[DNFSB LETTERHEAD]
May 8, 2002
The Honorable Spencer Abraham
Secretary of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1000
Dear Secretary Abraham:
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) has received your letter of March
18, 2002, proposing a revision to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Implementation Plan for the
Board's Recommendation 99-1, Safe Storage of Fissionable Material Called "Pits."
Based on the performance of BWXT, the contractor at the Pantex PIant, the Board agrees
that the intent of commitment 5.2.1 in the Implementation Plan is being realized, and pits are
being placed in adequate containers at a satisfactory rate. Therefore, the Board accepts your
proposed revision. Further, because BWXT has sustained this level of performance for the last 12
months, the Board believes it is no longer necessary for DOE to provide quarterly reports on the
repackaging program (commitment 5.2.2).
The Board is encouraged by the recent progress made in implementing this
recommendation. Placing the pits into the AL-R8 SeaIed Insert containers with inert internal
environments and materially compatible capscrews resolves the near-term safety issue.
However, only inspection over time will tell how long such storage will remain adequate.
Therefore, the Board would like to emphasize the following points, which DOE should be
satisfied they have addressed before proposing closure of this recommendation to the Board:
- The container surveillance program is a key component of safe pit storage.
Therefore, it is imperative that the surveillance backlog be reduced. Reduction of
the current backlog below 50 percent of the number of scheduled annual
surveillances and a clear trend of decreases in the total backlog should be the
minimum acceptable conditions.
- A container must be available for all pit families that will not be disposed of in the
near term. Finalization of the AL-R13sealed Insert 2040 design, as certified by
issuance of the Stage IV Qualification Engineering Release, should be an
adequate milestone.
- The ultimate disposition path for all pit families must be clear. In particular, those
pits that cannot be repackaged into the standard AL-R8 Sealed Insert 2030 or
2040 containers should be disposed of in the near term.
- The pit repackaging program must be funded to completion. Adequate funding
in the fiscal year 2003 appropriation and in the fiscal year 2004 budget request
should be the minimum acceptable indicators of success.
Sincerely,
John T. Conway
Chairman
c: General John A. Gordon
The Honorable Everet H. Beckner
Mr. David E. Beck
Mr. W. John Arthur, III
Mr. Mark B. Whitaker, Jr.