Notice2023-05586
Notice of Availability of the Final Waste Incidental To Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration and Waste Incidental To Reprocessing Determination
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Published
March 20, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of the Final Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration, U.S. Department of Energy (Final WIR Evaluation) and associated Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Determination for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration at the Hanford Site, Washington (WIR Determination). The Final WIR Evaluation demonstrates that the waste from DOE's proposed Test Bed Initiative (TBI) Demonstration is waste incidental to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, is not high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may be managed as low-level radioactive waste (LLW). DOE prepared the Final WIR Evaluation pursuant to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and the criteria in Chapter II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. DOE consulted with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration (Draft WIR Evaluation) and made the Draft WIR Evaluation available for comments from States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. DOE prepared the Final WIR Evaluation after carefully considering comments received from the NRC, States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public, and after performing revisions of analyses and technical documents. Based on the Final WIR Evaluation, DOE determined that the pretreated and solidified waste is incidental to reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, is non-HLW, and is to be managed as LLW.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 53 (Monday, March 20, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16615-16616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05586]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of the Final Waste Incidental To
Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration and
Waste Incidental To Reprocessing Determination
AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability
of the Final Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test
Bed Initiative Demonstration, U.S. Department of Energy (Final WIR
Evaluation) and associated Waste Incidental to Reprocessing
Determination for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration at the Hanford
Site, Washington (WIR Determination). The Final WIR Evaluation
demonstrates that the waste from DOE's proposed Test Bed Initiative
(TBI) Demonstration is waste incidental to reprocessing of spent
nuclear fuel, is not high-level radioactive waste (HLW), and may be
managed as low-level radioactive waste (LLW). DOE prepared the Final
WIR Evaluation pursuant to DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste
Management, and the criteria in Chapter II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual
435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management Manual. DOE consulted with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the Draft Waste Incidental to
Reprocessing Evaluation for the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration
(Draft WIR Evaluation) and made the Draft WIR Evaluation available for
comments from States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. DOE
prepared the Final WIR Evaluation after carefully considering comments
received from the NRC, States, Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the
public, and after performing revisions of analyses and technical
documents. Based on the Final WIR Evaluation, DOE determined that the
pretreated and solidified waste is incidental to reprocessing of spent
nuclear fuel, is non-HLW, and is to be managed as LLW.
ADDRESSES: The Final WIR Evaluation and WIR Determination are available
on the internet at <a href="https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/TestBedInitiative">https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/TestBedInitiative</a>
for public review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the
Final WIR Evaluation or WIR Determination, please contact Mr. Richard
Valle by mail at U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection,
P.O. Box 450, MSIN H6-60, Richland, WA 99352, by phone at (509) 376-
7256, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d0a2b9b3b8b1a2b48fba8fa6b1bcbcb590bfa2a0feb4bfb5feb7bfa6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f5879c969d948791aa9faa8394999990b59a8785db919a90db929a83">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE currently stores radioactive waste in
underground tanks at the Hanford Site in the State of Washington. The
waste was generated, in part, by the prior reprocessing of spent
nuclear fuel for defense-related activities during the Manhattan
Project and Cold War eras. Hanford's current mission focuses on the
cleanup and remediation of those wastes and ultimate closure of the
site. As part of that mission, DOE is retrieving waste from the Hanford
tanks, separating the low-activity waste (LAW) from other waste in the
Hanford tanks and vitrifying (immobilizing in a glass matrix) some of
the LAW. DOE has not selected a supplemental treatment method for the
remaining LAW in the Hanford tanks.\1\ The proposed TBI Demonstration
would demonstrate a potential supplemental LAW treatment approach.
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\1\ See Record of Decision for the Final Tank Closure and Waste
Management Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site,
Richland, Washington. 78 FR 75913 (Dec. 13, 2013).
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The Final WIR Evaluation concerns approximately 2,000 gallons of
waste from Hanford Tank SY-101, which, under the proposed TBI
Demonstration, will be pretreated at the Hanford Site to remove most
key radionuclides, then treated and solidified (grouted) at an offsite,
permitted, commercial facility and disposed of at a licensed and
permitted mixed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility outside
the State of Washington. For the proposed TBI Demonstration, about
2,000 gallons of Tank SY-101 supernate (the uppermost liquid layer of
the tank waste that contains low levels of insoluble, long-lived
radionuclides) will be pretreated using: in-tank settling, followed by
decanting, filtering, and processing through ion exchange media. The
decanting (pumping without disturbing the underlying saltcake layer),
filtering and ion exchange pretreatment will take place within an In
Tank Pretreatment System, installed in Tank SY-101. The pretreated
liquid will be transferred into totes (Type A shipping packages).
Trucks will transport the shipping packages to a commercial treatment
facility, either Perma-Fix Northwest in Richland, Washington,
EnergySolutions, near Clive, Utah, Perma-Fix Diversified Scientific
Services Inc., in Kingston, Tennessee, or Waste Control Specialists
LLC, near Andrews, Texas. At the offsite treatment facility, the waste
will be solidified in a grout matrix. DOE plans to dispose of the
treated and solidified waste as mixed LLW at either the EnergySolutions
disposal facility near Clive, Utah or the Waste Control Specialists
Federal Waste Facility (WCS FWF), near Andrews, Texas.
Implementation of the proposed offsite treatment and offsite
disposal is contingent upon completion of analysis and issuance of a
decision document as required by the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. (NEPA). DOE prepared a
Draft Environmental Assessment for the proposed TBI Demonstration,
Draft Environmental Assessment of the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration
(DOE/EA-2086) (Draft EA) and provided it to the host and affected
States and Indian Tribes, for a 14-day comment period, on August 17,
2021. The Draft EA evaluated DOE's proposal to transport and solidify
the pretreated liquid LAW at licensed and permitted commercial
treatment facilities off the Hanford Site. The Draft EA also evaluated
DOE's proposal to dispose of the solidified waste at an offsite,
licensed and permitted commercial disposal facility. The Draft EA also
evaluated the No Action Alternative. DOE has prepared the Final
Environmental Assessment of the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration (DOE/
EA-2086), after considering comments received on the Draft EA. The
Final EA will be made available at <a href="https://energy.gov/nepa">https://energy.gov/nepa</a>.
DOE issued DOE Order 435.1 and DOE Manual 435.1-1 under the
authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011
et seq., the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. 5801 et seq., and the
Department of Energy Organization Act, 42 U.S.C. 7101, et. seq. Section
II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual 435.1-1 sets forth criteria for determining,
based on an evaluation, whether waste is incidental to reprocessing, is
not HLW, and may be managed as LLW. Those criteria, in relevant part,
are that the wastes: ``(1) have been processed, or will be processed,
to remove key radionuclides to the maximum extent that is
[[Page 16616]]
technically and economically practical; (2) will be managed to meet
safety requirements comparable to the performance objectives, set out
in 10 CFR part 61, subpart C, Performance Objectives; and (3) are to be
managed, pursuant to DOE's authority under the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, in accordance with the provisions in Chapter IV [of
Manual 435.1-1], provided the waste will be incorporated into a solid
physical form at a concentration that does not exceed the applicable
concentration limits for Class C LLW, as set out in 10 CFR 61.55, Waste
Classification.''
The Final WIR Evaluation, including its appendices and supporting
references, documents and demonstrates that the criteria in Section
II.B.(2)(a) of DOE Manual 435.1-1 will be met. As to the first
criterion, key radionuclides will be removed to the maximum extent
technically and economically practical. Pretreatment will remove
approximately 98.8% of the key radionuclides (including cesium-137 and
its daughter, barium-137m) from the approximately 2,000 gallons of Tank
SY-101 supernate. About 1.8 curies will remain in the pretreated waste.
Regarding the second criterion, the solidified waste will meet the
waste acceptance criteria for the EnergySolutions disposal facility or
the WCS FWF, as applicable, which will ensure that the performance
objectives, including doses, will be met for LLW disposal as set forth
in the Utah Administrative Code and the Texas Administrative Code
respectively, which are comparable to the NRC performance objectives at
10 CFR part 61, subpart C. With respect to the third criterion, the
pretreated and grouted waste will be in a solid physical form, will be
well below the concentration limits for Class C LLW, and is expected to
meet concentration limits for Class A LLW.
DOE consulted with the NRC and received comments from States,
Tribal Nations, stakeholders and the public. After carefully
considering NRC consultative advice and comments received, DOE prepared
the Final WIR Evaluation. Based on the Final WIR Evaluation, DOE
determined, as documented in the associated WIR Determination, that the
waste is incidental to reprocessing, is not HLW, and will be managed as
LLW. Additionally, DOE determined the pretreated LAW from Tank SY-101--
from which key radionuclides will have been removed to the maximum
extent technically and economically practical--will be managed as LLW,
subject to the analysis and commitments in the Final WIR Evaluation and
WIR Determination.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on March 14,
2023, by R. M. Hendrickson, Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, pursuant to delegated
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes
only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal
Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been
authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for
publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This
administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this
document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on March 15, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-05586 Filed 3-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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