[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 44512-44513] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-21289] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD Sunshine Act Meeting Pursuant to the provision of the ``Government in the Sunshine Act'' (5 U.S.C. 552b), notice is hereby given of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board's (Board) meeting described below. Time and Date of Meeting: 9:00 a.m., September 9, 1999. Place: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Public Hearing Room, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20004. Status: Open. Matters To Be Considered: Status of the Department of Energy's Implementation Plan for Board Recommendation 94-1, The Remediation of Nuclear Materials in the Defense Nuclear Facilities Complex. Contact Person for More Information: Richard A. Azzaro, General Counsel, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004, (800) 788-4016. This is a toll-free number. Supplementary Information: Recommendation 94-1 has driven the Department of Energy (DOE) to accomplish significant risk reduction and nuclear material stabilization during the past four years. Under the original implementation plan, urgent risks were mitigated and DOE made progress in stabilizing plutonium, special isotopes, and spent nuclear fuel. Additionally, compensatory measures were implemented to ensure safe storage of the remaining materials awaiting stabilization. However, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is concerned about the DOE's rate of progress in implementing the revised Recommendation 94-1 implementation plan, The Remediation of Nuclear Materials in the Defense Nuclear Facilities Complex, received by the Board in December 1998. The Board has not yet received the outstanding plans and schedules required to complete the necessary stabilization activities. The Board issued Recommendation 94-1 on May 26, 1994 to encourage the Department of Energy to act more quickly to place surplus nuclear materials in safe forms for interim storage. When production of nuclear weapons ceased in the early 1990's, large inventories of plutonium, uranium, spent nuclear fuel, and other hazardous materials were stored in temporary arrangements awaiting processing into weapons components or other disposition. The Board was concerned that such materials, some of which are in unstable chemical forms, may rupture or leak from their temporary containers, or may cause or contribute to accidents, material releases, and radiological exposures. The Board accordingly recommended that the DOE initiate or accelerate programs to process and repackage such materials so that they could be safely stored. The Secretary of Energy accepted Recommendation 94-1 in full, and a mutually agreeable Implementation Plan was issued in February 1995 and accepted by the Board. During 1998, DOE prepared an updated implementation plan that was submitted to the Board in December 1998. In January 1999 the Board conditionally accepted the revised plan provided that the DOE complete planning for all stabilization activities. DOE has not yet provided this supplemental information to the Board's satisfaction. This public meeting will examine the reasons for delays in finalizing the revised implementation plan and also explore the causes of delays in specific stabilization activities at selected DOE sites. DOE will be [[Page 44513]] requested to identify corrective actions necessary to complete the remaining stabilization activities in a timely manner. Department of Energy personnel will present the status of delayed nuclear material stabilization activities to process uranium, plutonium, and other actinides into stable storage forms, package plutonium for interim storage, stabilize spent fuel, and maintain the facilities needed to perform these activities over the next few years. The largest Recommendation 94-1 programs are at the Savannah River Site, the Hanford Site, the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, although most other defense nuclear sites are affected to some degree. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board reserves its right to further schedule and otherwise regulate the course of this meeting, to recess, reconvene, postpone or adjourn the meeting, and otherwise exercise its authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. Dated: August 11, 1999. John T. Conway, Chairman. [FR Doc. 99-21289 Filed 8-12-99; 11:40 am] BILLING CODE 3670-01-U