Notice2022-08039
Record of Decision for the Final Construction and Demonstration of a Prototype Mobile Microreactor Environmental Impact Statement
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 15, 2022
Issuing agencies
Defense Department
Abstract
The DoD, acting through the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), is issuing this Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final Construction and Demonstration of a Prototype Mobile Microreactor Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS). SCO has decided to implement the Proposed Action (the preferred alternative) as described in the Final EIS. The Proposed Action is to fabricate the prototype mobile microreactor and reactor fuel at existing off-site commercial facilities and demonstrate the microreactor at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site. The analysis in the EIS demonstrates that implementing the Proposed Action would have small environmental consequences that would not require mitigation outside of practices required by regulations, permits, or agreements.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 73 (Friday, April 15, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22521-22523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-08039]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
Record of Decision for the Final Construction and Demonstration
of a Prototype Mobile Microreactor Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), Office of the Secretary,
Department of Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Record of decision.
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SUMMARY: The DoD, acting through the Strategic Capabilities Office
(SCO), is issuing this Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final
Construction and Demonstration of a Prototype Mobile Microreactor
Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS). SCO has decided to
implement the Proposed Action (the preferred alternative) as described
in the Final EIS. The Proposed Action is to fabricate the prototype
mobile microreactor and reactor fuel at existing off-site commercial
facilities and demonstrate the microreactor at the Department of
Energy's (DOE's) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site. The analysis in
the EIS demonstrates that implementing the Proposed Action would have
small environmental consequences that would not require mitigation
outside of practices required by regulations, permits, or agreements.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding the
prototype
[[Page 22522]]
mobile microreactor (Project Pele), the Final EIS, or the ROD, visit
<a href="https://www.mobilemicroreactoreis.com">https://www.mobilemicroreactoreis.com</a>; or contact Dr. Jeff Waksman,
Program Manager; Phone: 703-812-1980; Mail: Strategic Capabilities
Office, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1155; Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f0f1a131a00111a0f1e1f2c3c3071323633"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2676636a63796863766766554549084b4f4a">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Inherent dangers, logistical complexities, and costs of sustaining
power demands using diesel generators at U.S. Military Forward
Operating Bases, Remote Operating Bases, and Expeditionary Bases
constrain operations and fundamental strategic planning. Technologies
under development, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, new radar systems,
new weapon systems, and electrifying the non-tactical vehicle fleet,
will require even greater energy demands. A Defense Science Board study
recommended further engineering development and prototyping of very
small modular reactors with an output of less than 10 megawatts of
electrical power. Before this technology can be deployed, a prototype
mobile microreactor must be tested to ensure it can meet DoD
specifications and requirements.
Proposed Action
The Proposed Action fabricates, at off-site commercial facilities,
a small, advanced gas-cooled microreactor capable of producing 1 to 5
megawatts of electrical power. Reactor fuel would be produced from DOE
stockpiles of highly enriched uranium (HEU) located at the Y-12
National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that would be
converted from a metal to an oxide at the Nuclear Fuel Services (a
subsidiary of BWX Technologies, Inc. [BWXT]) facility in Erwin,
Tennessee, and down blended to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU)
and fabricated into tristructural isotropic (TRISO) reactor fuel at the
BWXT facility in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Proposed Action would use DOE
technical expertise and facilities at the INL Site to demonstrate the
mobile microreactor capabilities.
Demonstration Activities at the INL Site
The proposed activities on the INL Site involve demonstrating that
the proposed mobile microreactor can produce reliable electric power
for an electrical grid that is separate from the public utility grid
and that the mobile microreactor can be safely disassembled and
transported. Activities at the INL Site include: Receiving the mobile
microreactor and reactor fuel at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC);
fueling the mobile microreactor at the Transient Reactor Test Facility
(TREAT) or Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF); startup testing the
mobile microreactor at MFC or the Critical Infrastructure Test Range
Complex (CITRC); disassembling and transporting the mobile microreactor
from MFC to CITRC or at CITRC; assembling, operating, and disassembling
the mobile microreactor at CITRC; transporting the disassembled mobile
microreactor to temporary storage and temporarily placing it in storage
at the Radioactive Scrap and Waste Facility (RSWF) or Outdoor
Radioactive Storage Area (ORSA); and potentially conducting mobile
microreactor and spent nuclear fuel post-irradiation examination (PIE)
and disposition. Section 2.3 of the Final EIS details the evaluated
activities.
Alternatives
The EIS evaluated a Proposed Action (the preferred alternative) and
a No Action Alternative, which serves as a basis for comparison with
the Proposed Action. The INL Site was identified as the preferred
location based on siting requirements for the demonstration of the
mobile microreactor. Other sites, including the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL), did not meet the required siting criteria.
Specifically, other sites lacked sufficient supporting infrastructure.
In particular, the ORNL site does not have an independent electrical
distribution system that can be isolated from the commercial power
grid. The demonstration requires an independent, isolable electrical
distribution system. The program for demonstration of the mobile
microreactor is intended to demonstrate its operation under a wide
variety of operational conditions. Demonstration of all these
capabilities in a controlled environment requires the ability to
receive power from an existing electric grid, as well as dispatch
mobile microreactor-generated power to an isolated and locally
controlled distribution system. Therefore, ORNL was not considered for
further analysis.
NEPA Process
The EIS and this ROD were prepared in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations (Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508). The DOE participated as a
cooperating agency in preparing the EIS.
A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS was published in the
Federal Register on March 2, 2020 (85 FR 12274). The public scoping
period started with publication of the NOI in the Federal Register and
was extended to April 30, 2020. All scoping comments were considered
during development of the Draft EIS.
On September 24, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) published a Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register
(86 FR 53054) announcing the availability of the Draft EIS and the
start of a comment period with an end date of November 9, 2021. During
the public comment period, Federal agencies, state and local
governmental entities, Native American tribes, and members of the
public were invited to submit comments via the project website, U.S.
mail, or email. Additionally, SCO held two public hearings on October
20, 2021, at the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel and Event Center in Fort Hall,
Idaho. The public hearings were webcast to offer more opportunities for
public participation. In total, SCO received 43 comment documents
containing 197 comments. All comments were considered during
development of the Final EIS. On February 25, 2022, the EPA published
an NOA in the Federal Register (87 FR 10784) announcing the
availability of the Final EIS.
Potential Environmental Impacts
As described in the Final EIS, implementing the Proposed Action at
the INL Site is expected to have small environmental consequences that
would not substantially contribute to cumulative impacts. Except for
the construction of two concrete pads and fencing, no land disturbing
construction activities would be required for the Proposed Action.
Therefore, the Proposed Action would have little or no impact on land
resources, visual resources, noise, geology and soils, ecological
resources, and cultural and paleontological resources. The analyses
showed that there would be no significant impacts on air quality, water
resources, socioeconomics, public and occupational health and safety,
environmental justice, and transportation. The analysis showed that
radiological and nonradiological hazard risks, as well as the
associated exposures to workers and the public, would be low and well
within regulatory limits and guidelines established by the DOE and the
EPA. Broadly, workers and members of the public are protected from
exposure to radioactive material and hazardous chemicals by facility
design and administrative procedures. The construction modifications to
existing facilities at the INL Site would have no
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radiological impact on members of the public or workers. There are
three phases of Project Pele demonstration that could result in
radiological emissions: Startup testing, operational testing, and post-
irradiation examination prior to disposition of the mobile
microreactor. The analysis showed that the annual radiological air
emissions from the mobile microreactor during these phases are expected
to be no more than the quantities emitted during normal INL Site
operations, which, as stated previously, are well within regulatory and
guidelines. As described in the Final EIS, the analysis of impacts is
applicable to (i.e., bounds) whichever of the two candidate mobile
microreactor designs is selected.
Environmentally Preferable Alternative
The environmentally preferable alternative is the No Action
Alternative. Under the No Action Alternative, prototype mobile
microreactor construction and demonstration would not occur, resulting
in fewer impacts than under the Proposed Action. However, the No Action
Alternative would not meet the purpose and need for construction and
demonstration of a prototype mobile microreactor.
Comments on the Final Construction and Demonstration of a Prototype
Mobile Reactor EIS
SCO posted the Final EIS and Comment Response Document on the
project website <a href="https://www.mobilemicroreactoreis.com">https://www.mobilemicroreactoreis.com</a> and EPA published
a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register (87 FR 10784, February
25, 2022). In response to these Notices, SCO received seven (7)
comments related to the Final EIS, including comments wanting to know
more about the project, requests from individuals wanting to be added
to the mailing list, and comments expressing concerns with the
potential impacts of the action. SCO considered all of these comments
during the preparation of this ROD. SCO has concluded that none of the
comments identified a need for further NEPA analysis.
Decision
Subject to the availability of appropriations, SCO's decision is to
implement the Proposed Action (the preferred alternative) as described
in the Final EIS. The final design determination by SCO is being made
through a competitive down-select review process between the two
designs and will be announced publicly through other official channels.
As described in the Final EIS, the analysis of impacts is applicable to
(i.e., bounds) whichever one of the two candidate mobile microreactor
designs is selected. All facility options considered at the INL Site
are reasonable and have similar environmental impacts; therefore, SCO
is not making decisions related to the INL Site facilities options to
be used to (1) conduct mobile microreactor core fueling and final
assembly (HFEF or TREAT); (2) conduct mobile microreactor startup
testing (MFC or CITRC); and (3) temporarily store the mobile
microreactor (RSWF or ORSA). These facility options are all encompassed
within the preferred alternative decision and were fully evaluated in
the Final EIS. Selection of facility options will not substantially
change the findings discussed in this ROD. As bounded by the applicable
analysis of impacts within the Final EIS, SCO's selection of facilities
for the demonstration will be informed by the final design
determination.
Basis for the Decision
The Final EIS provided the SCO decision-maker with important
information regarding potential environmental impacts of alternatives
and options for satisfying the purpose and need. In addition to
environmental information, SCO also considered public comments,
statutory responsibilities, strategic objectives, technology needs,
safeguards and security, cost, and schedule in its decision making.
Mitigation Measures
No potential adverse impacts were identified that would require
additional mitigation measures beyond those required by regulations,
permits, and agreements or achieved through design features or best
management practices. However, if mitigation measures above and beyond
those required by regulations, permits, and agreements are identified
to reduce impacts during implementation, they would be developed,
documented, and executed.
Signing Authority
This document of the DoD was signed on April 5, 2022, by Jay E.
Dryer, Director, Strategic Capabilities Office, pursuant to delegated
authority from the Secretary of Defense. The document with the original
signature and date is maintained by DoD. For administrative purposes
only, and in compliance with the requirements of the Office of the
Federal Register, the undersigned DoD Federal Register Liaison Officer
has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic
format for publication as an official document of the DoD. The
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this
document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Dated: April 8, 2022.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2022-08039 Filed 4-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P
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