Environmental statements; notice of intent: Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY; high flux beam reactor; withdrawn,

[Federal Register: November 30, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 229)]

[Notices]

[Page 66904-66905]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr30no99-79]

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Withdrawal of Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the High Flux Beam Reactor at the Brookhaven National Laboratory

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.

SUMMARY: On November 24, 1997, the Department of Energy announced its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York. The EIS would evaluate the range of reasonable alternatives regarding the future of the reactor including resumption of operation at a power level of up to 60 MW. On November 16, 1999, the Secretary of Energy announced that the HFBR would be permanently closed. Therefore, the preliminary draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that was under review in the Department is no longer necessary. The NEPA process is hereby terminated. The preliminary draft EIS has been released as an environmental report.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the HFBR, please contact: George Malosh, U.S. Department of Energy, 53 Bell Avenue, Bldg. 464, P.O. Box 5000, Upton, NY 11973-5000. Telephone: (516) 344- 3424; facsimile (516) 344-3214; electronic mail: gmalosh@bnl.gov.

The report is available on the World Wide Web at http:// www.doe.bnl.gov, or a hard copy may be requested through Dr. Nand Narain at (516) 344-5435.

For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH- 42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0119. Telephone: (202) 586-4600 or leave a message on (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Brookhaven National Laboratory was established in 1947 as a multi-disciplinary scientific research center. It is located close to the geographic center of Suffolk County, Long Island, about 56 miles (91 kilometers) east of New York City. The HFBR is centrally located within the BNL site. HFBR was commissioned in 1965 as a scientific facility dedicated to neutron scattering research and other research programs in solid state physics, nuclear physics,

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materials technology, structural biology, medicine, and chemistry.

On December 21, 1996, the HFBR was shut down for refueling and maintenance. Before the reactor returned to scheduled scientific operations, monitoring indicated that a plume of tritiated water was contaminating the groundwater in excess of drinking water standards south and down gradient of the reactor, within the site boundary. Data collection and analysis identified the HFBR spent fuel pool as the likely source of the tritium plume. Cleanup of this contamination has been incorporated into the site's overall cleanup program. All fuel was removed from the reactor and the pool and shipped off-site. The pool was drained and decontaminated to eliminate the source of the tritium to the groundwater beneath the HFBR.

After analysis of the time and expense to restart the HFBR, the Department has decided to permanently close the HFBR. This decision is categorically excluded under DOE's NEPA regulators. Therefore, preparation of the draft EIS has been stopped. Additional NEPA review will be necessary in the future for a proposal to decontaminate and decommission the reactor.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 23rd day of November, 1999. Patricia M. Dehmer, Associate Director of the Office of Science for the Office of Basic Energy Sciences.

[FR Doc. 99-31016Filed11-29-99; 8:45 am]

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