[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 190 (Wednesday, September 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61741-61743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21606]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
National Nuclear Security Administration
Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement
for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site in South
Carolina
AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.
[[Page 61742]]
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-
autonomous agency within the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy
(DOE), announces the availability of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site
(SRS) in South Carolina (SRS Pit Production EIS) (DOE/EIS-0541). NNSA
prepared the Final EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts
of producing a minimum of 50 war reserve pits per year at SRS and
developing the ability to implement a short-term surge capacity to
enable NNSA to meet the requirements of producing pits at a rate of no
fewer than 80 war reserve pits per year beginning during 2030 for the
nuclear weapons stockpile.
DATES: NNSA will not issue any Record of Decision (ROD) on the proposal
for a minimum of 30 days after the date that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) in
the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Requests for additional information related to the EIS
should be sent to Ms. Jennifer Nelson, NEPA Document Manager, National
Nuclear Security Administration, Savannah River Field Office, P.O. Box
A, Aiken, SC 29802; or sent by email to NEPA-SRS@srs.gov. The Final SRS
Pit Production EIS is available on the internet at: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepareading-room and https://www.energy.gov/nepa/listings/latestdocuments-and-notices.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
Notice, contact: Ms. Jennifer Nelson, NEPA Document Manager, National
Nuclear Security Administration Savannah River Field Office, P.O. Box
A, Aiken, SC 29802; phone: (803) 557-6372 or (803) 557-NEPA; or email:
NEPA-SRS@srs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: National security policies require DOE,
through NNSA, to maintain the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile,
as well as the nation's core competencies in nuclear weapons. NNSA has
the mission to maintain and enhance the safety, security, and
effectiveness of the nuclear weapons stockpile. Plutonium pits are
critical components of every nuclear weapon, with nearly all current
stockpile pits having been produced from 1978-1989. Today, the United
States' capability to produce plutonium pits is limited.
Since 2014, Federal law has required the Secretary of Energy to
produce no less than 30 war reserve plutonium pits during 2026 and now
requires that the nuclear security enterprise produces not less than 80
pits per year during 2030 (50 U.S.C. 2538a). NNSA's pit production
mission was emphasized as a national security imperative by the 2018
Nuclear Posture Review, issued in February 2018 by the Office of the
Secretary of Defense and subsequent Congressional statements of the
policy of the United States. The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review announced
that the United States will pursue initiatives to ensure the necessary
capability, capacity, and responsiveness of the nuclear weapons
infrastructure and the needed skill of the workforce, including
providing the enduring capability and capacity to produce no fewer than
80 pits per year beginning no later than during 2030. The 2018 Nuclear
Posture Review concludes that the United States must have sufficient
research, design, development, and production capacity to support the
sustainment of its nuclear forces.
To that end, DoD Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and
Sustainment and Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator
of the NNSA issued a Joint Statement on May 10, 2018, describing NNSA's
recommended alternative to meet the pit production requirement based on
the completion of an Analysis of Alternatives, an Engineering
Assessment and a Workforce Analysis. To achieve the nation's
requirement of producing no fewer than 80 pits per year beginning no
later than during 2030, NNSA has proposed to repurpose the Mixed-Oxide
Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at SRS to produce plutonium pits while
also maximizing pit production activities at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory (LANL). This two-prong (two-site) approach--with a minimum
of 50 pits per year produced at SRS and a minimum of 30 pits per year
at LANL--is considered the best way to manage the cost, schedule, and
risk of such a vital undertaking. This approach improves the
resiliency, flexibility, and redundancy of our Nuclear Security
Enterprise by reducing reliance on a single production site.
The SRS Pit Production EIS is an important element of the overall
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) strategy related to fulfilling
national requirements for pit production, which NNSA announced on June
10, 2019 (84 FR 26849). In that announcement, NNSA stated that it would
prepare at least three documents, including this SRS Pit Production
EIS.
On April 3, 2020, NNSA electronically published the Draft SRS Pit
Production EIS and published an NOA in the Federal Register announcing
a 45-day public comment period for the Draft EIS (85 FR 18947). EPA
also published its NOA of the Draft SRS Pit Production EIS on April 3,
2020 (85 FR 18957). The comment period was scheduled to end on May 18,
2020. On April 23, 2020, NNSA notified the EPA that it was extending
the comment period until June 2, 2020. On May 1, 2020, the EPA
published a notice in the Federal Register that announced the extension
to the public comment period (85 FR 25436).
In light of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) national
emergency and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention on public gatherings, NNSA held an internet-based (with
telephone access) virtual public hearing in place of an in-person
hearing. The virtual public hearing was held on April 30, 2020. In
addition to the public hearing, the public was encouraged to provide
comments via U.S. postal mail or electronically via email.
Approximately 400 comment documents were received from individuals,
interested groups, and Federal, State, and local agencies during the
public comment period on the Draft EIS.
In the Final SRS Pit Production EIS, NNSA evaluates the potential
impacts to the environment and human health from the following
alternatives: (1) Proposed action to repurpose MFFF to produce a
minimum of 50 pits per year; and (2) No-Action Alternative. NNSA
considered all comments received on the Draft EIS in preparing the
Final EIS and revised the Draft EIS to incorporate changes as a result
of public comments. In addition, NNSA updated the Final EIS to describe
and analyze evolution of the details associated with the Proposed
Action. The Final EIS also includes NNSA's responses to all comments
received.
NNSA will consider the environmental impact analysis presented in
the Final SRS Pit Production EIS, along with other information, in
making decisions regarding plutonium pit production at SRS. NNSA will
not issue any ROD on the proposal for a minimum of 30 days after the
date that EPA publishes its NOA in the Federal Register. NNSA will
publish any ROD in the Federal Register.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September
18, 2020, by Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Under
[[Page 61743]]
Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator, NNSA, 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 September 22, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-21606 Filed 9-29-20; 8:45 am]
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