Nevada Site Office Releases Final Nevada National Security Site Environmental Impact Statement
The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Nevada Site Office has released the Final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and Off-Site Locations in Nevada. The document will help ensure public safety and health while NNSA executes its mission in Nevada.
This document presents an analysis of the potential impacts of continued management and operation of the NNSS (formerly known as the Nevada Test Site), the Tonopah Test Range and two locations in Las Vegas, Nevada. The SWEIS considers reasonably foreseeable missions, programs, capabilities, and projects for a 10-year period.
The primary purpose of continuing operation of the NNSS is to provide support for NNSA’s nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship missions and other national security programs. Other missions include Environmental Management and Non-Defense Programs.
The SWEIS explores potential environmental impacts that could result from activities conducted under three action alternatives – No Action (maintaining the status quo), Expanded Operations and Reduced Operations. The Final NNSS SWEIS identifies the preferred alternative which is a “hybrid” alternative containing elements of each action alternative, dependent upon mission needs. For example, first responder training and environmental remediation would continue at current levels. National security initiatives such as sensor development and treaty verification technologies would increase. The majority of reductions come from decreases in facility use and maintenance.
Months of intense research and numerous interactions with stakeholders were involved in the development of the final document. “We considered more than 750 comments from the public, government officials, tribal representatives, and others before preparing the final SWEIS,” said Assistant Manager for Environmental Management, Scott Wade. “Interacting with community members at our five public meetings, and hearing their viewpoints firsthand, was a tremendous help as well.”
The final step in the SWEIS regulatory process is the issuance of a Record of Decision (ROD), officially announcing the agency’s decisions to move forward. The ROD will be issued after March 22, 2013.
To learn more about the preferred alternative, or to read the SWEIS in its entirety, visit www.nv.energy.gov/sweis or call 702-295-3521 to obtain a copy.
Follow NNSA News on our Blog
and on
Facebook,
Twitter,
Tumblr,
YouTube, and
Flickr.
Follow the NNSA Nevada Site Office on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/NNSANevadaSiteOffice (Outside Weblink)
Instructions:
- Click the document title to view or download the Adobe PDF file
marked with this icon (
 )
[ PDF Help
| Free Viewer ]
- Click the Date or Name table header links to sort the
information. The default sort is by Date.
2013
^ TOP ^
|