Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Production of Tritium in a Commercial Light Water Reactor

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for providing the nation with nuclear weapons and ensuring that these weapons remain safe and reliable. Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, is an essential component of every weapon in the current and projected U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. Unlike other materials utilized in nuclear weapons, tritium decays at a rate of 5.5 percent per year. Accordingly, as long as the nation relies on a nuclear deterrent, the tritium in each nuclear weapon must be replenished periodically. Currently the U.S. nuclear weapons complex does not have the capability to produce the amounts of tritium that will be required to continue supporting the nation's stockpile. The ''Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Tritium Supply and Recycling'' (Final Programmatic EIS), DOE/EIS-0161, issued in October 1995, evaluated the alternatives for the siting, construction, and operation of tritium supply and recycling facilities at five DOE sites for four different production technologies. This Programmatic EIS also evaluated the impacts of using a commercial light water reactor (CLWR) without specifying a reactor location. In the Record of Decision for the Final Programmatic EIS (60 FR 63878), issued December 12, 1995, DOE decided to pursue a dual-track approach on the two most promising tritium supply alternatives: (1) to initiate purchase of an existing commercial reactor (operating or partially complete) or reactor irradiation services; and (2) to design, build, and test critical components of an accelerator system for tritium production. At that time, DOE announced that the final decision would be made by the Secretary of Energy at the end of 1998.