Department of Energy January 4, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Energy (DOE) intends to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership initiative (GNEP PEIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) and DOE's regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR Part 1021, respectively). GNEP would encourage expansion of domestic and international nuclear energy production while reducing nuclear proliferation risks, and reduce the volume, thermal output, and radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel (spent fuel or SNF) before disposal in a geologic repository. Domestically, GNEP involves a programmatic proposal as well as project-specific proposals. The programmatic proposal is to begin to recycle spent fuel and destroy the long-lived radioactive components of that spent fuel. Toward this end, GNEP includes project-specific proposals to construct and operate three facilities. The proposed nuclear fuel recycling center would separate the SNF into its reusable components and waste components and manufacture new nuclear fuel using reusable components that still have the potential for use in nuclear power generation. The proposed advanced recycling reactor would destroy long-lived radioactive elements in the fuel while generating electricity. The advanced fuel cycle research facility would perform research into SNF recycling processes and other aspects of advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The GNEP PEIS will consider 13 sites as possible locations for one or more of these facilities, as well as alternative technologies to be used in these facilities. Internationally, GNEP involves two programmatic initiatives. First, the United States would cooperate with countries that have advanced nuclear programs to supply nuclear fuel services to countries that refrain from pursuing enrichment or recycling facilities to make their own nuclear fuel. Such countries would have no need to develop the technology and infrastructure to enrich uranium or separate plutonium, both of which have application in the production of nuclear weapons. Second, the United States would promote proliferation-resistant nuclear power reactors suitable for use in developing economies. The GNEP PEIS will analyze the potential environmental impacts of these programmatic and project-specific proposals, as well as reasonable alternatives. The GNEP PEIS also will evaluate at a programmatic level the potential environmental impacts associated with the international aspects of GNEP, including alternatives. The SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice of Intent (NOI) describes the alternatives that DOE proposes to evaluate in the GNEP PEIS. This NOI also identifies dates, times, and locations for public scoping meetings on the GNEP PEIS.