Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 70 / Wednesday, April 12, 1995 / Notices 18589

who use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8

p.m., Eastern time, Monday through

Friday.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7705.

Dated: April 5, 1995.

Thomas W. Payzant,

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and

Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 95–8927 Filed 4–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–M

Advisory Council on Education

Statistics; Meeting

AGENCY: Advisory Council on Education

Statistics.

ACTION: Teleconference.

SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the

schedule and proposed agenda of a

forthcoming meeting of the Advisory

Council on Education Statistics. This

notice also describes the functions of

the Council. Notice of this meeting is

required under Section 10(a)(2) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act. This

document is intended to notify the

general public of their opportunity to

attend.

DATES AND TIME: May 4, 1995 at 10:00

a.m..

ADDRESSES: 555 New Jersey Avenue,

N.W., Room 400F, Washington, D.C.

20208.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barbara Marenus, Executive Director,

Advisory Council on Education

Statistics, 555 New Jersey Avenue,

Room 400J, Washington, D.C. 20208–

7575, telephone: (202) 219–1839.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Advisory Council on Education

Statistics (ACES) is established under

Section 406(c)(1) of the Education

Amendments of 1974, Pub. L. 93–380.

The Council is established to review

general policies for the operation of the

National Center for Education Statistics

(NCES) in the Office of Educational

Research and Improvement and is

responsible for advising on standards to

insure that statistics and analyses

disseminated by NCES are of high

quality and are not subject to political

influence. The meeting of the Council is

open to the public.

The proposed agenda includes the

following:

• A discussion of draft NCES

guidelines on standards-based reporting.

• Agenda planning for the next ACES

Meeting.

Records are kept of all Council

proceedings and are available for public

inspection at the Office of the Executive

Director, Advisory Council on

Education Statistics, 555 New Jersey

Avenue NW, Room 400J, Washington,

D.C. 20208–7575.

Sharon P. Robinson,

Assistant Secretary for Educational Research

and Improvement.

[FR Doc. 95–8948 Filed 4–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Record of Decision; Defense Waste

Processing Facility at the Savannah

River Site, Aiken, SC

AGENCY: Department of Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Record of Decision, Defense

Waste Processing Facility at the

Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken,

South Carolina.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE) is publishing a Record of

Decision for the Defense Waste

Processing Facility (DWPF). DOE has

prepared and issued a Final

Supplemental Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) (DOE/EIS–0082–S,

November 25, 1994) to assess the

potential environmental impacts of

completing construction and operating

the DWPF, a group of associated

facilities and structures, to pretreat,

immobilize, and store high-level

radioactive waste at the Savannah River

Site (SRS). On the basis of the analysis

of impacts in the Supplemental EIS,

monetary costs, and regulatory

commitments, DOE has decided to

complete construction and startup

testing, and begin operation of DWPF.

The facility will be completed and

operated as designed, which includes

modifications to the conceptual design

originally proposed and evaluated in the

EIS prepared for the DWPF in 1982

(DOE/EIS–0082). DOE also will

implement additional safety

modifications to DWPF that will

substantially reduce or eliminate

potential accidental releases of

radioactive material and chemicals in

the unlikely event of a severe

earthquake. Independent readiness

reviews of DWPF facilities will be

conducted, and any potential concerns

raised in these reviews will be resolved

before DOE proceeds with radioactive

operations.

High-level radioactive waste at SRS,

the result of nuclear materials

production, has been stored in large

underground tanks at SRS since 1954.

This waste now amounts to

approximately 129 million liters (34

million gallons) and exists as sludge,

soluble salts dissolved in water

(supernatant), and crystallized saltcake

formed from evaporation of the

supernatant. DWPF includes facilities to

pre-treat the salt (supernatant and

saltcake) and sludge components using

existing high-level waste tanks. Pretreatment of the salt component will

involve chemical precipitation in a

high-level waste tank followed by

filtration for separation of highly

radioactive constituents (cesium,

strontium, and plutonium) from the salt

solution, yielding two output streams: a

highly radioactive precipitate slurry and

a low radioactivity salt solution. Pretreatment of the highly radioactive

sludge will involve washing it with a

sodium hydroxide solution in selected

high-level waste tanks to remove

aluminum hydroxide and other soluble

salts. The highly radioactive

constituents in the precipitate slurry

and the pre-treated sludge will be

immobilized at DWPF by incorporating

them in borosilicate glass in a process

called vitrification. The highly

radioactive vitrified waste will be sealed

in stainless steel canisters and stored in

vaults at DWPF until a permanent

geologic repository becomes available.

The low radioactivity salt solution

resulting from salt and sludge pretreatment will be immobilized in the

Saltstone Manufacturing Plant (one of

the DWPF facilities) by being blended

with cement, slag, and flyash, which

will harden into a concrete-like material

called saltstone. Saltstone will be

permanently disposed of in large vaults

located near DWPF.

Storage of high-level radioactive

waste in tanks presents continued longterm risk from releases to the

environment, both from normal

operations and potential accidents.

Completion and operation of DWPF will

provide DOE with facilities to

immobilize high-level waste at SRS in a

form that will significantly reduce

potential long-term hazards to human

health and the environment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

further information on DWPF or to

receive a copy of the Final

Supplemental EIS contact: SR NEPA

Compliance Officer, U.S. Department of

Energy, Savannah River Operations

Office, P.O. Box 5031, Aiken, South

Carolina 29804–5031, (800) 242–8269.

For further information on the DOE

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) process, contact: Carol M.

Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA

Policy and Assistance (EH–42), U.S.

Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20585, (202) 586–