Notice of Availability: Notice of Availability of a Draft Supplement Analysis (SA) for Disposal of Depleted Uranium Oxide Conversion Product Generated From DOE's Inventory of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DOE/EIS-0359-SA1 and DOE/EIS-0360-SA1). The draft SA addresses DOE's proposal to dispose of the depleted uranium oxide conversion product at either the DOE-owned low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) or at EnergySolutions LLC, a commercial low-level waste disposal facility in Clive, Utah (EnergySolutions; formerly known as Envirocare of Utah, Inc.). In April 1999, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for management of its Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) inventory. The PEIS included a generic assessment of the disposal of depleted uranium oxide conversion product (as U3O8 or UO2) and concluded that disposal of either product in shallow earthen structures, vaults, or mines would adequately protect human health and the environment over the time period considered, as long as the disposal facility is located in a dry environment and appropriately engineered (e.g., the cover material is maintained). Subsequently, DOE prepared site-specific final Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) for construction and operation of DUF6 conversion facilities at the DOE's Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio, sites in the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Construction and Operation of a Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facility at the Paducah, Kentucky Site, DOE/EIS-0359, and the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Construction and Operation of a Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facility at the Portsmouth, Ohio Site, DOE/EIS-0360. DOE published its Record of Decision for Construction and Operation of a Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facility at the Paducah, Kentucky Site, and Record of Decision for Construction and Operation of a Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facility at the Portsmouth, Ohio Site (RODs) on July 27, 2004 (69 FR 44649 and 69 FR 44654).

The draft SA identifies no significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns that bear on DOE's decisions on disposal locations or the impacts of those decisions. Based on the draft SA that is the subject of this Notice, DOE believes that a supplemental EIS is not needed to support amending the conversion facility RODs to decide the disposal location for the depleted uranium oxide conversion product. The depleted uranium oxide conversion product may be disposed either at the EnergySolutions low-level waste disposal facility or at the NTS low- level waste disposal facility. DOE plans to issue amended RODs under the conversion facility EISs no sooner than 45 days from the publication of this Notice.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: DOE will consider all public comments on this matter submitted by May 18, 2007. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Web at: http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/ or by regular mail. Written comments can be mailed to: DU Disposal Supplement Analysis Comment, Argonne National Laboratory, Building 900, Mail Stop 3, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439. Copies of the Supplement Analysis for Disposal of Depleted Uranium Oxide Conversion Product Generated From DOE's Inventory of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DOE/EIS-0359-SA1 and DOE/EIS-0360-SA1) is available on the Depleted UF6 Management Information Network at: http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/. To request printed copies st printed copies of this document, please write: DU Disposal Supplement Analysis Comment, Argonne National Laboratory, Building 900, Mail Stop 3, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439. [Also, see the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register, at 72 FR 15869, April 3, 2007 and the draft SA, DOE/EIS-0359-SA1 and DOE/EIS-0360-SA1].