2. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR AGENCY ACTION

      DOE, according to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, is responsible for developing and
maintaining a capability to manage nuclear materials [Atomic Energy Act Sections 11(z), 11(aa), and 11(e)]. 
During the last four decades, DOE and its predecessor agencies have transported, received, stored, and
reprocessed approximately 100,000 MTHM of SNF from various sources, including DOE production
reactors; the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program; DOE, university, and other research and test reactors;
special case commercial power reactors; and certain foreign research reactors.  Approximately 2,700 MTHM
of SNF was not reprocessed and is stored at various locations in the United States and overseas. 
Approximately 100 MTHM of additional SNF is projected to be received in the next 40 years.  This SNF is
in a wide range of enrichments, types, and conditions.
      The end of the Cold War led DOE to reevaluate the scale of its weapons production, nuclear
propulsion, and research missions.  In April 1992, the Secretary of Energy directed DOE to phase out
reprocessing of SNF for recovery and recycling of plutonium and highly enriched uranium to support the
nuclear weapons stockpile.  In 1993, a DOE report(a) documented current and potential environmental, safety,
and health vulnerabilities regarding existing DOE SNF storage facilities.  The report identified locations with
degraded fuel cladding integrity and other problems that require action to ensure continued safe storage.  As a
result of the Secretary's directive and the information in the DOE report, the proposed action is to safely,
efficiently, and responsibly manage existing and projected quantities of spent nuclear fuel through the year
2035, pending ultimate disposition.
      As part of establishing an effective SNF Management Program, DOE needs to make complex-wide
strategic decisions for the management of SNF for the next 40 years, including (a) where to conduct SNF
management activities, after evaluating existing and potential locations, (b) the appropriate capabilities,
facilities, and technologies for SNF management, and (c) the research and development activities to support
the SNF Management Program.
 
      Volume 1 of this EIS focuses on strategies for where to conduct SNF management activities as in (a)
above.  Decisions on the site-specific and technical implementation of the program, as in (b) and (c) above,
would be made after subsequent, tiered National Environmental Policy Act reviews, as appropriate.
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a. Spent Fuel Working Group Report on Inventory and Storage of the Department's Spent Nuclear Fuel and
Other Reactor Irradiated Nuclear Materials and Their Environmental, Safety and Health Vulnerabilities
(DOE 1993b.)
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