Secondary and Case Component Fabrication--downsize the Y-12 Plant at Oak Ridge Reservation
This Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Stockpile Stewardship and Management addresses potential changes to the future missions of the three weapons laboratories, the four production facilities and the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and the potential environmental impacts resulting from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program. Directed by the President and Congress to maintain the safety and reliability of the reduced nuclear weapons stockpile in the absence of nuclear testing, DOE has developed the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program to provide a single, highly integrated technical program for maintaining the continued safety and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile. This document was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and in accordance with regulations issued and published by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE (10 CFR Part 1021).
Several alternatives and environmental effects are assessed for implementing the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program. Stockpile management refers to activities associated with the production, maintenance, surveillance, refurbishment, and dismantling of the tivities associated with research, design, development, and testing of nuclear weapons and the assessment and certification of safety and reliability. The stockpile stewardship portion of the PEIS assesses the potential impacts of three proposed facilities: the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the Contained Firing Facility (CFF), and the Atlas Facility. A No Action alternative is also analyzed.
For each management alternative, DOE proposes to either downsize or to transfer the mission to alternative sites with the exception of pit fabrication. The pit fabrication mission has been proposed to be reestablished at two of DOE nuclear complex sites. For the stockpile stewardship proposals, DOE proposes to locate one or all of the facilities at the weapons laboratories or at the NTS. DOE has identified the following as the preferred alternatives for stockpile stewardship and stockpile management.
Based on the analyses performed to support this PEIS, the preferred alternatives for strategic reserve storage are as follows: (1) highly enriched uranium strategic reserve storage at Y-12 and (2) plutonium pit strategic reserve storage in Zone 12 at Pantex. The preferred alternatives for strategic reserve storage could change based upon analyses conducted in support of the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final PEIS. Decisions on strategic reserve storage are not expected to be made until both the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Final PEIS and the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final PEIS are completed. [The preferred alternative for the plutonium-242 oxide at SRS is to transport the material to LANL.]
A Notice of Intent to prepare this document was published in the Federal Register on June 14, 1995. Public scoping meetings were held at the eight proposed sites from June 29 to August 3, 1995. The period for acceptance of public scoping comments closed on August 11, 1995. In December 1995, the Implementation Plan was issued to provide guidance for the preparation of the Draft PEIS and to record DOE's disposition of comments received during the scoping process.
The Draft PEIS was issued in February 1996. The public comment period was from March 8 to May 7, 1996. During this period, DOE held public hearings in the locations most likely to be directly affected by the proposed alternatives as well as two hearings in Washington, DC. The Draft PEIS was made available to the public through mailings, requests to DOE's Office of Reconfiguration, and DOE Public Reading Rooms and other designated information locations.
In consideration of public comments, DOE has added information to the Final PEIS including: more detailed discussions of alternatives considered but eliminated from detailed study; updated worker numbers and associated socioeconomic impacts at Pantex, the Y-12 Plant at ORR, and the KCP; updates to accident impacts at Pantex; updates to normal operation of the radiological and chemical impact sections; changes to the cumulative impacts discussion; and a more complete discussion of the "next generation stockpile stewardship and management facilities" and the No Action alternative.
In response to comments submitted after issuance of the Draft PEIS and due to additional technical details not available at the time of issuance of the Draft, Volumes I, II, and III of the Final PEIS contain revisions and changes. The revisions and changes made since the issuance of the Draft document are indicated by a double underline for minor word changes or by a sidebar in the margin for paragraph or larger changes. In addition, Volume 1 and each appendix in Volume 3 provide a unique reference list to enable the reader to further review and research selected topics. Volume IV (Comment Response Document) of the PEIS contains the comments received during public review of the Draft PEIS and the DOE responses to those comments. DOE has public reading rooms near each affected site and in Washington, DC where these referenced documents may be reviewed or obtained for review.