[DOE LETTERHEAD]
July 16, 2003
The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to report on
the status of two commitments in the implementation Plan for Software Quality
Assurance (SQA) in response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB)
Recommendation 2002-l. Commitments
4.1.1 and 4.2.1.2 will be late. The
Department is working to complete these two commitments and accomplish other
actions identified in the plan on time.
A project manager has been identified, project plans established, and
work on specific commitments is underway.
Specifically:
Commitment 4.1.1 is to issue a DOE Notice
that identifies roles, responsibilities, and authorities for SQA. This interim Notice was drafted and
preliminary comments from DOE Headquarters program offices and DNFSB staffs
have been resolved. However, the Notice
must be formally reviewed and approved through the Department’s directives
system. The Notice was submitted to the
Directives Management Team on July 15, 2003, for coordination. The formal review process will require 30
days, assuming 10 days for additional comment resolution. The Notice is expected to be issued in
September 2003, two months later than the original due date. The delay of formal approval and issuance of
this Notice will not impact other activities associated with developing our SQA
program as delineated in the Implementation Plan.
Commitment 4.2.1.2 is to establish SQA
criteria for safety analysis toolbox codes.
The Department will utilize outside expertise to assist in accomplishing
this task. A scope of work has been
negotiated, but there were delays in establishing a funding mechanism to obtain
this expertise. The completion date
will move from July 2003 to September 2003.
Every effort will be made to ensure that other activities associated
with validating the toolbox codes will not be impacted.
Questions concerning these commitments may be
directed to Chip Lagdon at (301) 903-4218 or me.
Sincerely,
Beverly A. Cook
Assistant Secretary
Environment, Safety and Health
cc:
M. Whitaker, DR-1
F. Russo, EH-3