National Nuclear Security Administration April 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Nuclear Facility Portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (Draft CMRR-NF SEIS) (DOE/EIS-0350- S1), and the dates and locations for public hearings to receive comments on the Draft CMRR-NF SEIS. The Draft CMRR-NF SEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of alternatives for constructing and operating the nuclear facility (NF) portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement (CMRR) Project. The CMRR Project was first analyzed in the 2003 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (the CMRR EIS) (DOE/EIS-0350), and NNSA issued a Record of Decision for the CMRR Project in February 2004 (68 FR 6420) announcing its decision to construct and operate a two building CMRR facility within Technical Area-55 (TA-55) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in order to meet its need to sustain mission-critical specialized nuclear chemistry and metallurgy capabilities at LANL in a safe, secure and environmentally sound manner. Since that time, NNSA has constructed one of the two buildings for the CMRR Project (the Radiological Laboratory/ Utility/Office Building, also called the RLUOB), and has engaged in project planning and design processes for the second building, the CMRR-NF. The planning and design processes for the CMRR-NF have identified the need for various changes to the original design for the structure and additional project elements not envisioned in the 2003 NEPA analyses. These proposed changes, identified subsequent to the ROD, are the subject of the CMRR-NF SEIS analyses. The Draft CMRR-NF SEIS considers a No Action Alternative (the 2004 CMRR-NF), and two action alternatives (the Modified CMRR-NF Alternative, and the Continued Use of CMR Building Alternative). Under the No Action Alternative, NNSA analyzes construction and operation of the CMRR-NF as it was originally envisioned in 2004, although it has been determined that the structural design in this alternative would not meet current nuclear facility design safety requirements. Thus, this alternative no longer meets NNSA's purpose and need. The Modified CMRR-NF Alternative incorporates currently identified construction and operational requirements for the CMRR-NF, and meets NNSA's purpose and need. The Continued Use of CMR Building Alternative analyzes continued use of the CMR Building for as long as it may be safe to do so, together with the RLUOB, although this alternative would not fully meet NNSA's purpose and need. The Modified CMRR Alternative is NNSA's preferred alternative.