Supplement to the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Technical Report · Fri May 14 00:00:00 EDT 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/768765· OSTI ID:768765

On May 22, 1997, DOE published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register (62 Federal Register 28009) announcing its decision to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) that would tier from the analysis and decisions reached in connection with the ''Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final Programmatic EIS (Storage and Disposition PEIS)''. ''The Surplus Plutonium Disposition Draft Environmental Impact Statement'' (SPD Draft EIS) (DOWEIS-0283-D) was prepared in accordance with NEPA and issued in July 1998. It identified the potential environmental impacts of reasonable alternatives for the proposed siting, construction, and operation of three facilities for plutonium disposition. These three facilities would accomplish pit disassembly and conversion, immobilization, and MOX fuel fabrication. For the alternatives that included MOX fuel fabrication, the draft also described the potential environmental impacts of using from three to eight commercial nuclear reactors to irradiate MOX fuel. The potential impacts were based on a generic reactor analysis that used actual reactor data and a range of potential site conditions. In May 1998, DCE initiated a procurement process to obtain MOX fuel fabrication and reactor irradiation services. The request for proposals defined limited activities that may be performed prior to issuance of the SPD EIS Record of Decision (ROD) including non-site-specific work associated with the development of the initial design for the MOX fuel fabrication facility, and plans (paper studies) for outreach, long lead-time procurements, regulatory management, facility quality assurance, safeguards, security, fuel qualification, and deactivation. No construction on the proposed MOX facility would begin before an SPD EIS ROD is issued. In March 1999, DOE awarded a contract to Duke Engineering & Services; COGEMA, Inc.; and Stone & Webster (known as DCS) to provide the requested services. The procurement process included the environmental review specified in DOE's NEPA regulations in 10 CFR 1021.216. The six reactors selected are Catawba Nuclear Station Units 1 and 2 in South Carolina McGuire Nuclear Station Units 1 and 2 in North Carolina, and North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2 in Virginia. The Supplement describes the potential environmental impacts of using MOX fuel in these six specific reactors named in the DCS proposal as well as other program changes made since the SPD Draft EIS was published.

• Research Organization: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fissile Materials Disposition (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42) (US)
• OSTI ID: 768765
• Report Number(s): DOE/EIS-0283-DS; TRN: US0401988
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: 14 May 1999
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COGEMA
CONSTRUCTION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FABRICATION
FISSILE MATERIALS
IRRADIATION
PLUTONIUM
PROCUREMENT
QUALITY ASSURANCE
REACTORS
REGULATIONS
SAFEGUARDS
SECURITY
STORAGE
EIS
SUPPLEMENT
SURPLUS PLUTONIUM
ID
NC
SC
TX
VA
WA