[SOE LETTERHEAD]
September 30, 2005
The Honorable A. J. Eggenberger
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Suite
700
Washington, DC 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to
establish a new due date for Deliverable 8.5.1, PF-4 Safety Related Ventilation
System Evaluation Report, of the Implementation Plan for Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 2004-2, Active Confinement
Systems. This change will permit us more
time to respond to the issues identified in your letter of September 1, 2005,
to the National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator regarding the
ongoing evaluation of the confinement approach credited by the safety basis for
the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This evaluation will address the issues raised
in your letter of May 31, 2005.
It was our original intent to
utilize the ventilation system evaluation results from the LANL Plutonium
Facility as input to develop our Safety Related Ventilation System Evaluation
Guidance (Deliverable 8.5.4, due December 16, 2005). Given your initial concerns with the
preliminary analysis developed by LANL, we agree with you that it is now
preferable to apply the guidance being developed as part of Deliverable 8.5.4
to evaluate LANL’s Plutonium Facility (i.e., Deliverable 8.5.1). Based on these considerations, we have
established a new due date for Deliverable 8.5.1 as March 15, 2006.
We also enclose a status report
on actions to address your May 31, 2005, letter. We recognize it is important to address the
identified weaknesses with the current passive confinement strategy for the
Plutonium Facility, and we will continue to take any actions necessary to
ensure that the facility operates safely. Our report for the LANL Plutonium Facility
that outlines NNSA’s plan and schedule for implementation of an effective safety-class
system will also be provided by March 15, 2006.
The Lead Responsibility for
Deliverable 8.5.1 is the NNSA Chief
of Defense Nuclear Safety, Mr. James J. McConnell. Mr. McConnell can be reached on (202) 586-4379
to answer any questions that might arise regarding details of these efforts
underway.
Sincerely,
Samuel. W. Bodman
cc:
L. Brooks, NA-1
J. Shaw, EH-1
M. Whitaker, Jr., DR-1