Record of Decision for the Treatment and Management of Sodium-Bonded Spent Nuclear Fuel

Résumé

DOE has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Treatment and Management of Sodium-Bonded Spent Nuclear Fuel (final EIS) (Notice of Availability, 65 FR 47987, August 4, 2000) (DOE/EIS- 0306, July 2000). After careful consideration of public comments on the draft EIS and programmatic, environmental, nonproliferation, and cost issues, DOE has decided to implement the preferred alternative identified in the final EIS. That is, DOE has decided to electrometallurgically treat the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR- II) spent nuclear fuel (about 25 metric tons of heavy metal) and miscellaneous small lots of sodium-bonded spent nuclear fuel. The fuel will be treated at Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W). Because of the different physical characteristics of the Fermi-1 sodium-bonded blanket spent nuclear fuel (about 34 metric tons of heavy metal), DOE has decided to continue to store this material while alternative treatments are evaluated. Should no alternative prove more cost effective for this spent nuclear fuel, electrometallurgical treatment (EMT) of the Fermi-1 spent nuclear fuel remains a key option.