Environmental assessment of the import of Russian plutonium-238
The United States (U.S.) is proposing to purchase plutonium-238 (Pu-238) from the Russian Federation (Russia) for use in the Nations`s space program. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, requires the assessment of environmental consequences of all major Federal actions that may significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the US Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to identify and evaluate the environmental consequences of importing Pu-238 fuel from Russia, and of the initial transport and processing of such fuel within the US., as necessary, to add the fuel to the existing US inventory. Since the proposed action involves ocean transport, DOE also considered the environmental consequences of this action on the global commons in accordance with Executive Order 12114 and DOE Guidelines for Compliance with Executive Order 12114. During the transportation sequence from point of origin in Russia to the US, and within the US from the port of entry to either SRS or LANL, various environments could be affected by the proposed action. These potentially affected environments include the Russian land and port environments, the marine environment, the US port locale, highway routes, LANL, and SRS. Each of these is discussed below the connection with the proposed action.
- Research Organization:
- US Department of Energy (USDOE), Washington DC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 10192298
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EA-0841; ON: DE94001266; NC: NONE
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jun 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
PLUTONIUM 238
IMPORTS
MARITIME TRANSPORT
LAND TRANSPORT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
RISK ASSESSMENT
USSR
US DOE
REGULATIONS
COMPLIANCE
HARBORS
ACCIDENTS
LANL
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
054000
050900
HEALTH AND SAFETY
TRANSPORT, HANDLING, AND STORAGE