Notice of Delay in Issuance of the Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility

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On March 7, 2001, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility (66 FR 13794). NRC staff subsequently held scoping meetings, and issued a Scoping Summary Report in connection with preparing the EIS. NRC staff planned to issue a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on February 27, 2002. NRC staff decided this schedule needed to be changed when, in January 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced its decision to alter its planned hybrid approach for surplus weapons plutonium disposition [65 FR 1608]. The Plutonium Immobilization Plant (PIP) that DOE had planned to build and operate as part of its hybrid approach will not be built. Instead, DOE decided that 34 metric tons of surplus weapons plutonium would be converted into MOX fuel at the proposed MOX facility. During the scoping process, immobilization of plutonium was identified as one of the No Action Alternatives to be evaluated in the EIS for the proposed MOX facility. DOE's decision not to build the PIP and conv