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Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 68 / Thursday, April 8, 2004 / Notices
2 Fifty-four additional sites (primarily domestic research reactors) were expected to ship spent nuclear fuel to two DOE sites prior to disposal at the repository. DOE plans to consolidate these materials at the two DOE sites are independent of the decisions relating to a repository at Yucca Mountain. Shipments from these sites to DOE sites were analyzed in the ‘‘ Programmatic Spent Nuclear Fuel Management and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programs Environmental Impact radioactive waste from 72 commercial and 5 DOE sites 2 to the Yucca Mountain New’’. Questions regarding the Final EIS or this Record of Decision can be submitted by calling or mailing them to Ms. Robin Sweeney at the above phone number or address. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT : For general information regarding the DOE National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH–42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone 202–586–4600, or leave a message at 1–800–472–2756. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION : Transportation-Related Decisions The analyses in the Final EIS provide the bases for the following three decisions under NEPA related to the establishment of a transportation program under which the Department would transport spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to a repository at Yucca Mountain: 1. Outside Nevada, the selection of a national mode of transportation scenario (mostly rail or mostly legal-weight truck), 2. In Nevada, the selection among transportation mode scenarios (mostly rail, mostly legal-weight truck, or mostly heavy-haul truck with an associated scenario or mostly heavy-haul truck scenario were selected, the selection among rail corridor implementing alternatives, or heavy-haul truck route implementing alternatives with use of an associated intermodal transfer station. See Figure 2–5 on page 2–7 of the Final EIS for a graphical depiction of the different transportation scenarios and implementing alternatives. Part I. Record of Decision for Mode of Transportation Proposed Action and Transportation Mode Scenarios Considered in the Final EIS The Final EIS examines a Proposed Action under which DOE would ship spent nuclear fuel and high-level intermodal transfer station), and 3. In Nevada, if the mostly rail
1 A corridor is a strip of land, approximately 0.25 miles (400 meters) wide, that encompasses one of several possible routes through which DOE could build a rail line. An alignment is the specific location of a rail line in a corridor. feis _ a/index.htm . This Record of Decision is available at http:// www.ocrwm.doe.gov under ‘‘ What’s preparing an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) seeking authorization to construct the repository. In addition, in order to be in a position to transport waste to the repository should the NRC approve construction and waste receipt, DOE must proceed with certain decisions relating to the transportation of this material. In particular, the Department has decided to select the mostly rail scenario analyzed in the Final EIS as the transportation mode both on a national basis and in the State of Nevada. Under the mostly rail scenario, the Department would rely on a combination of rail, truck and possibly barge to transport to the repository site at Yucca Mountain up to 70,000 MTHM of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, with most of the spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste being transported by rail. This will ultimately require construction of a rail line in Nevada to the repository. In addition, the Department has decided to select the Caliente rail corridor 1 in which to examine potential alignments within which to construct that rail line. Should the Department select an alignment within that corridor, it will obtain all necessary regulatory approvals before beginning construction. ADDRESSES : Copies of the Final EIS and this Record of Decision may be obtained by calling or mailing a request to: Ms. Robin Sweeney, Office of National Transportation, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, 1551 Hillshire Drive, M/S 011, Las Vegas, NV 89134, Telephone 1–800–967–3477. The Final EIS, including the Readers Guide and Summary, is available via the Internet at http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ documents/ locations across the country, 10 of which were held throughout the State of Nevada. An additional hearing was convened in Las Vegas for members of Native American Tribes in the region. During the 56–day public comment period on the Supplement to the Draft EIS, DOE held three public hearings in Nevada. The Department received more than 13,000 comments on the Draft EIS and the Supplement to the Draft EIS; about 3,600 of these comments addressed transportation related matters. DOE is now in the process of
Statement’’ (PEIS) (DOE/EIS–0202–F; April 1995), and associated Records of Decision (June 1, 1995; 60 FR 28680 and March 8, 1996; 61 FR 9441). The direct impacts of this consolidation are not included in the analysis of the alternatives analyzed in the Final EIS for the repository, because they would occur whether or not DOE proceeds with the repository at Yucca Mountain. Since the PEIS was published, three research reactors have closed. As provided for in the Record of Decision (ROD) for the PEIS, spent nuclear fuel from one reactor was sent to the Savannah River Site and fuel from another reactor was sent to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Fuel from the third reactor, which the ROD for the PEIS anticipated would be consolidated at INEEL, was sent on an interim basis to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) site in Lakewood, Colorado (which also was one of the fifty-four sites analyzed in the PEIS). It is still ultimately expected to be consolidated at INEEL as provided in the ROD for the PEIS, whence it will be shipped to the repository. The fuel that went to USGS is within the amounts analyzed by the PEIS as going from USGS to INEEL. Moreover, since the change in interim storage plans does not affect the shipment of fuel to Yucca Mountain, it does not affect the transportation analysis in the Final EIS for the repository. Nevada scenarios, referred to as the legal-weight truck scenario, the rail scenario, and the heavy-haul truck scenario, were evaluated. The three broad scenarios discussed below represent the combinations of the scenarios and implementing alternatives as analyzed in the Final EIS. Repository. The Final EIS considers the potential environmental impacts of transporting spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste to the repository under a variety of modes, including legal-weight truck, rail, heavy-haul truck, and possibly barge. The Final EIS also considers the environmental impacts of two No- Action Alternatives, one under which spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste would remain at the 72 commercial and five DOE sites under institutional control for at least 10,000 years, and one under which these materials would remain at the 77 sites in perpetuity, but under institutional control for only 100 years. At the outset, we note that over the past 30 years, more than 2,700 shipments of spent nuclear fuel have been completed, none of which has resulted in an identified injury caused by the release of radioactive material. That basic fact provides important context for our decisionmaking today. The Final EIS examines various national transportation scenarios and Nevada transportation implementing alternatives to reflect the range of potential environmental impacts that could occur. Two national transportation scenarios, referred to as the ‘‘ mostly legal-weight truck’’ scenario and the ‘‘ mostly rail’’ scenario, and three
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