[DOE LETTERHEAD]

July 27, 1998

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

Dear Mr. Chairman:

As committed in Dr. Victor H Reis' letter of December 20, 1996, regarding maintaining access to nuclear weapons data and expertise, enclosed are the semiannual line management updates associated with Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 93-6 Implementation Plan, Revision 1. They cover the period December 1, 1997, to May 31, 1998.

Enclosure 1 summarizes accomplishments in the weapon archiving and knowledge preservation programs of stockpile stewardship activities at the Nevada Test Site, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Sandia National Laboratories, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Enclosure 2 summarizes activities at the Pantex, Kansas City, and Y-12 Plants.

A copy of the briefing Charlie Stuart provided on the status of the weapon archiving and knowledge preservation projects is not included in this update since it was delivered to the Board in May 1998, Under Charlie Stuart's direction, Defense Programs is assessing archiving program requirements and establishing site-specific archiving and knowledge preservation program plans, Defense Programs has included the archiving and knowledge preservation program requirements in the Production and Planning Directive. These actions will further facilitate the institutionalization of the archiving program activities into the line management organizations as an ongoing responsibility.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 202-586-4879 or have your staff contact Marty Schoenbauer at 301-903-3489 or Dennis Miotla at 301-903-5427.

Sincerely,

Gene Ives
Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Military Application and
Stockpile Management
Defense Programs

2 Enclosures

Note: Enclosure is available in [PDF].