NOTICE OF PROGRAM INTEREST -- EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST TO PROVIDE AN ELECTRIC POWERED METAL MELT PRODUCTION FURNACE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson has directed that a feasibility study be conducted on the potential use of a dedicated mill to recycle metals within the Department of Energy (DOE). The primary study objective is to determine the economic viability of recycling surplus carbon steel, stainless steel, and nickel from DOE's decommissioning and cleanup activities into restricted use metal products (e.g., radioactive waste containers). Some of this surplus metal would contain low levels of radionuclides. To aid completion of this study, the DOE seeks input from private companies capable of performing the melt operations necessary for recycling steel products into slab, plate, and coil, meeting American Society for Testing Materials specifications. The DOE foresees this facility processing 20,000 to 60,000 tons of metal per year from DOE sources with a possible total volume of carbon steel from DOE activities of more than one million tons over 30 to 50 years. Available quantities of stainless steel and nickel would be lower. The DOE is currently refining these estimates and expects to have more detailed estimates available in September. During the same period, DOE is also developing estimates of the quantity and type of restricted use products that could be produced from this recycled steel. The owners of electric powered metal melt production furnaces are requested to advise DOE of their interest in a melting and casting contract. (This information is needed as part of the feasibility study and is for informational purposes only.) The furnace would be operated at its current location, or it would be moved to a Federal site or another non-Federal site. The processing of metals with surface residual radioactivity may be subject to regulation under the Atomic Energy Act by DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or an Agreement State. For example, the air pollution control system may require significant modifications to meet these standards. Regardless of the regulator, the furnace system and the site would be required to conform to nuclear facility standards in addition to any other applicable environmental permitting requirements. Some of the metal scrap inventory under consideration is contaminated with radionuclides at low levels. All the products and any process metal scrap would be returned to the Department. DOE would be responsible for the disposal of all radionuclide contaminated solid wastes resulting from melting its metal. Fabrication of the end products would be handled separately, but DOE will accept expressions of interest that include fabrication capability. DOE would need to establish a baseline condition of the facility at the time the DOE operation began. DOE anticipates providing additional details on estimated metal inventories and product needs in a September 2000 meeting for interested owners, corporate officers, and other accredited representatives of electric powered metal melt production furnaces. Attendance at the meeting may be in person or by conference call, which may be accessed via aspecified telephone connection that will be provided to accredited parties. By September 8, 2000, please submit your interest to participate in the information meeting to Simon Friedrich, EE-20, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121. By September 25, 2000, please also provide to the same address your expression of interest in a melting and casting contract along with relevant comments. Among the information desired by DOE in the expression of interest are capacity, restrictions on feed and output, environmental controls, waste management capacity, operational considerations, and cost estimates See Note(s) ***** Posted 08/21/00 (W-SN488173).

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