Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC

Résumé

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DOE/EIS-0082-S-D) at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina. The document supplements an EIS that DOE issued in 1982 (DOE/EIS-0082) to construct and operate the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). The draft SEIS assesses the potential environmental impacts of completing and operating the DWPF, as modified since 1982, to immobilize high-level radioactive waste at the Savannah River Site by incorporating the waste into borosilicate glass by a process called vitrification. The draft SEIS also addresses the potential impacts of no action and of alternative pretreatment processes for the waste. DOE invites public comments on the draft SEIS, and will hold public hearings on the document.