Environmental Impact Statement Supplement
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NUREG-2184 Supplement to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada Final Report Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards NUREG-2184 Supplement to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada Final Report Manuscript Completed: May 2016 Date Published: May 2016 Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards ABSTRACT This “Supplement to the Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada” (supplement) evaluates the potential environmental impacts on groundwater and impacts associated with the discharge of any contaminated groundwater to the ground surface due to potential releases from a geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada. This supplements the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 2002 “Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada” and 2008 “Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada,” in accordance with the findings and scope outlined in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff’s 2008 “Adoption Determination Report for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statements for the Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain.” This supplement describes the affected environment and assesses the potential environmental impacts with respect to potential contaminant releases from the repository that could be transported through the volcanic-alluvial aquifer in Fortymile Wash and the Amargosa Desert, and to the Furnace Creek/Middle Basin area of Death Valley. This supplement evaluates the potential radiological and nonradiological impacts—over a one million year period—on the aquifer environment, soils, ecology, and public health, as well as the potential for disproportionate impacts on minority or low-income populations. In addition, this supplement assesses the potential for cumulative impacts associated with other past, present, or reasonably foreseeable future actions. The NRC staff finds that each of the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on the resources evaluated in this supplement would be SMALL. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................... xi ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................... xiii 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background—License Application and EIS Adoption Review Process .............. 1-1 1.2 Scope and Assumptions ..................................................................................... 1-2 1.2.1 Need for Supplementation and Scope of the Analysis ........................... 1-2 1.2.2 Analysis Assumptions ............................................................................. 1-3 1.2.3 Significance of Environmental Impacts ................................................... 1-4 1.3 Public and Agency Involvement ......................................................................... 1-5 1.4 Document Purpose and Structure ...................................................................... 1-5 2 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................ 2-1 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Regional Demography ............................................................................ 2-4 2.2 Groundwater Environment ................................................................................. 2-5 2.2.1 Aquifers in the Death Valley Region ....................................................... 2-5 2.2.2 Aquifers Along the Flow Path From Yucca Mountain ............................. 2-7 2.2.3 Effects of Groundwater Pumping on Flow ............................................ 2-15 2.2.4 Past and Future Climates ..................................................................... 2-17 2.3 Surface Discharge Environments ..................................................................... 2-19 2.3.1 Ecology at Surface Discharge Sites ..................................................... 2-20 2.3.2 Cultural Resources at Surface Discharge Sites .................................... 2-21 2.3.3 Present-Day Discharge Sites ................................................................ 2-22 2.3.4 Paleodischarge Sites ............................................................................ 2-26 2.3.5 Summary of Surface Discharge Environments ..................................... 2-28 2.4 Groundwater Modeling ..................................................................................... 2-28 2.5 Water Use and Quality ..................................................................................... 2-31 2.6 Analysis Cases for Assessing Impacts ............................................................. 2-32 3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS .......................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Impacts on the Aquifer, Water and Soil .............................................................. 3-1 3.1.1 Analysis Case 1: Pumping at Amargosa Farms .................................... 3-6 3.1.2 Analysis Case 2: Surface Discharge Downstream of Amargosa Farms .................................................................................. 3-14 3.1.2.1 State Line Deposits/Franklin Well Area ................................ 3-15 3.1.2.2 Furnace Creek and Middle Basin ......................................... 3-20 3.1.2.3 Alkali Flat .............................................................................. 3-30 3.2 Ecological Impacts ........................................................................................... 3-30 3.3 Historic and Cultural Resources ....................................................................... 3-33 3.3.1 Assessments in the DOE Environmental Impact Statements ............... 3-33 3.3.2 Assessment in the NRC Staff’s Adoption Determination Report (2008)........................................................................................ 3-34 v 3.3.3 DOE’s Programmatic Agreement (2009) .............................................. 3-35 3.3.4 Additional DOE Analysis (2014) ........................................................... 3-35 3.3.5 NRC Staff Evaluation ............................................................................ 3-35 3.4 Environmental Justice ...................................................................................... 3-36 3.4.1 Assessments in DOE’s Environmental Impact Statements .................. 3-36 3.4.2 NRC Staff Assessment ......................................................................... 3-36 3.4.3 NRC Staff Conclusion ........................................................................... 3-40 3.5 Summary .......................................................................................................... 3-40 4 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS .................................................................................. 4-1 4.1 Methodology for Supplementing DOE’s Cumulative Groundwater Impacts Analysis ................................................................................................ 4-1 4.2 Spatial and Temporal Boundaries for Cumulative Groundwater Impacts ........... 4-2 4.3 Potentially Affected Resources........................................................................... 4-3 4.4 Other Past, Present, and Reasonably Foreseeable Future Actions ................... 4-3 4.4.1 Actions Identified in DOE’s EISs ............................................................. 4-3 4.4.2 NRC Staff Update and Supplementation of DOE EISs Identification of Other Actions ................................................................. 4-6 4.5 Cumulative Impacts on Groundwater and from Surface Discharges .................. 4-8 4.5.1 Impact Assessment in DOE’s EISs ......................................................... 4-9 4.5.2 NRC Staff Supplementation of DOE EISs Cumulative Impacts Assessment ............................................................................. 4-10 4.5.2.1 Cumulative Impacts on Affected Resources at Amargosa Farms .................................................................. 4-11 4.5.2.2 Groundwater at Amargosa Farms ........................................ 4-11 4.5.2.3 Cumulative Impacts on Affected Resources at Natural Surface Discharge Locations