[DOE
LETTERHEAD]
January 28, 2005
The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW
Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Enclosed is the “Quarterly
Report for the Implementation Plan Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Recommendation 98-2, Safety Management at the Pantex Plant,” for the period
October 1 through December 31, 2004.
During the first quarter of
Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 the National Nuclear Security Administration made progress
toward successful execution of all other aspects of the Seamless Safety for the
21st Century (SS-21) process. This report documents the status as of
December 31, 2004. However, per your
letter of December 14, 2004, we will also be providing monthly status briefings.
Regarding first quarter FY 2005
activities, we initiated discussions with the Pantex Site Office and the
BWXT/Pantex Plant to track and validate technical safety requirement controls. A technical business practice was drafted that
addresses a process for interaction between the design agencies and the BWXT/Pantex
Plant for hazard analysis for weapon response. As of December 31, 2004, the plan was to receive a final Safety
Evaluation Report for the B83 Hazard Analysis Report by January 14, 2005. In January 2005, the BWXT/Pantex Plant stated
that near-term budget issues are impacting all SS-21 programs including the B83
in various ways.
Twenty-three out of twenty-seven
commitments in the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 98-2
have been delivered and four remain outstanding. For the next quarterly report, we expect to
provide formal documentation regarding budget and tooling impacts at the BWXT/Pantex
Plant. If you have questions, please
call me at 202-586-4879 or have your staff contact Mr. Michael Brown at
505-845-6258.
Sincerely,
M. Schoenbauer
Assistant Deputy Administrator
for Military Application and
Stockpile Operations
Defense Programs
cc w/enclosure:
K. Fortenberry, DNFSB
W. Andrews, DNFSB
A.
Matteucci,
DNFSB
M. Whitaker, DR-1
S. Erhart, PXSO