Draft Site-wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Supplemental Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
This ''Site-wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Supplemental Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement'' (LLNL SW/SPEIS) describes the purpose and need for agency action for the continued operation of LLNL and analyzes the environmental impacts of these operations. The primary purpose of continuing operation of LLNL is to provide support for the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA's) nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship missions. LLNL, located about 40 miles east of San Francisco, California, is also needed to support other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) programs and Federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the newly established U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This LLNL SW/SPEIS analyzes the environmental impacts of reasonable alternatives for ongoing and foreseeable future operations, facilities, and activities at LLNL. The reasonable alternatives include the No Action Alternative, Proposed Action, and the Reduced Operation Alternative. The major decision to be made by DOE/NNSA is to select one of the alternatives for the continued operation of the LLNL. As part of the Proposed Action, DOE/NNSA is considering: using additional materials including plutonium on the National Ignition Facility (NIF); increasing the administrative limit for plutonium in the Superblock, which includes the Plutonium Facility, the Tritium Facility, and the Hardened Engineering Test Building; conducting the Integrated Technology Project, using laser isotope separation to provide material for Stockpile Stewardship experiments, in the Plutonium Facility; increasing the material-at-risk limit for the Plutonium Facility; and increasing the Tritium Facility material-at-risk. A discussion of these issues is presented in Section S.5.2, Proposed Action. The ''National Environmental Policy Act'' (NEPA) establishes environmental policy, sets goals, and provides means for implementing the policy. NEPA contains provisions to ensure that Federal agencies adhere to the letter and spirit of the Act. The key provision requires preparation of an environmental impact statement on ''major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment'' (40 ''Code of Federal Regulations'' [CFR] {section}1502.3). NEPA ensures that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and actions are taken (40 CFR {section}1500.1[b]). DOE has a policy to prepare sitewide environmental impact statements documents for certain large, multiple-facility sites such as LLNL (10 CFR {section}1021.330). In August 1992, DOE released the ''Final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Report for Continued Operations of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore'' (LLNL EIS/EIR). A Record of Decision (ROD) (58 ''Federal Register'' [FR] 6268) was issued in January 1993. With the passage of more than 10 years since the publication of the 1992 LLNL EIS/EIR (DOE/EIS-0157) and because of proposed modifications to existing projects and new programs, NNSA determined that it was appropriate to prepare a new LLNL SW/SPEIS.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42) (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 823165
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EIS-0348 & DOE/EIS-0236-S3; TRN: US0401991
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 27 Feb 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
LASER ISOTOPE SEPARATION
MANAGEMENT
MODIFICATIONS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PLUTONIUM
REGULATIONS
SECURITY
STOCKPILES
TRITIUM
US DOD
US EPA
US NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY
EIS
NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
NNSA
LLNL
STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP AND MANAGEMENT