[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 26, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31479-31481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11192]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing
Evaluation for Vitrified Low Activity Waste for Onsite Disposal at the
Hanford Site, Washington
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability
of the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for Vitrified
Low Activity Waste Disposed Onsite at the Hanford Site, Washington
(Draft WIR Evaluation). The Draft WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the
vitrified low activity waste (VLAW), from which long-lived insoluble
[[Page 31480]]
radionuclides and cesium has been or will be removed before
vitrification at the Low Activity Waste Vitrification Facility and
subsequent disposal onsite at the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF),
is waste that is incidental to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, is
not high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may be managed (disposed of
onsite) as mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLLW). DOE prepared the
Draft WIR Evaluation pursuant to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and the criteria in DOE Manual 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste
Management Manual. DOE is consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) before finalizing this evaluation. DOE is also making
the Draft WIR Evaluation available for comments from States, Tribal
Nations, stakeholders and the public. After consultation with NRC,
carefully considering comments received, and performing any necessary
revisions of analyses and technical documents, DOE will prepare a final
WIR evaluation. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE may determine,
in a future WIR Determination, whether the VLAW is incidental to
reprocessing, is non-HLW, and may be managed (disposed of onsite at the
IDF) as MLLW.
DATES: DOE invites comments on the Draft WIR Evaluation during a 120-
day comment period beginning May 26, 2020, and ending on September 26,
2020. DOE will consider all comments received by September 26, 2020.
DOE will also consider comments received after that date to the extent
practical. A public webex meeting on the Draft WIR Evaluation will be
held on June 10, 2020. Before the meeting, DOE will issue stakeholder
and media notifications and publish an additional notice in the local
newspaper providing the date, time, and webex information of the public
meeting. Information on the public meeting date and webex information
also will be available before the meeting at the website listed in
https://www.hanford.gov/pageAction.cfm/calendar.
ADDRESSES: The Draft WIR Evaluation is available on the internet at
https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/VitrifiedLowActivityWaste and will be
publicly available for review at the following locations once these
facilities re-open following resolution of public health concerns
associated with the coronavirus: U.S. DOE Public Reading Room, 1000
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, phone: (202) 586-5955, or
fax: (202) 586-0575; and U.S. DOE Public Reading Room located at 2770
University Drive, Consolidated Information Center (CIC), Room 101L,
Richland, WA 99354, phone: (509) 372-7303. Written comments should be
submitted to: Ms. Jennifer Colborn, U.S. Department of Energy, Office
of River Protection, 2440 Stevens Drive, Richland, WA 99354.
Alternatively, comments may also be filed electronically by email to:
VLAWDraftWIR@rl.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
Draft WIR Evaluation, please contact Ms. DaBrisha Smith by mail at U.S.
Department of Energy, Office of River Protection, 2440 Stevens Drive,
Richland, WA 99354, by phone at 509-376-4306, or by email at
dabrisha_m_smith@orp.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Hanford site currently stores
radioactive waste in underground storage tanks. The waste was
generated, in part, by the prior reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel
during the Manhattan Project and Cold War eras, for defense-related
nuclear research, development and weapons-production activities.
Hanford's current mission focuses on the cleanup and remediation of
those wastes and ultimate closure of the site. As part of that mission,
DOE is retrieving waste from the Hanford tanks, and has decided to
separate the tank waste into a low-activity waste stream and a high-
level radioactive waste stream.
The Draft WIR Evaluation concerns approximately 23.5 million
gallons (Mgal) of separated, pretreated and vitrified low activity
waste (VLAW), from some of the underground tanks at the Hanford Site in
the State of Washington. For the low-activity tank waste at issue in
this Draft WIR Evaluation, DOE plans to use the direct-feed low-
activity waste (DFLAW) approach. The DFLAW approach is a two-phased
approach that will separate and pretreat supernate (essentially the
upper-most layer of tank waste that contains low concentrations of
long-lived radionuclides) from the Hanford tanks, to generate a low-
activity waste (LAW) stream. For Phase 1, the DFLAW approach will begin
with in-tank settling, separation (removal by decanting) of the
supernate (including dissolved saltcake and interstitial liquids),
filtration, and then cesium removal using ion-exchange columns in a
tank-side cesium removal (TSCR) unit. For Phase 2, DOE will treat
additional supernate (including dissolved saltcake and interstitial
liquids) using the same processes with either an additional TSCR unit
or a filtration and cesium removal facility. The DFLAW approach is
expected to remove more than 99% of the cesium and remove other key
radionuclides.
After pretreatment, the LAW stream will be sent by transfer lines
to the Low Activity Waste Vitrification Facility at the Hanford Site,
where it will be vitrified (immobilized in borosilicate glass).
Approximately 13,500 containers of vitrified waste will be produced
using the DFLAW approach. DOE plans to dispose of the pretreated and
vitrified LAW in the onsite IDF, a land disposal facility at the
Hanford Site for MLLW.
DOE Manual 435.1-1, which accompanies DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive
Waste Management, provides for a rigorous evaluation process that DOE
uses to determine whether or not certain waste from the reprocessing of
spent nuclear fuel is incidental to reprocessing, is not HLW and may be
managed as LLW. This process, in relevant part, requires demonstrating
that:
(1) The wastes have been processed, or will be processed, to remove
key radionuclides to the maximum extent that is technically and
economically practical;
(2) The waste will be managed to meet safety requirements
comparable to the performance objectives set out in 10 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) Part 61, Subpart C, Performance Objectives; and
(3) The waste will be managed, pursuant to DOE authority under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with the
provisions of Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1-1, provided the waste will
be incorporated in a solid physical form at a concentration that does
not exceed the applicable concentration limits for Class C LLW as set
out in 10 CFR 61.55, Waste Classification.
The Draft WIR Evaluation documents and demonstrates that the
disposal of VLAW at IDF will meet the above-referenced criteria in DOE
Manual 435.1-1. DOE is predicating this Draft WIR Evaluation on
extensive analysis and scientific rationale, using a risk-informed
approach, including analyses presented in the ``Performance Assessment
for the Integrated Disposal Facility, Hanford Site, Washington'' (IDF
PA). Specifically, this Draft WIR Evaluation shows that key
radionuclides (those radionuclides which contribute most significantly
to radiological dose to workers, the public, and the environment as
well as radionuclides listed in 10 CFR 61.55) have been or will have
been removed to the maximum extent technically and economically
practical. Based on the analyses in the IDF PA, this Draft WIR
Evaluation also projects that potential
[[Page 31481]]
doses to a hypothetical member of the public and hypothetical
inadvertent intruder for 1,000 years (and beyond) after IDF closure
will be well below the doses specified in the performance objectives
and performance measures for LLW. In addition, the analyses demonstrate
that there is reasonable expectation that safety requirements
comparable to the NRC performance objectives at 10 CFR part 61, subpart
C will have been met. As also shown in the Draft WIR Evaluation, the
VLAW will have been incorporated into a solid form that does not exceed
concentration limits for Class C LLW.
DOE is consulting with NRC on this Draft WIR Evaluation and also
making the Draft WIR Evaluation available for comments from the States,
Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. After consultation with
NRC, carefully considering comments received, and performing any
necessary revisions of analyses and technical documents, DOE plans to
issue a final WIR Evaluation. Based on the final WIR Evaluation, DOE
may determine, in a future WIR Determination, whether the VLAW is
incidental to reprocessing, is non-HLW, and may be managed (disposed of
onsite at IDF) as LLW.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on May 15,
2020, by Elizabeth A. Connell, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, pursuant to delegated
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been
authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for
publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this
document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on May 20, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-11192 Filed 5-22-20; 8:45 am]
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