are 

consistent with the existing ROD. The 

down-blending will result in 

approximately 290 metric tons of LEU, 

of which approximately 230 metric tons 

will form the AFS. The remainder of the 

LEU will be used to pay for the downblending and processing costs. Forty 

metric tons of LEU will be stored in 

existing facilities at the Westinghouse 

fuel fabrication facility in Columbia, 

South Carolina, and the rest of the DOEowned LEU will be available for the 

facility’s working inventory subject to 

contract conditions for providing LEU 

upon request by DOE. 

The sale of LEU from the AFS will be 

conducted consistent with the policies 

and guidance in the ‘‘Secretary of 

Energy’s 2008 Policy Statement on 

Management of Department of Energy’s 

Excess Uranium Inventory’’ (March 11, 

2008) and the DOE Excess Uranium 

Inventory Management Plan.2 In all 

cases, the U.S. persons purchasing the 

LEU must meet all applicable licensing 

requirements and other authorizations 

for the possession, use, and 

transportation of nuclear materials. If 

the AFS is used to supply a foreign 

recipient, the U.S. persons exporting the 

LEU will obtain a license from the NRC. 

DOE will establish the price of the LEU 

at the time of delivery using 

commercially acceptable market 

indices, to the extent practical, and 

ensure that reasonable value is obtained. 

All proceeds from the sale will be 

deposited in the U.S. Treasury. 

The U.S. persons purchasing LEU 

from the AFS will be solely responsible 

for transportation, insurance, safety, and 

liability issues once title is transferred. 

The LEU will be in the form of uranium 

hexafluoride (UF6) at a specific assay 

(generally 4.95% U–235); DOE assumes 

no responsibility beyond certification 

that the LEU meets ASTM International, 

formerly American Society for Testing 

Materials (ASTM), specifications and is 

of a certain quantity and assay. 

For additional information on the 

policies and process for use of the AFS, 

please see ‘‘Notice of Availability: 

American Assured Fuel Supply,’’ also 

published in today’s Federal Register. 

(2) New Disposition Pathways for 

HEU Discard Material. The HEU EIS 

analyzed the down-blending of lowequity 3 HEU materials to an enrichment 

level of 0.9 percent uranium-235, and 

disposing of the resulting LEU at a lowlevel radioactive waste facility. NNSA 

now proposes instead to directly 

dispose of these materials only if they 

meet acceptance criteria for disposal as 

LLW.4 Most disposal would occur at 

DOE’s Nevada National Security Site 

(NNSS) (formerly the Nevada Test Site). 

(3) Down-blending Additional HEU 

Over a Longer Period of Time. The 

quantity of surplus HEU available for 

disposition and the expected period of 

program implementation both have 

increased since the 1996 ROD. 

Additional quantities of surplus HEU 

primarily derive from two sources: new 

material declared excess to weapons 

needs in 2005, and HEU returned to 

DOE from foreign research reactor and 

domestic research reactor programs. 

NNSA proposes to down-blend these 

additional quantities of HEU to LEU for 

use in fabricating fuel for nuclear power 

plants, research reactors and isotope 

production facilities. The 1996 ROD 

foresaw HEU down-blending activities 

continuing for 15–20 years. NNSA now 

anticipates that down-blending may 

continue over an extended period, out 

to at least 2050, based on the pace of 

ongoing activities and because the 

material addressed by the 2005 

declaration is coming from nuclear 

weapon dismantlement over the coming 

decades. 

Down-blending of HEU from foreign 

or domestic research reactor spent 

nuclear fuel would occur only if DOE 

decides to chemically process, 

(reprocess) that fuel, which would 

separate the HEU from other 

components of the fuel. DOE currently 

plans to accept research reactor spent 

nuclear fuel through 2019, as 

announced in amended RODs (69 FR 

69901; December 1, 2004 and 74 FR 

4173; January 23, 2009) for the 

Environmental Impact Statement on a 

Proposed Nuclear Weapons 

Nonproliferation Policy Concerning 

Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear 

Fuel (FRR SNF EIS) (DOE/EIS–0218). 

Associated reprocessing operations 

are evaluated in the Savannah River Site 

Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (SRS 

SNF EIS) (DOE/EIS–0279 2000). DOE 

has no plans to reprocess spent nuclear 

fuel solely for the purpose of extracting 

HEU. However, activities associated 

with managing the fuel for the purposes 

of stabilization, facility cleanup, 

treatment, waste management, safe 

disposal, or environment, safety, and 

health protection could result in the 

separation of HEU in weapons-usable 

form that could pose a proliferation 

threat. If HEU is recovered from spent 

fuel for one or more of these reasons, it 

would be available for down-blending 

consistent with the 1996 ROD for the 

HEU EIS. 

Basis for Decision and Associated 

Environmental Impacts 

The Council on Environmental 

Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing 

NEPA at 40 CFR 1502.9(c) require 

Federal agencies to prepare a 

supplement to an EIS when an agency 

makes substantial changes in the 

proposed action that are relevant to 

environmental concerns or when there 

are significant new circumstances or 

information relevant to environmental 

concerns and bearing on the proposed 

action or its impacts. DOE NEPA 

Implementing Procedures at 10 CFR 

1021.314(c) direct that a supplement 

analysis be prepared to assist in making 

that determination when it is unclear 

whether a supplement to an EIS is 

required. NNSA prepared the 

Supplement Analysis for the Disposition 

of Surplus Highly Enriched Uranium 

(DOE/EIS–0240–SA1) in 2007 in 

accordance with these CEQ and DOE 

procedures. 

In the HEU Supplement Analysis, 

NNSA analyzed the potential 

environmental impacts from the 

ongoing HEU disposition program, as 

well as potential impacts from port 

activities and transportation of LEU by 

ship across the global commons (ocean) 

to support the proposal to make LEU 

available to reactors in foreign 

countries. The Supplement Analysis did 

not identify an end date for 

implementation of the proposed 

activities because, as noted above, 

receipt of surplus HEU into the 

disposition program is ongoing. 

The Supplement Analysis assumed 

the continued availability of the four 

facilities identified in the HEU EIS for 

continued blend down of HEU. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 160 / Thursday, August 18, 2011 / Notices 51361 

Potential impacts were based on 

processing 10 metric tons of HEU per 

year at each facility. 

The potential impacts would remain 

similar to those analyzed in the HEU 

EIS and Supplement Analysis. NNSA 

expects that there would be changes 

over time due to factors such as normal 

population fluctuations among work 

forces and in communities near the 

involved facilities. These changes 

would not create any significant new 

circumstances or information related to 

the proposed actions. Activities would 

continue in existing, appropriately 

licensed or approved facilities. Potential 

environmental impacts would remain 

small and within applicable regulatory 

and other limits. 

For AFS, which was not envisioned in 

the HEU EIS, potential impacts of the 

domestic program would be identical to 

those associated with the ongoing HEU 

disposition program. Prior to delivery to 

a reactor, one or more commercial 

nuclear fuel fabrication facilities would 

accommodate the LEU for the AFS 

reserve in its working inventory and 

existing storage capacity. This activity 

would be consistent with the facilities’ 

existing NRC operating licenses and 

would not require additional 

construction. In addition, as analyzed in 

the Supplement Analysis, transportation 

activities to provide LEU to foreign 

reactors would add small potential 

impacts associated with transfer 

activities at the port of departure and 

overseas shipments through the global 

commons. 

Disposal of certain HEU materials as 

LLW would result in potential impacts 

associated with transportation and 

disposal. Nevada National Security Site 

(NNSS) is the most likely disposal site 

for this LLW. The HEU EIS included an 

analysis of transporting 0.9 percent LEU 

to NNSS for disposal. Without downblending, the low-equity HEU materials 

would have a higher concentration of 

uranium-235, but with approved 

packaging and other required controls, 

the potential impacts would be similar 

to the transportation and disposal of 0.9 

percent LEU at NNSS. DOE also has 

analyzed transportation of low-level 

radioactive wastes to NNSS in the 

Environmental Impact Statement for the 

Nevada Test Site and Off-Site Locations 

in the State of Nevada (DOE/EIS–0243). 

That EIS also included analysis of waste 

disposal activities and resulted in a 

ROD identifying the NNSS as available 

for the disposal of LLW if it meets the 

NNSS waste acceptance criteria (61 FR 

65551, December 13, 1996). If NNSA 

were to use a different facility for 

disposal, the transportation impacts 

would be similar to those associated 

with use of NNSS (i.e., similar distances 

and population distributions would be 

involved), and disposal would occur in 

existing, licensed facilities so that 

impacts would be consistent with 

approved operations at the facility. 

Recognizing the potential for disposal at 

other sites, the HEU EIS identified the 

analysis of transportation impacts to 

NNSS as representative of other possible 

routes. In addition, DOE has analyzed 

the transportation and disposal of LLW 

in other NEPA analyses, including the 

Waste Management Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

Managing Treatment, Storage, and 

Disposal of Radioactive and Hazardous 

Waste (DOE/EIS–0200, 1997). 

Amended Decision 

Consistent with the decisions 

announced in the ROD issued pursuant 

to the HEU EIS (61 FR 40619; August 5, 

1996), NNSA will continue ongoing 

surplus HEU disposition program 

activities. NNSA has decided to also 

make the following changes to the HEU 

disposition program: 

(1) Implement the AFS, including 

storage of LEU and, as needed, 

transportation of the LEU by ship across 

the ocean for use in foreign reactors. 

(2) Dispose of certain HEU materials 

as low-level radioactive waste without 

prior down-blending if the materials 

meet applicable waste acceptance 

criteria. 

(3) Increase the quantity of HEU 

available for down-blending and 

continue down-blending operations 

beyond the 20 years anticipated in the 

1996 HEU EIS. 

NNSA will use all practicable means 

to avoid or minimize environmental 

harm when implementing the actions 

described in this Amended ROD. NNSA 

operates pursuant to a number of 

Federal laws including environmental 

laws, DOE Orders, and Federal, State, 

and local controls and agreements. Also, 

the commercial activities associated 

with the down-blending, transportation, 

and storage of HEU and LEU are 

regulated by the NRC and the 

Department of Transportation. Many of 

these requirements mandate actions that 

serve to mitigate potential adverse 

environmental impacts. 

For transactions that trigger the 

requirements of section 3112(d) of the 

United States Enrichment Corporation 

Privatization Act, DOE will assess the 

impact of a release from the AFS on the 

domestic market, and will provide its 

recommendation to the Secretary to 

make the appropriate determination as 

to whether the transfer will have an 

adverse material impact on the domestic 

uranium enrichment, conversion, or 

mining industries. 

Issued in Washington, DC, this 29th day of 

April, 2011. 

Thomas P. D’Agostino, 

Administrator, National Nuclear Security 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–21069 Filed 8–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board, Northern New 

Mexico 

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DoE). 

ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

meeting of the Environmental 

Management Site-Specific Advisory 

Board (EM SSAB), Northern New 

Mexico. The Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 

770) requires that public notice of this 

meeting be announced in the Federal 

Register. 

DATES: Wednesday, September 28, 2011; 

1 p.m.–7 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: Sagebrush Inn and 

Conference Center, 1508 Paseo de 

Pueblo Sur, Taos, New Mexico. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Menice Santistevan, Northern New 

Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board 

(NNMCAB), 1660 Old Pecos Trail, Suite 

B, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Phone (505) 

995–0393; Fax (505) 989–1752 or e-mail: 

msantistevan@doeal.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of 

the Board: The purpose of the Board is 

to make recommendations to DOE–EM 

and site management in the areas of 

environmental restoration, waste 

management, and related activities. 

Tentative Agenda 

1 p.m. Call to Order by Co-Deputy 

Designated Federal Officers 

(DDFO), Ed Worth and Lee Bishop; 

Establishment of a Quorum: Roll Call 

and Excused Absences; 

Welcome and Introductions, Ralph 

Phelps; 

Welcome to Taos, Mayor Darren 

Cordova; 

Approval of Agenda and July 27, 2011 

Meeting Minutes. 

1:30 p.m. Public Comment Period. 

1:45 p.m. Old Business; 

• Written Reports; 

• Other Items. 

2 p.m. New Business: 

• Report from Nominating Committee 

(Section V, F. of NNMCAB Bylaws), 

Deb Shaw; 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES