[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4803-4805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1478]


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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).
    <bullet> 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.)
    <bullet> 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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    <bullet> 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

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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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