[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Sunshine Act Meetings]
[Pages 10634-10635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4876]



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DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD

    Pursuant to the provisions of the ``Government in Sunshine Act'' 
(5 U.S.C. Sec. 552b), notice is hereby given of the Board's meeting 
described below. The Board will also conduct a public hearing 
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2286b to gather additional information on 
technical issues underlying the Board's Recommendation 94-1.

TIME AND DATE: 9:30 a.m., March 22, 1995.

PLACE: The Conference Center (Municipal Auditorium), 214 Park Avenue 
S.W., Aiken, South Carolina. The entrance to the facility is located at 
215 The Alley.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

    1. Experience with and available technologies for stabilizing 
transplutonium solutions at the Savannah River Site.
    2. Storage conditions of spent nuclear fuel at the Hanford, 
Idaho and Savannah River Sites.
    3. Available technologies for stabilizing spent nuclear fuel for 
interim storage at Hanford, Idaho and Savannah River Sites.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: Robert M. Andersen, General 
Counsel, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue 
NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004, (800) 788-4016. This is a toll 
free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board repeatedly expressed the view that 
the Department of Energy needs to accelerate its current schedule for 
converting certain unstable nuclear defense-related materials to forms 
suitable for safe storage. The Board's most recent effort to address 
this potential threat to the public health and safety was expressed in 
its Recommendation 94-1, dated May 26, 1994. In that recommendation we 
stated, among other things, that:

    The halt in production of nuclear weapons and materials to be 
used in nuclear weapons froze the manufacturing pipeline in a state 
that, for safety reasons, should not be allowed to persist 
unremediated. The Board has concluded from observations and 
discussions with others that imminent hazards could arise within two 
to three years unless certain problems are corrected.
    We are especially concerned about specific liquids and solids 
containing fissile material and other radioactive substances in 
spent fuel storage pools, reactor basins, reprocessing canyons, 
processing lines, and various buildings once used for processing and 
weapons manufacture.
    It is not clear at this junction how fissile materials produced 
for defense purposes will eventually be dealt with long term. What 
is clear is that the extant fissile materials and related materials 
require treatment on an accelerated basis to convert them to forms 
more suitable for safe interim storage.

    Recommendation 94-1 in its entirety is on file at DOE's Public 
Reading Room, Gregg-Graniteville Library, 171 University Parkway, 
University of South Carolina, Aiken, SC 29801, and at the Defense 
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board's Washington office. It is also set 
forth in the Federal Register at 59 FR 28848.
    In accordance with the powers granted to the Board, a public 
hearing [[Page 10635]] will be conducted by the Board in an open 
meeting. The Board has invited recognized experts in the fields of the 
treatment and storage of spent nuclear fuel and special nuclear 
materials to testify at this hearing in order to assist the Board and 
to inform the public as to proper treatment of these materials. The 
experts are expected to answer Board questions based on their 
experience and technical knowledge and to provide additional documents 
as necessary. This hearing is an information-gathering function. 
Examination of those appearing before us will be limited to the 
questions put to them by the Board. An opportunity will be available 
for comments by members of the interested public at the conclusion of 
testimony by the experts.
    A transcript of this proceeding will be made available by the Board 
for inspection by the public at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety 
Board's Washington office and at the DOE's Public Reading Room, Gregg-
Graniteville Library, 171 University Parkway, University of South 
Carolina, Aiken, SC 29801.
    The Board intends further meetings and hearings on these matters. 
The Board will announce these by separate Federal Register notice.
    The Board reserves its right to further schedule and otherwise 
regulate the course of these meetings and hearings, to recess, 
reconvene, postpone or adjourn the meeting and otherwise exercise its 
power under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

    Dated: February 23, 1995.
John T. Conway,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 95-4876 Filed 2-23-95; 2:32 pm]
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