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CHAPTER 2 PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION

The main focus of chapter 2 is a description of the purpose and need for Department of Energy action at Pantex Plant. Following that discussion is a description of the scope of this EIS.

PURPOSE AND NEED FOR AGENCY ACTION

DOE needs to continue to fulfill its responsibilities as mandated by statute, Presidential direction, and Congressional authorization and appropriation. DOE's goal, or purpose, in meeting this need is to do so in a manner that enhances the protection of human health and the environment while preventing a break in DOE's ability to perform its responsibilities.

2.1 Purpose and Need for Action

The requirement for DOE to provide for nuclear weapons operations is provided in Section 91 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended (42 U.S.C. 2121). That act authorized the Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor to DOE) "to engage in the production of atomic weapons... to the extent that the express consent of the President has been obtained, which consent and direction shall be obtained at least once each year." The consent and direction of the President are given each year in a Presidential Decision Directive. This directive is based on the annual Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Memorandum jointly prepared and agreed upon by the Department of Defense, National Security Council, and DOE. The Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Memorandum specifies the nuclear weapon stockpile levels for current and future years and is the driver for associated production and retirement of all nuclear weapons. DOE then issues the Production and Planning Directive to direct the Nuclear Weapons Complex, which includes Albuquerque Operations Office, to execute the directed workload. Annual appropriations to carry out the Presidential directives are then provided through the combined action of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the President. It is DOE's responsibility to meet the stockpile management requirements.

The Department's nuclear weapons stockpile management requirements at Pantex Plant include the assembly, disassembly, modification, and maintenance of nuclear weapons; monitoring of the weapons stockpile; production of high explosive(s) (HE) components for nuclear weapons; quality assurance evaluation and testing of weapon components; and research and development activities supporting nuclear weapons.

Recent Presidential directives have sharply reduced the number of weapons required in the nuclear weapons stockpile. This has resulted in a large increase in the number of nuclear weapon components that must be disposed or stored. Pantex Plant is currently the only site at which weapon disassembly operations are performed and is the primary location for interim storage of pits removed from weapons. In accordance with the approved Finding of No Significant Impact (59 FR 3674, January 26, 1994) regarding interim storage levels, Pantex Plant is currently authorized to provide interim storage of up to 12,000 pits. Other nuclear weapon components are currently shipped to other sites, as depicted in Figure 2.1-1.

DOE must fulfill assigned responsibilities for stockpile stewardship and management and must respond to Presidential direction on requirements for the nuclear weapons stockpile. DOE must respond to the military services returning weapons as a result of changes to the nuclear weapons stockpiles and provide storage for components as a result of dismantlement. There is a need at this time to update the Department's evaluation and understanding of environmental impacts associated with ongoing operations at Pantex Plant and evaluate any additional or changed impacts associated with an increase in dismantlement and near-term storage of nuclear components from the dismantlement process.

Figure 2.1-1.--Sites that Receive Nuclear Components or Materials from Pantex Plant.

2.2 Scope of this Environmental Impact Statement

The scope of this EIS includes the assessment of impacts relative to each area of the human and natural environment potentially affected by operations performed at Pantex Plant. A complete list of the resource areas investigated in this EIS is provided in volume I, chapter 4. The analysis concentrates on issues related to the proposal as identified through internal and public scoping. Activities that could potentially result in adverse impacts are associated with:

• Ongoing operations, including interim pit storage, at Pantex Plant.
• Transporting pits to and storing them on an interim basis at an alternate site.
• Transporting classified components between Pantex Plant and other sites.

The EIS analysis assumes that the combined activities of assembly, disassembly, and modifications would not exceed 2,000 weapons per year. For assessment of environmental impacts, the EIS examines impacts across a reasonable range of operations by assessing impacts of activity levels for 2,000, 1,000, and 500 weapons per year.

These numbers of weapons per year represent a reasonable, but conservative estimate of work that may be required at Pantex Plant based on current policy directives, and allow a set of defined tasks to be accurately analyzed. The operations on each of the weapons in these defined sets is assumed to be extensive (i.e., representative of full assembly or disassembly). Actual workload and range of tasks to be performed on each weapon processed at the plant may vary, but individual tasks are well understood, and impacts of actual operations are expected to be encompassed by this conservative analysis. Accordingly, over 2,000 weapons per year may be worked on at Pantex Plant without exceeding the environmental impacts identified in this conservative, bounding analysis. The operations on 2,000, 1,000, and 500 weapons per year should not be considered to be specific limits.

As shown in Figure 2.1-1, some nuclear components removed from weapons and nuclear materials are shipped to other sites. Therefore, this EIS considers the impacts of continuing to transport such components to those sites. Whenever appropriate, this EIS incorporates the information and analyses of other NEPA documents.

This EIS includes an assessment of activities over a period of approximately 10 years or until programmatic decisions regarding the nuclear weapons complex, including long-term storage and disposition of weapons components and materials, can be implemented. The scope of activities at Pantex Plant includes mission operations, routine maintenance, facility upgrades and modifications, planned new facilities, and transportation activities. Key areas of Pantex Plant that support these missions are:

• Zone 12, where assembly, disassembly, and surveillance operations are performed and nonnuclear components are staged.
• Zone 11, where HE research and production is performed and nonnuclear components are staged.
• Zone 4 West, where nuclear weapons and classified components are staged and pits are stored on an interim basis.
• Zone 4 East, where HE is stored and nonnuclear components are staged.
• The Burning Ground, where HE materials are burned.

These areas are shown on Figure 1.2-2. Other activities that are included in the EIS are environmental protection, pollution prevention, environmental restoration, waste management, and agricultural operations on the site.

The scope of activities at other sites is related only to interim storage of pits and transport of other weapons components from Pantex Plant to these sites.

There are several other ongoing DOE programs that could have impacts on Pantex Plant. Five of these programs for which NEPA documents have either been prepared recently or are in the process of preparation are identified in volume I, chapter 1. The potential impacts of these programs on Pantex Plant have been included in the cumulative impact sections of this EIS to the extent information was available. Impacts of possible relocation of operations from Pantex Plant are discussed in this EIS, as this is one of the options considered in the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic EIS (DOE/EIS-0236). Cumulative impacts also address the incremental effects of the action added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions undertaken by Pantex Plant or other agencies in the specific Region of Influence identified for each environmental resource area.