Surplus Plutonium Disposition Final Environmental Impact Statement; DOE/EIS-0283

This consists of a Summary volume ([4], vii. [1], 54, [2] pages); Volume I - Part A (various paginations, approximately 400 pages); Volume I - Part B (various paginations, approximately 570 pages); Volume II (various paginations, approximately 500 pages, rear cover and several back pages creased); Volume III - Part A Comment Response Document (various paginations, approximately 1150 pages); and Volume III - Part B Comment Response Document (various paginations, approximately 800 pages). Tables. Figures. Footnotes, Acronyms. maps. Name written in ink on two covers. Covers have some wear and soiling. Minor edge soiling. Interior appears unmarked. The SPD EIS analyzes a nominal 50 metric tons (t) (55 tons) of surplus weapons-usable plutonium, which is | primarily in the form of pits (the core element of a nuclear weapon's fission component), metals, and oxides. In addition to 38.2 t (42 tons) of weapons-grade plutonium already declared by the President as excess to national security needs, the material analyzed includes weapons-grade plutonium that may be declared surplus in the future, as well as weapons-usable, reactor-grade plutonium that is surplus to the programmatic and national defense needs of DOE. In December 1996, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published the Storage and Disposition of Weapons-Usable Fissile Materials Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Storage and Disposition PEIS) (DOE 1996a). That PEIS analyzes the potential environmental consequences of alternative strategies for the long-term storage of weapons-usable plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) and the disposition of weapons-usable plutonium that has been or may be declared surplus to national security needs. The Record of Decision (ROD) for the Storage and Disposition PEIS, issued on January 14, 1997 (DOE 1997a), outlines DOE's decision to pursue an approach to plutonium disposition that would make surplus weapons-usable plutonium inaccessible and unattractive for weapons use. DOE's disposition strategy, consistent with the Preferred Alternative analyzed in the Storage and Disposition PEIS, allows for both the immobilization of some(and potentially all) of the surplus plutonium and use of some of the surplus plutonium as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in existing domestic, commercial reactors. The disposition of surplus plutonium would also involve disposal of both the immobilized plutonium and the MOX fuel (as spent nuclear fuel) in a potential geologic repository. The purpose of and need for the proposed action is to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation worldwide by conducting disposition of surplus plutonium in the United States in an environmentally safe and timely manner. Comprehensive disposition actions are needed to ensure that surplus plutonium is converted to proliferation-resistant forms. In September 1993, President Clinton issued the Nonproliferation and Export Control Policy (White House 1993) in response to the growing threat of nuclear proliferation. Further, in January 1994, President Clinton and Russia's President Yeltsin issued a Joint Statement Between the United States and Russia on Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Means of Their Delivery (White House 1994). In accordance with these policies, the focus of the U.S. nonproliferation efforts includes ensuring the safe, secure, long-term storage and disposition of surplus weapons-usable fissile plutonium. Following publication of the SPD Draft EIS, the United States and Russia signed a 5-year agreement to provide | the scientific and technical basis for decisions concerning how surplus plutonium will be managed and a statement of principles with the intention of removing approximately 50 t (55 tons) of plutonium from each country's Surplus Plutonium Disposition Final Environmental Impact Statement A MOX lead assembly is a prototype reactor fuel assembly that contains MOX fuel. Should the No Action Alternative be chosen, the ROD purs.…