ECA CALLS ON DOE TO CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON ECONOMIC & ENERGY DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS FROM CLEANUP
In ECA’s transition paper, “Ensuring Long-Term Success: Recommendations for the Next Administration on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management
Mission”, ECA provides multiple recommendations to tackle challenges the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) faces. Some of DOE’s biggest success in cleanup have come where former sites are reused for economic development. ECA appreciates the increased focus in recent years on using the assets at EM sites to permit economic development opportunities integrated with
cleanup. This has included an increased focus on clean energy development, workforce development, increased considerations of economic development and reuse in cleanup planning and increased interest in commercial reuse of materials that may have been handled and disposed of as “waste.” DOE has also worked more directly to encourage reuse of remediated portions of Departmental sites through the “Cleanup to Clean Energy” initiative. This effort has so far resulted in clean energy projects being
announced at some EM sites. Going forward, the next Administration should continue this increased focus on economic development and opportunities integrating these opportunities with cleanup. There needs to be continued widespread recognition that working with local governments and stakeholders, including the Community Reuse Organizations at EM sites, to ensure the long-term economic health of communities is a core tenant
of the EM mission. The communities near DOE and EM sites that support the national defense mission and have supported it for over 75 years including during World War II and the Cold War, deserve a bright future.
Read the paper by clicking its cover above or the button below!
Should DOE Prioritize “Legacy” TRU Waste for Disposal at WIPP?" REVIEW THE ECA WIPP SURVEY RESULTS
Individuals and stakeholders from communities and DOE sites across the complex voiced their opinions on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Legacy TRU Waste Disposal Plan (Plan): any definition of Legacy TRU Waste should account for risk and age of the waste in question, and that the Plan poses a opportunity that cannot be missed to emphasize the importance of cleanup activities at sites, increase transparency between sites and DOE, and highlight impacts experienced at sites. DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), as a requirement under its state permit, is developing a new “Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Legacy TRU Waste Disposal Plan (Plan)”. The WIPP mission includes disposal of defense transuranic (TRU) waste from DOE sites in communities across the country. ECA defines “Legacy” waste as TRU waste associated with the Cold War and pre-Cold War periods. The definition of Legacy TRU Waste laid out in the plan could affect
the prioritization of waste shipments and the accessibility of WIPP to these communities (DOE calls these sites “generator sites”). As a result, ECA members from Carlsbad and Eddy County, New Mexico, asked ECA to conduct a survey. ECA reached out to individuals in communities around the DOE sites, along with local, state and Tribal governments for feedback on the Plan. This included over 1000 individuals over the course of 10 weeks, to which ECA asked the following questions: "Should DOE Prioritize “Legacy” TRU Waste or Treat all TRU Waste Equally for Disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Under the New Permit with the State of NM?" "How will your site/community be affected by the reprioritization of waste shipments at WIPP?" Respondents represented communities around all current and projected future WIPP waste generators, plus additional DOE sites.
ECA came to four key conclusions after analyzing the results: - Stakeholders see the Plan as a useful platform to emphasize the importance of clean-up activities and provide transparency regarding prioritization and proper disposal of defense TRU waste.
- The definition of Legacy TRU Waste should account for risk and age of waste. However,
specific dates or time of cleanup are less important.
- A majority of respondents agree that prioritization of legacy waste is important.
- Respondents underscore that the reservation of Panel 12 for legacy waste “to the extent practicable” needs to consider impacts at generator sites, including risks from continued storage of waste, compliance with existing agreements, impacts to clean-up progress, and operational impacts.
ECA intends to use this report to provide input to DOE on its development of the Plan and equip ECA members around WIPP and generator sites to participate fully in the WIPP decision-making process. Input and support from communities around sites across the complex were key to making this survey an informative tool for the WIPP site. View the results on our website by clicking the button below!
WIPP provided a proposed draft definition of Legacy transuranic (TRU) and TRU mixed waste last month. The DOE Proposed Draft Definition is as follows: “Legacy TRU
and TRU mixed waste is defense-related TRU waste generated from the safe cleanup of environmental legacy resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development and defense-related testing and research.” Shortly after releasing the definition, the U. S. Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors conducted a virtual WIPP Information Exchange to receive public input on the definition. As a requirement of its permit, WIPP intends to submit its plan to New Mexico Environment Department by November 3, 2024. A public comment
period from November 2024 – January 2025 will follow. ECA looks forward to providing updates on the WIPP Legacy TRU Waste Disposal Plan and the Legacy TRU waste definition as they develop over the coming months.
ECA FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: CONSENT BASED SITING COMMUNITY GRANTS Applications now due November 1, 2024
Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is soliciting applications for local governments to build capacity through targeted education and outreach on nuclear waste storage and disposal issues; and to evaluate community interest in hosting or supporting a federal spent nuclear fuel storage or disposal mission using a community-centered consent-based siting approach.
ECA intends to
award up to six (6) grants of up to $75,000 this fiscal year with an initial period of performance of twelve (12) months. Eligibility is restricted to a municipal or local government entity or group of municipal entities, state government created councils of local governments, community reuse organizations, and municipal government-related economic development entities. Additional information about eligible entities and the complete application can be found here: ECA Consent Based Siting Community Grant Application. ECA has extended the deadline for submission to November 1, 2024. This funding opportunity is part of ECA’s effort, as a U.S. Department of Energy Consent-Based Siting Consortia, to meet two key goals: - Build capacity in communities interested in consent-based siting and ensure they have the information – and informed representatives – to meaningfully engage on the issues a community will address as a potential host of a nuclear waste facility.
- Facilitate deeper engagement and
(re)create momentum by distributing resources for qualifying individual communities that demonstrate readiness to begin localized education and outreach to determine the potential for consent or to capture information that can help define the elements of consent.
In parallel with activities performed under these grants, ECA will be hosting public, regional educational meetings and smaller, targeted local peer-to-peer exchanges to help build trust among the public, industry, policymakers and concerned parties – based on experience – that nuclear waste can be safely managed in a way that is protective of human health and the environment,
and in a way that offers community-driven and risk-based economic opportunity. Be sure to follow the ECA Update next week, where ECA will be in Maine to discuss waste management and Consent-Based Siting at the Maine Yankee Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
(ISFSI). For more information, please contact ECA Director of Policy, Faith Sanchez at: faiths@energyca.org or (202)
828-2410. ### Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) is a non-profit membership organization of local governments and nuclear communities
adjacent to or affected by U.S. Department of Energy activities. The mission of ECA is to bring together local government officials to share information, establish policy positions, and promote community interests to address an increasingly complex set of environmental, regulatory, and economic development needs. Additional information is available at www.energyca.org.
PROVIDE YOUR INPUT - OPEN REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION & PUBLIC COMMENT Opportunity: DOE Package Performance Demonstration DOE intends to establish a consolidated interim storage facility for storage of spent nuclear fuel until a permanent repository is available. DOE is performing this market research to gather information from all interested parties that will help formulate the actual solicitation. The first RFI is working to establish the market boundaries that can best fulfill the needs of the CISF program. This RFI works to answer the best contract
strategy and contract type, the ability of commercial businesses to support and fulfill CISF requirements & to what capacity small businesses can support CISF requirements. Response Due: October 31 2024, 7:00 pm EST Proposed Rule: Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comment on a proposed rule for a Generic Environmental Impact Statement for licensing new reactors. The generic impact statement uses a technology-neutral framework and plant/site parameters to identify environmental issues common to new reactors, and those issues needing project-specific analysis. NRC staff members will conduct an in-person meeting and two webinars to discuss the proposed generic impact statement and
accept comments from the public. The in-person meeting will be at NRC headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Maryland, on Nov. 7 from 1-4p.m. Eastern time. The webinars will be Nov. 13 from 1-4 p.m. Eastern time, and Nov. 14 from 6-9 p.m. Eastern time. Additional details for all three meetings will be available soon on the NRC’s website. The meetings are one method to comment before the Dec. 18 deadline. Comments can also be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2020-0101, via email to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov, or by mail to Office of Administration, Mail Stop TWFN-7- A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Response Due: December 18, 2024 Planned Change Request for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Replacement Panels 11 and 12 On July 16, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) announced for public comment the availability of a Planned Change Request (PCR) recently submitted by the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) to modify the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The proposed change will involve adding two additional waste panels west of the current repository to replace lost disposal capacity resulting from the 2014 radiological incident and resulting ground control issues. A 60-day comment period was provided for the PCR that expired on September 16, 2024. A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency's informal public
meetings held in New Mexico in late August. EPA is reopening the comment period to seek public input on both DOE's application and on what EPA should consider in its evaluation. Response Due: December 31, 2024 |
|
|
|
Gone Fission Nuclear Report - EM SSAB: Valuable Community Input October 28, 2024 | S4
E18 Community input is essential to the success of the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program. Much of the most essential feedback comes from the Site Specific Advisory Boards composed of local community volunteers. These local members take their own time to become educated about local cleanup issues and make recommendations about preferred approaches going forward. In this
week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report, host Michael Butler explores the value these Advisory Boards bring to the EM cleanup program. www.gonefissionpodcast.com
|
|
