Construction and Operation of a Tritium Extraction Facility at the Savannah River Site

DOE proposes to construct and operate a Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF) at H Area on the Savannah River Site (SRS) to provide the capability to extract tritium from commercial light water reactor (CLWR) targets and from targets of similar design. The proposed action is also DOE’s preferred alternative. An action alternative is to construct and operate TEF at the Allied General Nuclear Services facility, which is adjacent to the eastern side of the SRS. Under the no-action alternative DOE could incorporate tritium extraction capabilities in the accelerator for production of tritium. This EIS is linked to the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Tritium Supply and Recycling (DOE/EIS-0161), from which DOE determined that it would produce tritium either in an accelerator or in a commercial light water reactor. The purpose of the proposed action and alternatives evaluated in this EIS is to provide tritium extraction capability to support either tritium production technology. The EIS assesses the environmental impacts from the proposed action and the alternatives, including the no action alternative.