[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70601-70604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24517]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
National Nuclear Security Administration
Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in
South Carolina (DOE/EIS-0541)
AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Record of decision.
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SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-
autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is
announcing this Record of Decision (ROD) for 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). In this ROD, NNSA announces its decision to implement the
Proposed Action to repurpose the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility
(MFFF) to produce a minimum of 50 war reserve pits per year at SRS and
to develop the ability to implement a short-term surge capacity to
enable NNSA to meet the requirements of producing pits at a rate of not
less than 80 war reserve pits per year up to the analyzed limit as
necessary beginning during 2030 for the nuclear weapons stockpile. NNSA
has previously evaluated this action at the programmatic level in the
2008 Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic EIS (Complex
Transformation SPEIS), and recently in a separate Complex
Transformation SPEIS Supplement Analysis (2019 SPEIS SA).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on this ROD or
the SRS Pit Production EIS, contact: 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 via email at NEPA-SRS@srs.gov. This ROD, the SRS Pit
Production EIS, and related NEPA documents are available at https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
NNSA has a statutory mission to maintain and enhance the safety,
reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile
including the ability to design, produce, and test, in order to meet
national security
[[Page 70602]]
requirements. Under Federal law and to meet national security
requirements, NNSA must implement a strategy to provide the enduring
capability and capacity to produce not less than 80 war reserve pits
per year beginning during 2030 (50 U.S.C. 2538a, as amended). NNSA's
current pit production capacity cannot meet this requirement. To meet
this requirement, NNSA has decided to implement the Proposed Action in
the SRS Pit Production EIS.
Pit production, at a level of at least 80 pits per year at SRS, has
been analyzed in two programmatic EISs and the site-specific SRS Pit
Production EIS. The first programmatic EIS in the post-Cold War era was
the 1996 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile
Stewardship and Management (SSM PEIS) (DOE/EIS-0236). The SSM PEIS
evaluated reasonable alternatives for reestablishing interim pit
production capability on a small scale. It analyzed a production level
of 80 pits per year at SRS and LANL at a programmatic level and
associated impacts across the Complex. In December 1996, NNSA issued a
ROD announcing a decision setting pit production at LANL at 20 pits per
year (61 FR 68014; December 26, 1996).
In 2008, NNSA prepared the Complex Transformation Supplemental
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Complex Transformation
SPEIS) (DOE/EIS-0236-S4). The Complex Transformation SPEIS evaluates,
among other things, alternatives for producing 10-200 pits per year at
different site alternatives, including SRS. At SRS, the Complex
Transformation SPEIS evaluated a pit production facility that would use
the planned MFFF and Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility
infrastructure. In the 2008 Programmatic ROD, NNSA did not make any new
decisions related to pit production capacity beyond 20 pits per year at
LANL (73 FR 77644; December 19, 2008).
Since 2014, Federal law has required the nuclear security
enterprise to produce not less than 30 war reserve plutonium pits
during 2026. Federal law now requires that the nuclear security
enterprise produce not less than 80 war reserve plutonium pits during
2030 (50 U.S.C. 2538a, as amended). The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review
reinforces this pit production requirement by stating that NNSA must
produce at least 80 plutonium pits per year beginning during 2030 and
must sustain the capacity for future life extension programs and
follow-on programs. As a result, the United States is pursuing an
initiative to provide the enduring capability and capacity to produce
plutonium pits at a rate of no fewer than 80 pits per year beginning
during 2030. To these ends, the DoD Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition and Sustainment and the NNSA Administrator issued a Joint
Statement on May 10, 2018, describing NNSA's recommended alternative to
pursue a two-prong (two-site) approach--a minimum of 50 pits per year
produced at SRS and a minimum of 30 pits per year produced at LANL. In
addition to improving the resiliency, flexibility, and redundancy of
our nuclear security enterprise by reducing reliance on a single
production site, this approach enables the capability to allow for
enhanced warhead safety and security to meet DoD and NNSA requirements;
deliberate, methodical replacement of older existing plutonium pits
with newly manufactured pits as risk mitigation against plutonium
aging; and response to changes in deterrent requirements driven by
renewed great power competition.
In 2019, NNSA prepared the 2019 SPEIS SA, which analyzed NNSA's
two-site pit production approach at a programmatic level. Based on the
2019 SPEIS SA, NNSA determined that the proposed approach for pit
production does not constitute a substantial change from actions
analyzed previously and there are no significant new circumstances or
information relevant to environmental concerns. The 2019 SPEIS SA
affirmed NNSA's decision to prepare site-specific documentation for the
proposal to repurpose the MFFF to produce a minimum of 50 war reserve
pits per year at SRS and to develop the ability to implement a short-
term surge capacity to enable NNSA to meet the requirements of
producing pits at a rate of not less than 80 war reserve pits per year
beginning during 2030 for the nuclear weapons stockpile. In the SRS Pit
Production EIS and this ROD, the repurposed MFFF is referred to as the
Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF) to reflect the
reconfiguration of the existing MFFF to perform plutonium-related
processing to support NNSA missions.
Consistent with the SSM PEIS and the Complex Transformation SPEIS,
the SRS Pit Production EIS identified that the term, pit production,
was used to describe a complex process that involves three main areas:
(1) Material receipt, unpacking, and storage; (2) feed preparation; and
(3) manufacturing. The production of pits at SRS includes the
activities needed to fabricate new pits, to modify the internal
features of existing pits, and to certify new pits or requalify
existing pits.
NEPA Process for This ROD
NNSA prepared this ROD for the SRS Pit Production EIS pursuant to
the regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for
implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and DOE's NEPA implementing
procedures (10 CFR part 1021). This ROD is based on Federal law and
NNSA's mission and information and analysis in the SRS Pit Production
EIS, including public comments received.
The SRS Pit Production EIS was distributed electronically for
review as part of the public participation process. DOE announced the
availability of the Draft SRS Pit Production EIS on April 3, 2020 (85
FR 18947). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the
availability of the Final SRS Pit Production EIS on September 25, 2020
(85 FR 60458). DOE also published an announcement of the Final SRS Pit
Production EIS on September 30, 2020 (85 FR 61741). Approximately 400
comment documents (including approximately 190 comment documents
submitted as one of seven email campaign letters) were received from
individuals, interested groups, and Federal, State, and local agencies
during the public comment period on the Draft SRS Pit Production EIS.
In addition, 44 commenters spoke at an online, virtual public hearing
(with telephone access), and their comments were recorded in formal
transcripts. The majority of the comments received on the Draft EIS
focused on policy issues related to the appropriateness or the need for
nuclear weapons or the need for additional pits. The primary topics
identified in the public comments included: (1) Requests for a
programmatic EIS for pit production; (2) requests to consider pit reuse
as a reasonable alternative; (3) requests for an extension to the
comment period due to the COVID-19 pandemic; (4) disagreement with the
two-prong (two-site) approach to pit production; (5) general opposition
to, or support for, the proposal; (6) comments about nuclear weapon
policies or new weapon design; (7) comments about the need for pits and
the lifetime of current pits; (8) comments about waste management; (9)
comments about transuranic waste storage at the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant; (10) comments about impacts to human health and potential
environmental justice impacts; and (11) comments about budget
priorities and the need to clean up SRS. After considering all comments
and modifying the Draft EIS, NNSA completed the Final SRS Pit
Production EIS.
[[Page 70603]]
Summary of Impacts
Both Federal law and national security policy require pit
production rates of not less than 80 pits per year nationally during
2030. The SRS Pit Production EIS analyzed the potential impacts of
producing 50, 80, and 125 pits per year at SRS. This approach provides
a conservative analysis and affords NNSA the flexibility to adapt to
shifting requirements or changed circumstances in the future if SRS
must produce more than 50 pits per year. Table 2-5 of the SRS Pit
Production EIS presents a summary of the potential environmental
impacts of the Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative. Table 2-6
summarizes the potential cumulative environmental impacts presented in
Chapter 5 of the EIS. Construction activities associated with the
Proposed Action would re-disturb approximately 48 acres of previously
disturbed land. This land requirement represents less than one percent
of the total 198,344-acre SRS. Although construction activities would
change the existing land use, the proposed SRPPF would be compatible
and consistent with the land use plans at SRS and would be compatible
with the current land use designations.
The site for the proposed SRPPF complex is located in a highly
developed and previously disturbed industrial area; therefore, there
would be no loss of habitat or impacts to biological, cultural, or
archaeological resources. Construction impacts would be minor, and
appropriate soil and erosion mitigation measures would minimize any
adverse impacts. No Federal- or State-threatened or endangered species
or other species of special interest are expected to be impacted by the
Proposed Action.
During construction and operations, groundwater use would be
approximately 2.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, of the total
current water use at SRS. The maximum amount of electrical consumption
would represent less than four percent of the SRS sitewide electrical
capacity.
Although there would be overall positive socioeconomic impacts
associated with construction and operational workforces, an increase in
vehicle traffic could affect the roads and transportation network
surrounding SRS. Employment increases would represent less than one
percent of the total employment in the socioeconomic area.
During normal operations, a minimal amount of radioactive material
and activation products could be released to the environment. However,
any radiation dose received by a member of the public from emissions
would be small and well below regulatory limits.
Operation of the proposed SRPPF would generate a variety of wastes
(including radioactive, hazardous, mixed, and sanitary) as an
unavoidable result of normal operations.
For production of 50 pits per year, there would be approximately
145 annual shipments of radiological materials and wastes, which could
impact the public along transportation routes. Potential doses to the
public and workers would be well below regulatory limits.
Environmentally Preferable Alternative
Considering the many environmental facets of the alternatives
analyzed in the SRS Pit Production EIS, and looking out over the long
term, the No-Action Alternative would be the environmentally preferred
alternative because no adverse impacts would result compared to the
Proposed Action. However, the No-Action Alternative would not meet the
purpose and need for agency action.
Comments on the Final SRS Pit Production EIS
NNSA posted the Final SRS Pit Production EIS on the NNSA NEPA
Reading Room website (https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room) and EPA published a Notice of Availability in the Federal
Register (85 FR 60458, September 25, 2020). DOE also published a Notice
of Availability of the Final SRS Pit Production EIS in the Federal
Register on September 30, 2020 (85 FR 61741). In response to these
Notices, NNSA received three comment documents related to the Final SRS
Pit Production EIS. NNSA considered each of the comments contained in
these documents during the preparation of this ROD.
Decision
NNSA has decided to implement the Proposed Action to repurpose the
MFFF to produce a minimum of 50 war reserve pits per year at SRS and to
develop the ability to implement a short-term surge capacity to enable
NNSA to meet the requirements of producing pits at a rate of not less
than 80 war reserve pits per year beginning during 2030 for the nuclear
weapons stockpile. Pit production at SRS would be limited to the
analyzed limit in the SRS Pit Production EIS to meet national security
requirements.
Basis for Decision
In making these decisions, NNSA considered the Final SRS Pit
Production EIS, other referenced NEPA analyses, and its statutory
responsibilities to support the nuclear weapons stockpile. Federal law
and national security policies continue to require NNSA to maintain a
safe, secure, and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile and to create a
responsive nuclear weapons infrastructure that are cost-effective and
have adequate capacity to meet reasonably foreseeable national security
requirements. This ROD will enable NNSA to continue meeting Federal law
and national security requirements.
Mitigation Measures
SRS operates in compliance with environmental laws, regulations,
and policies within a framework of contractual requirements; many of
these requirements mandate actions to control and mitigate potential
adverse environmental effects. Examples of mitigation measures include
site security and threat protection plans, emergency plans, land use
plans, Integrated Safety Management Systems, an Environmental
Management System, pollution prevention and waste minimization
programs, cultural resource and protected species management plans, and
energy and water conservation programs. If mitigation measures above
and beyond those required by regulations are needed to reduce impacts,
NNSA is required to describe mitigation commitments in the ROD and
prepare a mitigation action plan (10 CFR 1021.331). The mitigation
action plan would explain how, before implementing the Proposed Action,
certain measures would be planned and implemented to mitigate adverse
environmental impacts. Because no potential adverse impacts were
identified that would require additional mitigation measures beyond
those required by regulation or achieved through design features or
best management practices, NNSA does not expect to prepare a mitigation
action plan.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on October 30,
2020, by Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Under 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
[[Page 70604]]
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 October 30, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-24517 Filed 11-4-20; 8:45 am]
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