[DOE LETTERHEAD]
National
Nuclear Security Administration
May 21, 2007
The Honorable A. J. Eggenberger
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) portion of Commitment 9B in the Department of Energy’s October 2006
revision of the Implementation Plan (IP) to Improve Oversight of Nuclear
Operations has been completed. This IP
is in response to the Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 2004-1, Oversight of Complex, High Hazard Nuclear Operations.
The deliverable per Commitment 9B was to
“Report to the Secretary on review activities to evaluate implementation of the
processes and criteria for delegating authorities to field personnel for
fulfilling safety responsibilities and to determine whether all existing delegations
of authority to the Department of Energy Field Offices have been and are being
made using these new processes and criteria.”
The enclosed report, NNSA Application of
the Deputy Secretary Criteria for Delegation of Nuclear Safety Authorities, was provided to the Secretary as a basis to inform him that NNSA
had completed Commitment 9B.
As further explained in the report, NNSA has
not delegated nuclear safety authorities to personnel at the Nevada Site Office
(NSO), pending verification of actions NSO has taken
to strengthen Site Office capabilities and capacity. In addition, only limited delegations were
made to the Los Alamos Site
Office; additional delegations will be considered pending continued progress
towards enhancing Site Office capacity/capabilities.
Sincerely,
William C. Ostendorff
Acting Administrator
cc:
M. Whitaker, HS-1.1