[DOE LETTERHEAD]
NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
March 3, 2003
The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW., Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Thank you for your letter of January 24,
2003, relative to the Department of Energy (DOE) proposal to withdraw $75 million of uncosted balances from the Cerro
Grande Rehabilitation Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
In the FY2004 budget, the Administration proposes
to reallocate $75 million in
unspent funds in the Cerro Grande account as part of its overall submission of a responsible,
balanced budget. While Congress
considers this issue as part of its normal review of the President’s FY2004
budget submission, no action will be taken in this fiscal year to affect the
status of these funds until explicit prior approval is received by the House and Senate Appropriations Committee.
Los Alamos is continuing all planned work associated with this project,
including the implementation of planned
safety improvements and the Phase II
assessment of the LANL
site-wide fire systems that were your
particular concern.
If you have any further questions, please
contact me or Dr. Everet H. Beckner, Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs
at (202) 586-2179.
Sincerely,
Linton Brooks
Administrator