[DOE LETTERHEAD]

February 13, 2002

The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW
Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20004-2901

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that one action identified in the Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2001-1, High-Level Waste Management at the Savannah River Site, was completed by the Department of Energy (DOE) in January 2002. The completed action is:

Commitment 3. 1 - Assess Tank Farm Space Management options and system vulnerabilities, due January 2002. The assessment results are documented in two enclosed reports. Additionally, enclosed are two reports summarizing the results of the space management evaluation pertaining to options for add new evaporators or new tanks.

Since the issuance of the report on options for new evaporators, the DOE contractor has issued a subsequent report to DOE regarding alternative methods to process the Defense Waste Processing Facility recycle stream. DOE is currently evaluating this report.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 586-7710.

Sincerely,

Paul Golan
Chief of Staff
Office of Environmental Management

Enclosures