Plutonium finishing plant stabilization draft environmental impact statement

This Draft EIS is prepared pursuant to the NEPA (42 United States Code 4321 et seq.) and the Council on Environmental Quality implementing procedures (40 Code of Federal Regulations 1500). The continued presence of relatively large quantities of chemically reactive materials in their present form and location within the Plutonium Finishing Plant Facility poses an unacceptable long-term risk. The purpose of this action is to expeditiously and safely reduce radiation exposure to workers and the risk to the environment. The preferred alternative for resolution of the safety issue is removal of readily retrievable plutonium-bearing material in hold-up at the PFP Facility and stabilization of these and other plutonium-bearing materials at the PFP Facility through the following four treatment processes: (1) ion exchange, vertical calcination, and thermal stabilization of plutonium-bearing solutions; (2) thermal stabilization using a continuous furnace for oxides, fluorides, and process residues; (3) repackaging of metals and alloys; and (4) pyrolysis of polycubes and combustibles