DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD

Pursuant to the provision of the "Government in the Sunshine Act" (5 U.S.C. § 552b), notice is hereby given of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board's (Board) meeting described below.

TIME AND DATE OF MEETING: 3:00 p.m. on August 4, 1998.

PLACE: Federal Building Auditorium, 825 Jadwin Avenue, Richland, Washington 99352.

STATUS: Open.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Board members will review with the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors the status of implementation of the Board's Recommendation 92-4. Recommendation 92-4 called for a systematic approach to addressing health and safety requirements during the design, construction, and operation of the Hanford Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS).

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: Robert M. Andersen, General Counsel, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20004, (800) 788-4016. This is a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: One of the major waste stabilization initiatives of the Department of Energy (DOE) has been the Hanford Site's TWRS. The TWRS will retrieve, process, and immobilize the more than 50 million gallons of high level radioactive waste currently stored in 177 underground storage tanks at the Hanford Site. In 1992, the Board noted deficiencies in the technical justification and planning for the Hanford TWRS Multi-function Waste Tank Facility (MWTF). As a result, in Recommendation 92-4, the Board recommended to the Secretary of Energy that DOE adopt a systems engineering approach that ensures that health and safety requirements of the project are addressed in each phase of the project life cycle. The Secretary's Implementation Plan committed to adopting a systems engineering approach for the MWTF project and the entire TWRS. Additionally, DOE committed to taking a systems approach for its site integration efforts.

Following the adoption of the privatization concept for a portion of the TWRS, DOE revised its Implementation Plan in October 1997. The DOE Implementation Plan committed to meeting the following objectives: 1) institutionalizing systems engineering for the TWRS, 2) incorporating the privatization effort into the overall systems approach, and 3) coordinating the development of needed technology for the system. DOE's implementation is nearing completion.

A public meeting will be conducted by the Board to he~ from staff members from DOE and its contractors responsible for the TWRS. These individuals will brief the Board on the status of activities under the Secretary's Implementation Plan for Recommendation 92-4.

A transcript of this proceeding will be made available by the Board for inspection by the public at the Board's Washington, D.C. office and at the DOE's Public Reading Room, 2770 University Drive, CIC, Room 101L, P.O. Box 999, mail stop H2-53, Richland, Washington 99352. Recommendation 92-4 in its entirety is also on file at DOE's Public Reading Room in Richland and at the Board's Washington, D.C. office.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board reserves its right to further schedule and otherwise regulate the course of this meeting, to recess, reconvene, postpone or adjourn the meeting, and otherwise exercise its authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

DATED: July 17, 1998.

John T. Conway
Chairman