Highlights for February 11 - 15, 2002

Following the completion of the LLNL inspection on-site planning and data collection activities, team members are continuing their preparations for the next on-site phase of the inspection. More detailed planning for the force-on-force performance tests continues.

Work is ongoing to coordinate the OA response to Representative Markey’s inquiry.

Data collection in support of the Personnel Security Special Review at the Oakland Operations Office was successfully completed. Plans are now underway for data collection activities at the Oak Ridge Operations Office and at Headquarters. Interviews of other Federal agency personnel security program managers began this week. Additional interviews will be conducted.

Additional work is underway to achieve a fully acceptable Special Access Oversight Program implementation plan with SO. The initial inspection is expected to occur at Headquarters in March.

Preparations continue to participate in the evaluation of Savannah River Site performance tests.

Two actions are underway to enhance the updating of the CAP Status Book. A recommended change to 470.2A will be provided to management this week regarding the corrective action plan process. Guidance to the Facility Officers will be prepared and forwarded to management for approval by February 22. This guidance will be used to prepare an update to the status book in March.

Work continues on a presentation on the independent inspection process for an upcoming meeting (February 2002) of the American Society of Quality.

Keywords are being developed for the safeguards and security policy issues database to provide additional query capabilities for tracking and analysis of issues.

OA-20 continues to prepare for an inspection of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Oakland Operations Office.

OA-30 and OA-50 are continuing dialogues with the Chicago Operations Office (CH), the Argonne Area Office (AAO), and the Argonne National Laboratory-East. On-site scoping will be held the week of February 25. A coordination meeting took place with the program office (Office of Basic Energy Sciences, SC-10) on February 14.

OA-30 and OA-50 continue planning efforts for the combined Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) review to be conducted in March 2002. A planning visit to LANL to orchestrate the emergency management performance tests that will be conducted during this review is scheduled for early March.

Discussion continues between the Director of OA-50 and various site managers on the Augmentation Program.

OA-50 and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) staff completed the survey portion of the LANL occupational medical program re-accreditation process on January 28-29, 2002. Information collected during the site visit has been forwarded to the AAAHC accreditation committee and a decision concerning recertification is expected in 4 to 6 weeks.

Efforts are continuing to revise the ES&H Appraisal Process Guide to make it compatible with OA ES&H mission and directives including DOE O 470.2A and OA management directions. A draft report has been compiled and is being reviewed by OA-50 management.

OA-50 staff continues to coordinate with OA-1 on the draft OA FRAM, which is to be issued and transmitted to the DNFSB as part of satisfying closure of DNSFB Recommendation 98-1. OA-50 staff continues efforts to draft a supplemental ES&H protocol to include additional interfaces with NNSA for appraisal activities at NNSA sites.

OA-50 staff is continuing coordination activities with EH on ISM policies, guides, FRAM, QA Order, ORR Order, and AI Order.

OA-50 has completed modification of DOE Order 470.2A to reflect transfer of ES&H from EH to OA. The comment period for submission of consolidated comments through the LPSO on the draft Order 470.2B is Feb 23. This is coordinated through REVCOM. Training on the use of REVCOM was provided to a number of OA staff on Feb 14. The Director, OA-50 and Deputy Director, OA-1, met with the managers from key organizational areas and with DNFSB representatives to discuss the proposed revision.

The Hanford Inspection of ES&H Management Team completed onsite data gathering and initiated report writing. The Quality Review Board occurred February 15 and key team members will return to the site on February 19 for validation and close out.

OA-50 staff is continuing coordination activities with LANL line management on safety and emergency management evaluation planning activities. A return site visit with selected OA-30 staff members is planned for March to coordinate and finalize table-top emergency performance tests, discussion and collection of safety system documentation, and interface with LANL tenant division management and staff for preparation of R&D WP&C review aspects. The LANL safety and emergency management evaluation plan has been prepared and is undergoing final review and comment by OA-30 and OA-50.

OA-50 criticality expert continues to support/participate in the Criticality Safety Support (VCSSG). Activities include guidance on critical experiments and interpretation of results.

Weekly conference calls are being held with Argonne National Laboratory-East to continue planning for the scoping visit. OA-50 and OA-30 Directors met with SC-10 on February 14, 2002, to get their input on the scope of the evaluation. This is a combined review with the Director, OA-30, leading the review.

The Director of OA-50 continues to work with an ERG representative on ES&H performance metrics.

Office of Safeguards and Security Evaluations (OA-10)

Held a discussion with congressional staffers on OA performance testing and CAT training.

Met with a representative of the Office of Transportation Safeguards to begin coordinating upcoming force on force exercises.

Provided comments on the draft NNSA response to a Congressional inquiry concerning potential changes to DOE physical security system requirements.

The Office of Cyber Security Evaluations (OA-20) evaluated a tool for use at the Department of Energy that identifies whether network devices are vulnerable to the recently discovered SNMPv1 (Simple Network Management Protocol version 1) vulnerability. SNMPv1, which is widely used by the network industry, has a vulnerability, which can be exploited to disrupt systems through a denial-of-service attack or to allow a hacker to gain control of equipment. OA-20 provided the results of its assessment to the DOE Chief Information Officer.

OA-20 made a presentation to the Quality Audit Division (QAD) of the American Society for Quality in St. Louis on February 14, 2002. The presentation consisted of a brief description of the OA-20 mission and appraisal process followed by a demonstration of the OA penetration testing process.

OA-30 has completed data collection and validation activities for the Headquarters facility emergency response plans review. A draft final report was issued at a closeout briefing for the Office of Management, Budget and Evaluation and the Office of Security on February 15.

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