11160 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 1997 / Notices

issued to you on December 20, 1996, by the

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation

of Textile Agreements. That directive

concerns imports of certain cotton and manmade fiber textile products, produced or

manufactured in Pakistan and exported

during the twelve-month period which began

on January 1, 1997 and extends through

December 31, 1997.

Effective on March 11, 1997, you are

directed to reduce the limits the following

categories, as provided for under the Uruguay

Round Agreements Act and the Uruguay

Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing:

Category Adjusted limit 1

331/631 .................... 2,092,588 dozen pairs.

360 ........................... 4,391,160 numbers.

363 ........................... 40,083,642 numbers.

369–S2 .................... 625,920 kilograms.

1The limits have not been adjusted to account for any imports exported after December

31, 1996. 2 Category 369–S: only HTS number

6307.10.2005.

The Committee for the Implementation of

Textile Agreements has determined that

these actions fall within the foreign affairs

exception to the rulemaking provisions of 5

U.S.C.553(a)(1).

Sincerely,

Troy H. Cribb,

Chairman, Committee for the Implementation

of Textile Agreements.

[FR Doc.97–6011 Filed 3–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–DR–F

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 2:00 p.m., Monday,

March 31, 1997.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Adjudicatory Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 97–6185 Filed 3–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 2:00 p.m., Monday,

March 24, 1997.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Adjudicatory Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 97–6186 Filed 3–7–97; 11:03 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 3:30 p.m., Tuesday,

March 18, 1997.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Enforcements Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 97–6187 Filed 3–7–97; 11:03 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 2:00 p.m., Monday,

March 17, 1997.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., NW., Washington,

DC 9 Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Adjudicatory Matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 97–6188 Filed 3–7–97; 11:03 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission.

TIME AND DATE: 2:00 p.m., Monday,

March 10, 1997.

PLACE: 1155 21st St., N.W., Washington,

D.C. 9th Fl. Conference Room.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Adjudicatory matters.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jean A. Webb, 202–418–5100.

Jean A. Webb,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 97–6189 Filed 3–7–97; 11:03 am]

BILLING CODE 6351–01–M

DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES

SAFETY BOARD

[Recommendation 97–1]

Safe Storage of Uranium-233

AGENCY: Defense Nuclear Facilities

Safety Board.

ACTION: Notice; recommendation.

SUMMARY: The Defense Nuclear

Facilities Safety Board has made a

recommendation to the Secretary of

Energy pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2286a

concerning the Safe Storage of Uranium233. The Board requests public

comments on this recommendation.

DATES: Comments, data, views, or

arguments concerning this

recommendation are due on or before

April 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send comments, data,

views, or arguments concerning this

recommendation to: Defense Nuclear

Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana

Avenue, NW., Suite 700, Washington,

DC 20004–2901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenneth M. Pusateri or Andrew L.

Thibadeau at the address above or

telephone (202) 208–6400.

Dated: March 6, 1997.

John T. Conway,

Chairman.

[Recommendation 97–1] Safe Storage of

Uranium-233

Dated: March 3, 1997.

Approximately one ton of Uranium233 (233U), a man-made isotope of

uranium, was produced by the

Department of Energy (DOE) and its

predecessor agencies. This material has

been studied extensively, and uses were

found for it in DOE’s defense-related

applications and in nuclear reactor

programs supported both by DOE and

commercial companies. The 233U in this

country is now all in the possession of

DOE. It is presently stored at several

DOE sites, predominantly within

defense nuclear facilities under the

purview of the Defense Nuclear

Facilities Safety Board (Board). Almost

all of the 233U has been determined by

DOE to be excess to its needs, and with

minor exceptions it is regarded as legacy

material. As will be apparent from the

following, however, any future
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 1997 / Notices 11161

processing or disposal of the 233U will

be accompanied by deep problems

which will cause handling of the

relatively small inventory of this

material to be exceptionally difficult.

Most of this material in DOE storage

has a specific alpha-activity which

approaches that of weapons grade

plutonium. Furthermore, all 233U

contains an amount of 232U which

varies from one lot to another. One of

the daughter products in the radioactive

decay chain of the 232U is Thallium-208

(208Th). That isotope of Thallium emits

a high-energy (2.6 Mev) gamma ray

when it decays. Depending on the

amount of 232U present in the 233U, the

surrounding radiation field can vary

from somewhat less than one Rem/hr to

several tens of Rem/hr. This radiation

field causes handling and processing of

any single item to be highly hazardous

and very difficult to perform. Even

visual inspection of a container housing

233U will usually be difficult.

DOE has recently completed a review

of issues associated with highlyenriched uranium. The results of that

review have been made available to the

Board in a report entitled the Highly

Enriched Uranium Environmental,

Safety and Health Vulnerability

Assessment Report. This report stated

that 233U in storage exists in various

forms throughout the complex,

including metal, compounds, and scrap

material. In addition, it noted that there

was uncertainty as to the identity of

some of the items and the material

condition of many of the storage

containers. Members of the Board’s staff

have also recently reviewed the storage

of 233U. The results of that review have

been issued by the Board as the report

‘‘Uranium-233 Storage Safety at

Department of Energy Facilities’’

(DNFSB/TECH–13). The assessments in

that report have led the Board to

identify several areas of concern.

Responsibility for the 233U inventory

remaining within the DOE complex is

diffuse. Several secretarial officers and

office heads are responsible for aspects

of defense nuclear facilities that store

significant quantities of 233U. For

example, Defense Programs is

responsible for Building 3019 at the Oak

Ridge National Laboratory, where more

than 400 kg of 233U resides.

Environmental Management now has

responsibility for the Chemical

Processing Plant and the Radioactive

Waste Management Complex at the

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory,

where there are about 350 kg of

unirradiated 233U in various chemical

and physical forms and a large number

of irradiated nuclear fuel elements. An

additional complication results from the

role of DOE’s Office of Material

Disposition in developing strategies for

final disposal of excess special nuclear

material. By way of contrast to this state

of dispersed responsibility, the Board

notes the better practice of placing

stabilization of plutonium residues

under a single project manager, in

response to the Board’s

Recommendation 94–1.

Uncertainty as to the condition of

many items of stored 233U generates

additional concerns. Review of the

original storage and packaging of the

items of 233U reveals wide variations in

practices. Questions exist in some cases

as to the original state and composition

of stored items. Furthermore, many of

the containers in which U-233 is stored

have not been inspected for decades,

and in some cases have not even been

accessed over this interval. The

inactivity leads to additional doubts as

to the condition of the stored material,

and degrades even further the

information base which should be

improved before it becomes necessary to

process the contents of the containers

for ultimate disposal. It also raises

questions as to how the storage facilities

themselves can be deactivated, cleaned

up, and decommissioned, since some

will be contaminated with this highly

radioactive material.

It cannot be ruled out that problems

exceeding those which motivated the

Board in issuance of its

Recommendation 94–1 may be found

where 233U is stored under conditions

such that physical deterioration can

occur. For this reason it would appear

prudent to assess the adequacy of

packaging of the items of 233U as they

are presently stored, as well as the state

of the storage facilities, and to correct

any problems that are found. The

assessment would profit from the

example of DOE’s implementation of the

Board’s Recommendation 94–1, in

developing a standard for the interim

packaging and storage of plutonium. A

similar standard would probably be

appropriate for 233U, but some

differences may be called for.

The Board understands that work is

presently on-going within DOE to

address some of the above concerns.

However, actions to deal with DOE’s

remaining inventory of U-233 would be

greatly enhanced by a more systematic

and focused approach. Therefore, the

Board recommends that DOE:

1. Establish a single line project to

deal with issues attached to safe storage

of 233U.

2. Develop standards to be used for

packaging, transportation, and interim

and long-term storage of 233U.

3. Characterize the items of 233U

presently in storage in DOE’s defense

nuclear facilities, as to material,

quantity, and type and condition of

storage container.

4. Evaluate the conditions and

appropriateness of the vaults and other

storage systems used for the 233U at

DOE’s defense nuclear facilities.

5. Assess the state of storage of the

items of 233U in light of the standards

mentioned in recommendation 2 above.

6. Initiate a program to remedy any

observed shortfalls in ability to maintain

the items of 233U in acceptable interim

storage.

7. Establish a plan for the measures

that can eventually be used to place the

233U in safe, permanent storage.

8. Until these ultimate measures are

taken, ensure that the DOE complex

retains the residue of technical

knowledge and competence needed to

carry through all of the measures

needed to ensure safe storage of the 233U

in the short and the long term.

John T. Conway,

Chairman.

Appendix—Transmittal Letter to Acting

Secretary of Energy

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

March 3, 1997.

The Honorable Charles B. Curtis,

Acting Secretary of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,

DC 20585–1000

Dear Mr. Curtis: On March 3, 1997, the

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

(Board), in accordance with 42 U.S.C.

§ 2286a(a)(5), unanimously approved

Recommendation 97–1 which is enclosed for

your consideration. Recommendation 97–1

deals with the Safe Storage of Uranium-233.

42 U.S.C. § 2286d(a) requires the Board,

after receipt by you, to promptly make this

recommendation available to the public in

the Department of Energy’s regional public

reading rooms. The Board believes the

recommendation contains no information

which is classified or otherwise restricted. To

the extent this recommendation does not

include information restricted by the

Department of Energy under the Atomic

Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2161–68, as

amended, please arrange to have this

recommendation promptly on file in your

regional public reading rooms.

The Board will publish this

recommendation in the Federal Register.

Sincerely,

John T. Conway

Chairman

Enclosure: c: Mr. Mark B. Whitaker, Jr.

[FR Doc. 97–5961 Filed 3–10–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3670–01–M