[DOE LETTERHEAD]

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

April 16, 2002

The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, N. W.
Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20004

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The Implementation Plan for Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 97-2, Criticality Safety, requires quarterly status reports. Enclosed is the Department of Energy's quarterly status report for the first and second quarters of Fiscal Year 2002.

The Implementation Plan contains 30 milestones, all of which have now been completed. Although all commitments have now been met, stability of funding for the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program has been an ongoing concern. The Department has made substantial progress in addressing this issue. The funding shortfall in Fiscal Year 2002 has been restored, but the funding process has clearly not been stable or reliable. Accordingly, Defense Programs has decided to fully fund and manage the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program for Fiscal Year 2003 and beyond. This is a significant departure from the shared funding approach that has been used with limited success over the past few years. I believe this new approach will provide better overall program management and a reasonable degree of funding stability. This program and its funding requirements will be defined in the Readiness and Technical Base and Facilities portion of the National Nuclear Security Administration's annual budget request.

Sincerely,

David H. Crandall
Assistant Deputy Administrator
for Research, Development, and Simulation
Defense Programs

Enclosure

cc (w/encl):
M. Whitaker, S-3.1
J. Roberson, EM-1
E. Beckner, NA-10
J. Gordon, NA-1