Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, 19706-19708 [2025-08140]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• National Nuclear Security Administration

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 89 (Friday, May 9, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19706-19708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08140]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Nuclear Security Administration


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for Plutonium Pit Production

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-
autonomous agency within the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy 
(DOE), announces its intent to initiate a National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (NEPA) programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) 
process to ensure NEPA compliance for the production of plutonium pits 
in support of NNSA's Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program. The 
PEIS will evaluate the programmatic environmental impacts of producing 
pits at the Congressionally mandated rate (and potentially other 
reasonable rates) using various single site and multi-site 
alternatives; associated activities at other NNSA sites; and associated 
waste management and transportation activities. The purpose of this 
Notice is to invite public participation in the PEIS process and to 
solicit public comment on the scope, environmental issues, and 
alternatives for consideration by NNSA in the draft PEIS.

DATES: NNSA will hold initial virtual public scoping meetings and 
subsequent public hearings on the draft PEIS. During scoping, NNSA 
invites other Federal agencies, Native American Tribes, State and local 
governments, industry, other organizations, and members of the public 
to review and submit comments on the scope and alternatives of the 
PEIS. The deadline to submit these comments will be 45 days after the 
final public scoping meeting. As noted, the final public scoping 
meeting is currently scheduled for May 28, 2025, and therefore, the 
current deadline for comments is July 14, 2025. Comments received after 
this date will be considered to the extent practicable. NNSA will hold 
two virtual public scoping meetings. The information about the scoping 
meetings (i.e., date, time, phone number, and accessible hyperlink) is 
provided in the table below. If there are future changes to this 
information, it would be provided in a future notice posted on the 
following website: https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room, 
no fewer than 15 days from the planned meeting date.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Virtual scoping meeting  dates and times             Hyperlink
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Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 5-7:30 p.m. ET.....  https://bit.ly/PuPEISMtg1.
                                            Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-
                                             4592.
                                            Phone conference ID: 808 821
                                             801#.
Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 7-9:30 p.m. ET...  https://bit.ly/PuPEISMtg2.
                                            Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-
                                             4592.
                                            Phone conference ID: 989 289
                                             432#.
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ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the PEIS, requests to be 
placed on the PEIS distribution list, and comments or questions on the 
scoping process should be sent to: Ms. Jade Fortiner, NEPA Document 
Manager, National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Pit 
Production Modernization, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585 or email to [email protected]. Before 
including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal 
identifying information in your comment, please be advised that your 
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--may be 
made publicly available. If you wish for NNSA to withhold your name 
and/or other personally identifiable information, please state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. You may also submit 
comments anonymously. NNSA requests all Federal, State, Native American 
Tribes, and local agencies that desire to be designated as cooperating 
agencies on the PEIS to contact the NEPA Document Manager at the 
address listed in this section by the end of the scoping period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
Notice, please contact Ms. Kristen M. Dors, NEPA Compliance Officer, 
NNSA Office of Environment, Safety and Health, Los Alamos Field Office, 
3747 West Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544; telephone: 505-606-8953; or email 
to: [email protected].
    This Notice will be available on the internet at: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/listings/notices-intent-noi and https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/nnsa-nepa-reading-room.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    NNSA is responsible for meeting the national security requirements 
established by the President and Congress to maintain and enhance the 
safety, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons 
stockpile. Plutonium pits are critical components of every nuclear 
weapon; nearly all current stockpile pits were produced from 1978 to 
1989. The United States' capability to produce plutonium pits is 
limited and does not meet Federal requirements.
    Per title 50 United States Code (U.S.C.) 2538a, NNSA is mandated to 
manufacture no fewer than 80 war reserve pits per year by 2030. This 
number is driven by the stockpile's size, the need to replace existing 
pits as they age, and the requirement for the United States to have a 
flexible and resilient manufacturing capability with the capacity to 
produce a variety of pits to meet current and planned military 
stockpile requirements and ensure the safety, security, and 
effectiveness of the nation's nuclear stockpile.
    Previously, NNSA prepared the 2008 Complex Transformation 
Supplemental PEIS (DOE/EIS-0236-S4) to analyze the potential 
environmental impacts associated with pit production at different site 
alternatives: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, New 
Mexico; Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina; Pantex 
Plant near Amarillo, Texas; Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak 
Ridge, Tennessee; and the Nevada Test Site (now named the Nevada 
National Security Site) north of Las Vegas, Nevada. At SRS, the Complex 
Transformation Supplemental PEIS also evaluated a pit production 
facility that would use the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and 
Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility infrastructure. Additionally, 
pit production at LANL has been analyzed in several NEPA documents over 
the past two decades, including the 2008 Site-Wide Environmental Impact 
Statement for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National 
Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (DOE/EIS-0380) and the 2020 Final 
Supplement Analysis of the 2008

[[Page 19707]]

Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for the Continued Operation of 
Los Alamos National Laboratory for Plutonium Operations (DOE/EIS-380-
SA-06). On September 2, 2020, NNSA published a record of decision (ROD) 
stating LANL will implement actions to produce a minimum of 30 war 
reserve pits per year during 2026 for the national pit production 
mission and implement surge efforts to exceed 30 pits per year up to 
the analyzed limit (80 war reserve pits per year) as necessary (85 FR 
54550).

Purpose and Need for Agency Action

    The national security policies of the United States require a safe, 
secure, and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile and the maintenance of 
core competencies to design, manufacture, and maintain nuclear weapons. 
The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review identified plutonium pit production as 
one of the highest priorities in the modernization of the nuclear 
security enterprise over the next ten years. To meet the need outlined 
in Federal legislation and requirements delineated by the U.S. 
Department of Defense, NNSA must establish a workforce and 
infrastructure capable of producing no fewer than 80 pits per year as 
soon as possible, while eliminating single point failures and providing 
flexible capacity options. The PEIS process is to ensure NEPA 
compliance for production of plutonium pits in support of these 
requirements and NNSA's Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program. 
The PEIS will evaluate the programmatic environmental impacts of 
producing pits at the Congressionally mandated rate needed to meet 
Federal requirements (and potentially other reasonable rates) using 
various single site and multi-site alternatives; associated activities 
at other NNSA sites; and associated waste management and transportation 
activities.

Requirements To Fulfill DOE NEPA Compliance

    NNSA is responsible for management and implementation of the 
requirements of NEPA, and the regulations and policies promulgated 
thereunder, including, but not limited to the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, DOE NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR part 
1021), the Amendments to NEPA from the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 
2023 (H.R. 3746), DOE Order 451.1B NEPA Compliance Program, and NNSA 
Policy (NAP) 451.1 NEPA Compliance Program. The PEIS will be prepared 
pursuant to NEPA and applicable regulations and policies promulgated 
thereunder. The PEIS will be prepared in the same manner as a draft or 
final EIS and will provide the public with an analysis of the potential 
environmental impacts, at a programmatic level, associated with the 
reasonable alternatives.

Preliminary Alternatives

    The PEIS will evaluate NNSA's proposal to produce plutonium pits at 
required quantities to meet national security requirements and the 
potential environmental impacts associated with a range of reasonable 
alternatives for achieving the necessary pit production capabilities 
and operations at a programmatic level. For analytical purposes, this 
PEIS will evaluate potential impacts over a 50-year period, through 
approximately 2075.
    In the PEIS, NNSA intends to analyze: (1) site alternatives; and 
(2) capacity alternatives for the near term (producing pits at the 
current Congressionally mandated rate) and the long term (to account 
for potential changes in future national security requirements for 
pits). With regard to site alternatives, NNSA considers LANL and SRS to 
be reasonable alternatives because of the available facilities and 
infrastructure at those sites that is being/could be used to produce 
pits to meet the mandated schedule and capacity requirements. NNSA will 
evaluate other potential site alternatives in the PEIS if they are 
determined to be reasonable. Construction of a new facility 
(greenfield) is likely to be considered unreasonable because it would 
not meet the federally mandated pit production rate in the near term 
and is likely cost prohibitive, however, NNSA has not decided to 
exclude greenfield alternatives at this time.
    The No-Action Alternative will be based on NNSA's prior decision to 
produce 30 pits per year at LANL with surge efforts to produce up to 80 
pits per year (85 FR 54544, September 2, 2020). NNSA welcomes input on 
alternatives to be analyzed in the PEIS.

Preliminary Environmental Analysis

    The following issues have been identified for analysis in the PEIS. 
The list is tentative and intended to facilitate public comment on the 
scope of the PEIS. It is not intended to be all-inclusive, nor does it 
imply any predetermination of potential impacts. NNSA specifically 
invites suggestions for the addition or deletion of items on this list.
    1. Impacts on land use and applicable plans and policies.
    2. Impacts on visual aesthetics.
    3. Impacts on geology and soil.
    4. Impacts on water resources, including floodplains and wetlands.
    5. Impacts on air quality and noise.
    6. Impacts to plants and animals and their habitat, including 
species which are federally- or State-listed as threatened or 
endangered, or of special concern.
    7. Impacts to cultural resources such as those that are historic 
and paleontological.
    8. Socioeconomic impacts to affected communities.
    9. Impacts from traffic and transportation of radiological and 
hazardous materials and waste.
    10. Impacts from use of utilities, including water and electricity 
consumption, fuel use, sewer discharges, and resource conservation.
    11. Impacts on the public and workers from exposures to 
radiological and hazardous materials during construction and normal 
operations.
    12. Impacts on the public and workers from exposures to 
radiological and hazardous materials from reasonably foreseeable 
accidents, and intentional destructive acts.
    13. Impacts on waste management activities and capacities at on-
site and off-site locations.

PEIS Process

    The scoping process is intended to involve all interested agencies 
(Federal, State, Native American Tribes, county, and local), public 
interest groups, businesses, and members of the public. Interested 
parties are invited to participate in the PEIS process, both to refine 
the preliminary alternatives and environmental issues to be analyzed in 
depth and to eliminate from detailed study those alternatives and 
environmental issues that are not reasonable or pertinent. Input from 
the scoping process will assist NNSA in formulating the proposed 
action, refining the alternatives, and defining the scope of PEIS 
analyses.
    Following the scoping period announced in this Notice, and after 
consideration of comments received during scoping, NNSA will prepare a 
draft PEIS for pit production. NNSA will announce the availability of 
the draft PEIS in the Federal Register and through other means, 
including media outlets in the areas around planned hearing locations. 
The comment period on the draft PEIS will be at least 90 days. NNSA 
will hold public hearings on the draft PEIS in Aiken, South Carolina; 
Kansas City, Missouri; Livermore, California; Santa Fe, New Mexico; 
Washington DC; and any other location NNSA deems relevant to the PEIS. 
Details related to those hearings

[[Page 19708]]

will be provided in NNSA's public notices. Comments received on the 
draft PEIS will be considered and addressed in the Final PEIS. NNSA 
will issue a ROD no sooner than 30 days after publication by the 
Environmental Protection Agency of a Notice of Availability of the 
final PEIS.

PEIS Preparation and Schedule

    NNSA expects to issue the draft PEIS within approximately one year 
of this NOI and complete the final PEIS and ROD within approximately 2 
years.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on April 22, 
2025, by Teresa M. Robbins, Acting Under Secretary for Nuclear Security 
and NNSA Administrator, 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 May 6, 2025.
Jennifer Hartzell,
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2025-08140 Filed 5-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P