[DOE
LETTERHEAD]
NATIONAL
NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
December 22, 2004
The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facility Safety
Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite
700
Washington, DC 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
In his July 13, 2004 letter to
you on Facility Representative (FR) staffing and training, Ambassador Brooks
tasked me to develop a pipeline to lessen FR staffing shortages due to
attrition. Ambassador Brooks’ letter
indicated we would complete this action by the end of the year.
To implement the pipeline, NNSA
is developing a corporate intern program to hire recent college graduates into
FR and other technical positions. This
program will entail a two-year internship. During the internship, each participant will
receive orientation training on the NNSA and its various missions, core
training in a variety of subjects, occupation-specific training developed for
each functional area, and practical experience at the home site as well as
rotational assignments at other work locations.
The NNSA is in the process of
completing the design of the program. Active recruitment on college campuses is
expected to begin in late January 2005, with entrance on duty planned for
June/July 2005. Recruitment for a 2006
intern class should commence in the fall of 2005 with entrance on duty in
May/June 2006. Early plans for the 2005
intern class include recruitment for 24 positions. Candidates with Masters Degrees will be the primary
targets of the recruiting effort. The
campuses at which we will recruit will be selected over the next 4-6 weeks.
I provided a briefing on the
NNSA internship plans to members of your staff in October 2004. I plan to keep your staff apprised of progress
as we implement this program. If you
have any questions, please contact me at 202-586-8395.
Sincerely,
James J. Mangeno
Senior Advisor
Environment, Safety and Health
cc:
M. Whitaker DR-1
R. Schepens, FTCP Chairman
C. Cross, ME-50
G. Podonsky
SP-1