January 16, 2002, DOE letter reporting completion of commitments 302 and 303 in Implementation Plan 2000-1. Commitment 302 calls for the complete removal and Commitment 303 calls for the complete processing of all the liquids in B771 at Rocky Flats.

[DOE LETTERHEAD]

January 16, 2002

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

Dear Mr. Chairman:

With this letter, I am pleased to report early completion of two commitments found in the Department's 2000-l Implementation Plan. The following commitments are proposed for closure:

302 Complete removal of all liquids in B771 at Rocky Flats (including all non-actinide systems) - December 2001

303 Complete processing of all of the B771 liquids at Rocky Flats - March 2002

Removal of all liquids from B771 at Rocky Flats was completed on October 15, 2001, completing Milestone 302 two and one-half months early. Processing of the liquids was completed on December 4, 2001, almost four months ahead of schedule.

I would also like to take this opportunity to notify you of a clarification which needs to made regarding the 2000-1 Implementation Plan for the Hanford Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP). The current 2000-l Implementation Plan states that the oxide/mixed oxide inventory (>30 weight percent plutonium + uranium) will be thermally stabilized in muffle furnaces and packaged to meet the long-term storage standard (Commitment Number 111). The oxide/mixed oxide inventory to be stabilized and packaged under Commitment 111 includes about 25 fluoride compounds. PFP plans to convert these fluorides to oxides prior to thermally stabilizing in muffle furnaces. Neither the fluorides nor the conversion process are specifically called out in the Implementation Plan description. Additionally, a couple of residue items will be used in the conversion process as a source of aluminum. It should be noted that these fluorides are different from the ones described in the PFP "Residues - Compounds" section of the Implementation Plan. The details of the above process change have been discussed with your Site Representative at PFP.

We continue to closely track progress on all Recommendation 2000-l commitments and will keep you and your staff apprised of our progress. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at (202) 586-5151.

Sincerely,

David G. Huizenga
Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Integration and Disposition
Office of Environmental Management

cc:
M. Whitaker, S-3.1