Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation for the Vitrification Melter at the West Valley Demonstration Project for West Valley, New York, 13605-13606 [2011-5789]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Notices
Management Act, provided the public
has been notified of the Council’s intent
to take final action to address the
emergency.
Special Accommodations
These meetings are physically
accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language
interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Kitty M. Simonds,
(808) 522–8220 (voice) or (808) 522–
8226 (fax), at least 5 days prior to the
meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 8, 2011.
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–5697 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XA123
Marine Mammals; File No. 15616
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit.
AGENCY:
Notice is hereby given that
Craig Matkin, North Gulf Oceanic
Society, Homer, AK, has been issued a
permit to conduct research on marine
mammals.
ADDRESSES: The permit and related
documents are available for review
upon written request or by appointment
in the following offices:
Permits, Conservation and Education
Division, Office of Protected Resources,
NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Room
13705, Silver Spring, MD 20910; phone
(301)713–2289; fax (301)713–0376; and
Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668,
Juneau, AK 99802–1668; phone (907)
586–7221; fax (907) 586–7249.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tammy Adams or Kristy Beard, (301)
713–2289.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On
January 5, 2011, notice was published in
the Federal Register (76 FR 542) that a
request for a permit to conduct research
on marine mammals had been
submitted by the above-named
applicant. The requested permit has
been issued under the authority of the
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972,
as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), and
the regulations governing the taking and
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:20 Mar 11, 2011
Jkt 223001
importing of marine mammals (50 CFR
part 216).
The permit allows harassment of
marine mammals during conduct of
research in Alaskan waters, including
southeast Alaska, Prince William
Sound, the Kenai Peninsula, the Eastern
Aleutian Islands, and the Bering Sea.
The purpose of the research is to
maintain a long-term killer whale
(Orcinus orca) monitoring program in
Alaskan waters that was initiated over
25 years ago. In addition, the permit
holder will examine movements of other
non-endangered cetacean species along
the North Gulf Coast of Alaska in
relation to U.S. Navy testing activities.
The research activities include photoidentification, passive acoustic
recording, biopsy sampling, tagging
with barbed darts and suction cups, and
collecting samples of marine mammal
carcasses from sites of killer whale
predation.
In compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final
determination has been made that the
activity proposed is categorically
excluded from the requirement to
prepare an environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement.
Dated: March 9, 2011.
Tammy C. Adams,
Acting Chief, Permits, Conservation and
Education Division, Office of Protected
Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011–5849 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of Draft Waste
Incidental to Reprocessing Evaluation
for the Vitrification Melter at the West
Valley Demonstration Project for West
Valley, New York
Office of Environmental
Management, U.S. Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
The Department of Energy
(DOE) announces the availability of a
draft evaluation which shows that the
vitrification melter (used to vitrify waste
from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel
and certain treatment material) at the
West Valley Demonstration Project
(WVDP), located at the Western New
York Service Center in West Valley,
New York, is waste incidental to
reprocessing and thus is not high-level
radioactive waste (HLW) and may be
managed and disposed of offsite as lowlevel waste (LLW). DOE prepared the
draft evaluation pursuant to DOE
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
13605
Manual 435.1–1, Radioactive Waste
Management. DOE is consulting with
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) before finalizing this evaluation.
Although it is not required by DOE
Manual 435.1–1, DOE is making the
draft evaluation available for public and
state review and comment during the
NRC consultative review period. DOE
will make its final evaluation and
determination as to whether the
vitrification melter is HLW, or is waste
incidental to reprocessing which can be
managed and disposed of as LLW, after
consideration of any public, state, and
NRC comments on this draft evaluation.
DATES: The comment period will end
April 28, 2011. Comments received after
that time will be considered to the
extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: The draft waste evaluation
is available on the Internet at https://
apps.em.doe.gov/wvdp/, and is publicly
available for review at the following
locations: U.S. Department of Energy,
Public Reading Room, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585, phone: (202)
586–5955, or fax: (202) 586–0575; and
U.S. DOE, West Valley Demonstration
Project Public Reading Room located at
the Town of Concord Hulbert Library,
18 Chapel St., Springville, New York
14141, phone: (716) 592–7742. Written
comments should be submitted to: Mr.
Daniel Sullivan, U.S. Department of
Energy, West Valley Demonstration
Project, 10282 Rock Springs Road, West
Valley, New York 14171–9799.
Alternatively, comments may also be
filed electronically by e-mail to
melter@wv.doe.gov or by fax at (716)
942–4703.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
further information about this draft
waste evaluation, please contact Mr.
Daniel Sullivan at the mailing address
or Web site listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
vitrification melter is a box structure,
approximately 10 feet on each side, with
a stainless steel outer structure and an
interior lined with refractory materials.
It was used to solidify high-level waste
which had been generated by
commercial reprocessing of spent
nuclear fuel at the Western New York
Nuclear Service Center in West Valley,
New York by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.
from 1966 through 1972. DOE
undertook the solidification activities
pursuant to DOE’s responsibilities
under the West Valley Demonstration
Project Act. To solidify the waste, DOE
vitrified the waste (combined it at a high
temperature with borosilicate glass) and
transferred the molten glass-waste
mixture into specially developed
E:\FR\FM\14MRN1.SGM
14MRN1
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
13606
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Notices
stainless steel canisters where the
mixture hardened into a solid glass
waste form. DOE used the vitrification
melter as part of this process,
specifically to melt glass frit (material
used in making glass) together with
reprocessing waste sludge and treatment
material (spent ion removal resin).
DOE operated the vitrification melter
between 1996 and 2002. In 2002, prior
to shut down, the vitrification melter
was flushed three times with
decontamination solutions and emptied
using an evacuated canister process so
as to remove key radionuclides to the
maximum extent technically and
economically practical. After
completing this decontamination, a
small amount of hardened residual
radioactive glass material that could not
be removed remained inside the
vitrification melter. The vitrification
melter with the remaining residual
waste was characterized for
radioactivity and determined to have
radionuclide concentrations that do not
exceed concentration limits for Class C
low-level waste. It was removed from
the vitrification cell in 2004 and is
presently safely stored at the West
Valley Demonstration Project in a
Department of Transportation-certified
Industrial Package-2 steel transportation
container. DOE plans to further stabilize
the vitrification melter waste package by
filling the melter and the waste package
with cement grout before shipment
offsite. It will be disposed of at a
suitable off-site low-level waste disposal
facility, either the Area 5 Radioactive
Waste Management Site at DOE’s
Nevada National Security Site (NNSS)
in Nevada or the Waste Control
Specialists Federal Facility Waste
Disposal Facility near Andrews, Texas.
DOE intends to dispose of the
vitrification melter waste package in
accordance with applicable waste
acceptance criteria using specific waste
profile documentation.
DOE Manual 435.1–1, which
implements DOE Order 435.1,
Radioactive Waste Management,
contains a rigorous evaluation process
which DOE uses to determine whether
or not certain waste from the
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is
incidental to reprocessing and therefore
is not high-level waste and can be
managed as low-level waste. This
process, in relevant part, requires
demonstrating that:
(1) Key radionuclides have been
removed to the maximum extent that is
technically and economically practical;
(2) The waste will be managed to meet
safety requirements comparable to the
performance objectives set out in 10
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:20 Mar 11, 2011
Jkt 223001
61, Subpart C, Performance Objectives;
and
(3) The waste will be managed,
pursuant to DOE’s authority under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
and in accordance with the provisions
of Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1–1,
provided the waste will be incorporated
in a solid physical form at a
concentration that does not exceed the
applicable concentration limits for Class
C low-level waste as set out in 10 CFR
61.55, Waste Classification.
The draft waste-incidental-toreprocessing evaluation summarizes
DOE’s analysis and shows that the
vitrification melter:
(1) Has had key radionuclides
removed to the maximum extent
technically and economically practical;
(2) Will be managed to meet safety
requirements comparable to the NRC
performance objectives at 10 CFR part
61, subpart C; and
(3) Will be in a solid physical form
that does not exceed concentration
limits for Class C low-level waste and
will be managed and disposed of
pursuant to DOE’s authority under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
and in accordance with applicable
provisions of Chapter IV of DOE Manual
435.1–1.
Accordingly, the draft evaluation
demonstrates using the wasteincidental-to-reprocessing evaluation
process that the West Valley
vitrification melter waste package may
be managed and disposed of as lowlevel waste. The vitrification melter
waste package will meet the applicable
waste acceptance criteria for the
selected offsite low-level waste disposal
facility, either the NNSS Area 5
Radioactive Waste Management Site or
the Waste Control Specialists Federal
Facility Waste Disposal Facility in
Texas. The vitrification melter waste
package has been approved for disposal
by the NNSS in case a final decision is
made to send the waste package to that
site for disposal.
DOE is consulting with the NRC
before finalizing this evaluation.
Although not required by DOE Manual
435.1–1, DOE is making the draft
evaluation available for public and state
review and comment during the NRC
consultative review period. DOE plans
to issue a final determination as to
whether the vitrification melter is highlevel waste or can be managed and
disposed of as low-level waste following
review and consultation with the NRC
and consideration of public and state
comments.
DOE’s decision on the disposal site to
be used is not within the scope of this
draft evaluation. Any DOE decision on
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
the facility to which the Vitrification
Melter waste package would be sent
would be made after the final DOE
evaluation and determination, following
consideration of NRC and public
comments on this draft evaluation, and
after DOE confers with appropriate State
officials in the state where the waste
package may be disposed.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 8,
2011.
Frank Marcinowski,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technical and
Regulatory Support, Office of Environmental
Management.
[FR Doc. 2011–5789 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Ultra-Deepwater Advisory Committee
Department of Energy, Office of
Fossil Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
AGENCY:
This notice announces a
meeting of the Ultra-Deepwater
Advisory Committee. The Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–
463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public
notice of this meeting be announced in
the Federal Register.
DATES: Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 8
a.m.–5 p.m. (CDT). Thursday, April 7,
2011, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. (CDT).
ADDRESSES: Crowne Plaza Hotel,
Houston North—Greenspoint, 425 North
Sam Houston Parkway East, Houston,
Texas 77060.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Elena Melchert, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Oil and Natural Gas,
Washington, DC 20585. Phone: (202)
586–5600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of
the Committee: The purpose of the
Ultra-Deepwater Advisory Committee is
to provide advice on the development
and implementation of programs related
to ultra-deepwater architecture and
technology to the Secretary of Energy
and provide comments and
recommendations and priorities for the
Department of Energy Annual Plan per
requirements of the Energy Policy Act of
2005, Title IX, Subtitle J, Section 999D.
SUMMARY:
Tentative Agenda
April 6
7:30 a.m. Registration.
8 a.m.–4:45 p.m. Welcome &
Introductions, Opening Remarks,
and Discussion of Subcommittee
Reports, and Findings regarding the
Draft 2011 Annual Plan.
4:45 p.m. Public Comments, if any.
E:\FR\FM\14MRN1.SGM
14MRN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13605-13606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5789]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing
Evaluation for the Vitrification Melter at the West Valley
Demonstration Project for West Valley, New York
AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a
draft evaluation which shows that the vitrification melter (used to
vitrify waste from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and certain
treatment material) at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP),
located at the Western New York Service Center in West Valley, New
York, is waste incidental to reprocessing and thus is not high-level
radioactive waste (HLW) and may be managed and disposed of offsite as
low-level waste (LLW). DOE prepared the draft evaluation pursuant to
DOE Manual 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management. DOE is consulting
with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before finalizing this
evaluation. Although it is not required by DOE Manual 435.1-1, DOE is
making the draft evaluation available for public and state review and
comment during the NRC consultative review period. DOE will make its
final evaluation and determination as to whether the vitrification
melter is HLW, or is waste incidental to reprocessing which can be
managed and disposed of as LLW, after consideration of any public,
state, and NRC comments on this draft evaluation.
DATES: The comment period will end April 28, 2011. Comments received
after that time will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: The draft waste evaluation is available on the Internet at
https://apps.em.doe.gov/wvdp/, and is publicly available for review at
the following locations: U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading
Room, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, phone: (202)
586-5955, or fax: (202) 586-0575; and U.S. DOE, West Valley
Demonstration Project Public Reading Room located at the Town of
Concord Hulbert Library, 18 Chapel St., Springville, New York 14141,
phone: (716) 592-7742. Written comments should be submitted to: Mr.
Daniel Sullivan, U.S. Department of Energy, West Valley Demonstration
Project, 10282 Rock Springs Road, West Valley, New York 14171-9799.
Alternatively, comments may also be filed electronically by e-mail to
melter@wv.doe.gov or by fax at (716) 942-4703.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
draft waste evaluation, please contact Mr. Daniel Sullivan at the
mailing address or Web site listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The vitrification melter is a box structure,
approximately 10 feet on each side, with a stainless steel outer
structure and an interior lined with refractory materials. It was used
to solidify high-level waste which had been generated by commercial
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the Western New York Nuclear
Service Center in West Valley, New York by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.
from 1966 through 1972. DOE undertook the solidification activities
pursuant to DOE's responsibilities under the West Valley Demonstration
Project Act. To solidify the waste, DOE vitrified the waste (combined
it at a high temperature with borosilicate glass) and transferred the
molten glass-waste mixture into specially developed
[[Page 13606]]
stainless steel canisters where the mixture hardened into a solid glass
waste form. DOE used the vitrification melter as part of this process,
specifically to melt glass frit (material used in making glass)
together with reprocessing waste sludge and treatment material (spent
ion removal resin).
DOE operated the vitrification melter between 1996 and 2002. In
2002, prior to shut down, the vitrification melter was flushed three
times with decontamination solutions and emptied using an evacuated
canister process so as to remove key radionuclides to the maximum
extent technically and economically practical. After completing this
decontamination, a small amount of hardened residual radioactive glass
material that could not be removed remained inside the vitrification
melter. The vitrification melter with the remaining residual waste was
characterized for radioactivity and determined to have radionuclide
concentrations that do not exceed concentration limits for Class C low-
level waste. It was removed from the vitrification cell in 2004 and is
presently safely stored at the West Valley Demonstration Project in a
Department of Transportation-certified Industrial Package-2 steel
transportation container. DOE plans to further stabilize the
vitrification melter waste package by filling the melter and the waste
package with cement grout before shipment offsite. It will be disposed
of at a suitable off-site low-level waste disposal facility, either the
Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site at DOE's Nevada National
Security Site (NNSS) in Nevada or the Waste Control Specialists Federal
Facility Waste Disposal Facility near Andrews, Texas. DOE intends to
dispose of the vitrification melter waste package in accordance with
applicable waste acceptance criteria using specific waste profile
documentation.
DOE Manual 435.1-1, which implements DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive
Waste Management, contains a rigorous evaluation process which DOE uses
to determine whether or not certain waste from the reprocessing of
spent nuclear fuel is incidental to reprocessing and therefore is not
high-level waste and can be managed as low-level waste. This process,
in relevant part, requires demonstrating that:
(1) Key radionuclides have been removed to the maximum extent that
is technically and economically practical;
(2) The waste will be managed to meet safety requirements
comparable to the performance objectives set out in 10 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) Part 61, Subpart C, Performance Objectives; and
(3) The waste will be managed, pursuant to DOE's authority under
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with the
provisions of Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1-1, provided the waste will
be incorporated in a solid physical form at a concentration that does
not exceed the applicable concentration limits for Class C low-level
waste as set out in 10 CFR 61.55, Waste Classification.
The draft waste-incidental-to-reprocessing evaluation summarizes
DOE's analysis and shows that the vitrification melter:
(1) Has had key radionuclides removed to the maximum extent
technically and economically practical;
(2) Will be managed to meet safety requirements comparable to the
NRC performance objectives at 10 CFR part 61, subpart C; and
(3) Will be in a solid physical form that does not exceed
concentration limits for Class C low-level waste and will be managed
and disposed of pursuant to DOE's authority under the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with applicable provisions of
Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1-1.
Accordingly, the draft evaluation demonstrates using the waste-
incidental-to-reprocessing evaluation process that the West Valley
vitrification melter waste package may be managed and disposed of as
low-level waste. The vitrification melter waste package will meet the
applicable waste acceptance criteria for the selected offsite low-level
waste disposal facility, either the NNSS Area 5 Radioactive Waste
Management Site or the Waste Control Specialists Federal Facility Waste
Disposal Facility in Texas. The vitrification melter waste package has
been approved for disposal by the NNSS in case a final decision is made
to send the waste package to that site for disposal.
DOE is consulting with the NRC before finalizing this evaluation.
Although not required by DOE Manual 435.1-1, DOE is making the draft
evaluation available for public and state review and comment during the
NRC consultative review period. DOE plans to issue a final
determination as to whether the vitrification melter is high-level
waste or can be managed and disposed of as low-level waste following
review and consultation with the NRC and consideration of public and
state comments.
DOE's decision on the disposal site to be used is not within the
scope of this draft evaluation. Any DOE decision on the facility to
which the Vitrification Melter waste package would be sent would be
made after the final DOE evaluation and determination, following
consideration of NRC and public comments on this draft evaluation, and
after DOE confers with appropriate State officials in the state where
the waste package may be disposed.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 8, 2011.
Frank Marcinowski,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technical and Regulatory Support, Office
of Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-5789 Filed 3-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P