17 October 2008

[Federal Register: October 17, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 202)]
[Notices]               
[Page 61845-61847]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17oc08-67]                         


[[Page 61845]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

 
Notice of Availability of Draft Global Nuclear Energy Partnership 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Public Hearings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of 
the Draft Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement (Draft GNEP PEIS, DOE/EIS-0396). The Draft GNEP PEIS 
provides an analysis of the potential environmental consequences of the 
reasonable alternatives to support expansion of domestic and 
international nuclear energy production while reducing the risks 
associated with nuclear proliferation and reducing the impacts 
associated with spent nuclear fuel disposal (e.g., by reducing the 
volume, thermal output, and/or radiotoxicity of waste requiring 
geologic disposal). Based on the GNEP PEIS and other information, DOE 
could decide to support the demonstration and deployment of changes to 
the existing commercial nuclear fuel cycle in the United States. 
Alternatives analyzed include the existing open fuel cycle and various 
alternative closed and open fuel cycles. In an open (or once-through) 
fuel cycle, nuclear fuel is used in a power plant one time and the 
resulting spent nuclear fuel is stored for eventual disposal in a 
geologic repository. In a closed fuel cycle, spent nuclear fuel would 
be recycled to recover energy-bearing components for use in new nuclear 
fuel.
    Six programmatic domestic alternatives are assessed: No Action 
Alternative--Existing Once-Through Uranium Fuel Cycle (open fuel 
cycle); Fast Reactor Recycle Fuel Cycle Alternative (closed fuel 
cycle); Thermal/Fast Reactor Recycle Fuel Cycle Alternative (closed 
fuel cycle); Thermal Reactor Recycle Fuel Cycle Alternative (closed 
fuel cycle); Once-Through Fuel Cycle Alternative using Thorium (open 
fuel cycle); and Once-Through Fuel Cycle Alternative using Heavy Water 
Reactors (HWRs) or High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) (open 
fuel cycle). DOE's preference is to close the nuclear fuel cycle, 
although it has not yet identified a specific preferred alternative.

DATES: DOE invites comments on the Draft GNEP PEIS during the 60-day 
public comment period, which ends on December 16, 2008. DOE will 
consider comments received after this date to the extent practicable as 
it prepares the Final GNEP PEIS. DOE will hold 13 public hearings on 
the Draft GNEP PEIS. The locations, dates, and times are listed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.

ADDRESSES: Requests for additional information on the Draft GNEP PEIS, 
including requests for copies of the document, should be directed to: 
Mr. Francis G. Schwartz, GNEP PEIS Document Manager, Office of Nuclear 
Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, or by telephone: 866-645-7803. Written comments 
on the Draft GNEP PEIS should be submitted to the above address, by 
facsimile to 866-489-1891, or electronically through http://
www.regulations.gov. Instructions for commenting at http://
www.regulations.gov are included in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section. Please mark correspondence ``Draft GNEP PEIS Comments.'' 
Additional information on GNEP may be found at http://
www.gnep.energy.gov.
    For general information regarding the DOE NEPA process contact: Ms. 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-
20, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, telephone 202-586-4600, or leave a message at 1-
800-472-2756. Additional information regarding DOE NEPA activities and 
access to many of DOE's NEPA documents are available on the Internet 
through the DOE NEPA Web site at http://www.gc.energy.gov/NEPA.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Public Hearings and Invitation to Comment. DOE will hold 13 public 
hearings on the Draft GNEP PEIS. The hearings will be held at the 
following locations, dates, and times:

Monday, November 17, 7 p.m., Lea County Event Center, 5101 North 
Lovington-Hobbs Highway, Hobbs, New Mexico 88240.
Monday, November 17, 7 p.m., Red Lion Hotel, 2525 North 20th Avenue, 
Pasco, Washington 99301.
Tuesday, November 18, 9 a.m., Pecos River Village Conference Center, 
Carousel House, 711 Muscatel Avenue, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220.
Tuesday, November 18, 7 p.m., Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, 
Occupational Technology Center, Seminar Room 124, 20 West Mathis, 
Roswell, New Mexico 88130.
Tuesday, November 18, 7 p.m., Hood River Inn--Gorge Room, 1108 East 
Marina Way, Hood River, Oregon 97031.
Thursday, November 20, 7 p.m., Hilltop House Best Western, 400 Trinity 
Drive (at Central), Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544.
Thursday, November 20, 7 p.m., Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Lindsay 
Boulevard, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402.
Monday, December 1, 7 p.m., Carson Four Rivers Center, Myre River Room, 
100 Kentucky Avenue, Paducah, Kentucky 42003.
Tuesday, December 2, 7 p.m., Vern Riffe Career Technology Center, 175 
Beaver Creek Road, Piketon, Ohio 45661.
Tuesday, December 2, 7 p.m., New Hope Center, 602 Scarboro Road, Corner 
of New Hope and Scarboro Roads, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830.
Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m., Holiday Inn Bolingbrook, 205 Remington 
Boulevard, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440.
Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m., Aiken Technical College, Building 700--
Amphitheater, 2276 Jefferson Davis Highway, Graniteville, South 
Carolina 29829.
Tuesday, December 9, 1 p.m., Holiday Inn Capitol, 550 C Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20024.

    Individuals who would like to present comments orally at these 
hearings must register upon arrival at the hearing. DOE will allot two 
to five minutes, depending upon the number of speakers, to each 
individual wishing to speak so as to ensure that as many people as 
possible have the opportunity to speak. More time may be allotted by 
the hearing moderator as circumstances allow. An open house will begin 
one hour prior to the start of each public hearing. DOE officials will 
be available to discuss the Draft GNEP PEIS and answer questions during 
this open house. DOE will then hold a plenary session at each public 
hearing in which officials will explain the Draft GNEP PEIS and the 
analyses in it. Following the plenary session, the public will have an 
opportunity to provide oral and written comments. Oral comments from 
the hearings and written comments submitted during the comment period 
will be considered by DOE in preparing the Final GNEP PEIS. Comments 
submitted after the close of the comment period will be considered to 
the extent practicable.
    The Draft GNEP PEIS, references and additional information 
regarding the GNEP Program are available on the Internet at http://
www.gnep.energy.gov. In addition, the Draft GNEP PEIS is available on 
the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov and on the DOE

[[Page 61846]]

NEPA Web site at http://www.gc.energy.gov/NEPA.
    To Comment Electronically on the Internet. Visit http://
www.regulations.gov. From the home page of regulations.gov, under 
``More Search Options'' in the right column of the Web page, select 
``Go.'' This loads a new Web page titled ``More Search Options.'' In 
the middle column is an option to ``Search by Agency.'' Type ``DOE'' 
and select ``Go.'' The left column of the new page lists options to 
``Narrow Results.'' Under ``Comment Period,'' select ``Open'' and this 
will display all DOE documents available for public comment. Select DOE 
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement. You can view the document in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) or HTML 
format.
    To submit comments on the GNEP PEIS, select ``Send a Comment or 
Submission'' under the title. On the ``Public Comment and Submission 
Form,'' enter your name, address, and other requested information. This 
information will be used to compile the distribution list for the Final 
GNEP PEIS. You can type your comments in the ``General Comments'' box 
provided on the comment form. There is no limit to the number of 
characters that you can type in this box. You also can attach 
electronic files with your text comments. To view the file types 
accepted by regulations.gov, select ``Learn More'' below the General 
Comments box. You can attach as many files as you wish. Regulations.gov 
will show a message when you have successfully uploaded a file. 
Individual submissions are limited to 10MB (10,000KB). To submit files 
greater than 5MB, please compress the attached file(s) using file 
compression software or submit each attachment separately using 
multiple submissions. After completing the form and including any 
attachments, you must select ``Next Step,'' under ``Action'' at the 
bottom of the Web page, in order for your comments to be submitted to 
DOE.
    The Draft GNEP PEIS and references are available for review by the 
public at the DOE Reading Rooms and public libraries listed below:

U.S. Department of Energy, FOIA/Privacy Act Group, 1000 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, Phone: (202) 586-3142.
Carlsbad Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, WIPP Information 
Center, 4021 National Parks Highway, P.O. Box 2078, Carlsbad, New 
Mexico 88220, Phone: 1-800-336-WIPP.
Chicago Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science 
Public Reading Room, Document Department, University Library, The 
University of Illinois at Chicago, 801 South Morgan Street, 3rd Floor 
Center, Chicago, Illinois 60607, DOE Contact: Gary Pitchford, Phone: 
(630) 252-2013.
Idaho Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading 
Room, 1776 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415-2300, Reading 
Room Contact: Gail Willmore, Phone: (208) 526-9162.
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Department of Energy, Environmental 
Information Center and Reading Room, 115 Memorial Drive, Barkley 
Centre, Paducah, Kentucky 42001, Phone: (270) 554-6979.
Los Alamos Site Office, LANL Research Library, Technical Area 3, 
Building 207, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, Phone: (505) 667-5809.
Oak Ridge Operations Office, DOE Oak Ridge Information Center, 475 Oak 
Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, Phone: (865) 241-4780 or 
(toll-free) 1(800) 382-6938, option 6.
Richland Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading 
Room, MSIN H2-53, P.O. Box 999, Richland, Washington 99352, Contact: 
Terri Traub, Phone: (509) 372-7443.
Savannah River Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, Public 
Reading Room, 471 University Parkway, Aiken, South Carolina 29801, 
Contact: Paul Lewis, Phone: (803) 641-3320.
Albuquerque Operations Office, FOIA Reading Room and DOE Reading Rooms, 
Government Information Department, Zimmerman Library, University of New 
Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-1466, Contact: Dan Barkley, 
Phone: (505) 277-7180.
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Department of Energy, Environmental 
Information Center, 1862 Shyville Road, Room 220, Piketon, Ohio 45661.

Background

    The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), a part of the 
President's Advanced Energy Initiative, is intended to support a safe, 
secure, and sustainable expansion of nuclear energy, both domestically 
and internationally. Domestically, the GNEP Program would promote 
technologies that support economic, sustained production of nuclear-
generated electricity, while reducing the impacts associated with spent 
nuclear fuel disposal and reducing proliferation risks. DOE envisions 
changing the U.S. nuclear energy fuel cycle from an open (or once-
through) fuel cycle--in which nuclear fuel is used in a power plant one 
time and the resulting spent nuclear fuel is stored for eventual 
disposal in a geologic repository--to a closed fuel cycle, in which 
spent nuclear fuel would be recycled to recover energy-bearing 
components for use in new nuclear fuel. Internationally, the U.S., 
through the GNEP Program, is considering various initiatives to work 
cooperatively with other nations to expand nuclear power to help meet 
growing energy demand, develop and deploy advanced nuclear recycling 
and reactor technologies, establish international frameworks to provide 
nuclear fuel supplies, and promote the development of nuclear 
safeguards and of more proliferation-resistant nuclear power reactors.
    On March 22, 2006, DOE published an Advance Notice of Intent for 
the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Technology Demonstration Program 
Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register (71 FR 14505). 
The Advance Notice of Intent explained the goals of the GNEP Program, 
three major elements of the then-proposed GNEP Technology Demonstration 
Program, and the purpose and need for action, and presented a list of 
potential environmental issues for analysis. In the notice, DOE 
solicited comments on the proposed scope, alternatives, and 
environmental issues to be analyzed in the then-planned GNEP Technology 
Demonstration EIS. DOE received about 800 comment documents, including 
comments that DOE should prepare a PEIS addressing the entire GNEP 
Program, not just the GNEP Technology Demonstration Program.
    On August 3, 2006, DOE announced that it would issue financial 
assistance grants to public or commercial entities interested in 
hosting GNEP facilities (DOE, ``Financial Assistance Funding 
Opportunity Announcement Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) 
Siting Studies,'' Funding Opportunity Number: DE-PS07-06ID14760). DOE 
reviewed the resulting grant applications and on January 30, 2007, 
issued grants to 11 commercial and public consortia to conduct siting 
studies for hosting an advanced nuclear fuel recycling center and/or an 
advanced recycling reactor.
    On January 4, 2007, DOE published the Notice of Intent for the GNEP 
PEIS in the Federal Register (72 FR 331). That Notice of Intent 
explained the scope of the revised GNEP Program, identified the 
alternatives that were then proposed for evaluation, described the 
purpose and need for action, identified potential sites that could host 
GNEP Program facilities (including

[[Page 61847]]

those sites addressed by the siting study grants), and listed potential 
environmental issues for analysis. Subsequent to the Notice of Intent, 
DOE held public scoping meetings near the sites that were under 
consideration and in Washington, DC.
    DOE received approximately 14,000 comment letters/e-mails and oral 
comments related to the scope of the GNEP PEIS. The major scoping 
comments related to the purpose and need, the alternatives that were 
being considered, the various resource areas that should be addressed 
in the PEIS, and proliferation risk.
    In response to public comments and as the programmatic analysis 
developed, DOE determined that to make project-specific or site-
specific decisions regarding any of the three originally proposed 
facilities would be premature. The programmatic decisions to be made 
would influence the size and type of facilities required for 
implementing an alternative fuel cycle (the originally proposed nuclear 
fuel recycling center and advanced recycling reactor) as well as the 
facility needed to support research, development, and deployment (an 
Advanced Fuel Cycle Facility). As a result, no project-specific or 
site-specific proposals are being made at this time.
    The GNEP PEIS assesses the following six domestic programmatic 
alternatives:
    No Action Alternative--Existing Once-Through Uranium Fuel Cycle: 
The United States would continue to rely upon a once-through or 
``open'' fuel cycle, in which commercial light water reactors (LWRs) 
generate and store SNF until DOE could accept the SNF for disposal in a 
geologic repository.
    Fast Reactor Recycle Fuel Cycle Alternative: The United States 
would pursue a domestic closed fuel cycle in a system that processes 
LWR SNF in one or more nuclear fuel recycling centers and would recycle 
some of the recovered materials in one or more fast reactors. The SNF 
from the advanced recycling reactors (i.e., fast reactors) would also 
be processed to recover materials for repeated recycle in advanced 
recycling reactors. High-level wastes (HLW) from separations would be 
disposed of in a geologic repository.
    Thermal/Fast Reactor Recycle Fuel Cycle Alternative: This closed 
fuel cycle alternative would be similar to the Fast Reactor Recycle 
Alternative, but it would recycle some of the recovered materials in 
thermal reactors prior to recycling in advanced recycling reactors. HLW 
from separations would be disposed of in a geologic repository.
    Thermal Reactor Recycle Fuel Cycle Alternative: The United States 
would pursue a domestic closed fuel cycle that processes LWR SNF and 
recycles some of the recovered materials in thermal reactors. The 
following three options are assessed: Option 1--Recycle LWR SNF to 
produce a mixed oxide uranium plutonium (MOX-U-Pu) fuel for use in 
LWRs; Option 2--Recycle LWR SNF to produce fuel for use in heavy water 
reactors (HWRs); and Option 3--Recycle LWR SNF to produce a transuranic 
fuel for use in high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). Option 1 
would be a closed fuel cycle, in which HLW would be disposed of in a 
geologic repository. Options 2 and 3, which include recycling of LWR 
SNF, would dispose of HLW and SNF in a geologic repository.
    Once-Through Fuel Cycle Alternative Using Thorium: The United 
States would pursue a thorium once-through or ``open'' fuel cycle, in 
which commercial reactors would be fueled with thorium/uranium-based 
fuels. Because thorium-based fuels would be compatible with existing 
LWRs, the Thorium Alternative could also be characterized as 
representing a ``new fuel design.'' The SNF would be stored until DOE 
could accept it for disposal in a geologic repository.
    Once-Through Fuel Cycle Alternative using Heavy Water Reactors 
(HWRs) or High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGRs): The United 
States would pursue a domestic once-through or ``open'' fuel cycle that 
uses either HWRs or HTGRs. For the HWR/HTGR Alternative, two options 
are assessed: Option 1--Use HWRs only; and Option 2--Use HTGRs only. In 
either case, the SNF would be stored until DOE could accept it for 
disposal in a geologic repository.
    These domestic programmatic alternatives are not mutually 
exclusive. That is, DOE could decide to pursue implementation of one or 
more domestic programmatic alternatives.
    In general, the analyses in the GNEP PEIS indicate that the closed 
fuel cycle alternatives offer a greater opportunity, relative to the 
open fuel cycle alternatives, to reduce the capacity requirements for a 
future geologic repository, and to reduce the hazards associated with 
the disposal of spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste. However, 
the closed fuel cycle alternatives require more disposal capacity for 
other radioactive wastes than is required under the open fuel cycle 
alternatives. Furthermore, transportation and associated health impacts 
from the closed fuel cycle alternatives would be generally higher 
during the operational period than those from the open fuel cycle 
alternatives (except for the Once-Through Fuel Cycle using High 
Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors).
    Following completion of the GNEP PEIS, DOE will be in a position to 
decide whether to pursue a closed fuel cycle. The GNEP PEIS is a first, 
important step in deciding whether and how to recycle spent nuclear 
fuel. A decision to go forward with recycling could trigger additional 
proposals and research to achieve DOE's programmatic goal. Subsequent 
DOE policies and actions could also affect decisions by the U.S. 
commercial utility industry, which would ultimately determine whether 
and how to implement any changes in the domestic fuel cycle. Any DOE 
proposals would be subject to appropriate NEPA review.
    The PEIS also discusses international aspects of the GNEP Program, 
but does not evaluate any proposed actions or alternatives. 
Consequently, DOE would not make any decisions related to international 
activities based on the GNEP PEIS.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 10, 2008.
Dennis R. Spurgeon,
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy.
 [FR Doc. E8-24669 Filed 10-16-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P