[DOE
LETTERHEAD]
October 8, 2008
The Honorable A. J. Eggenberger
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to request a 30-day extension on the briefing requested by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) in your letter dated September 4, 2008, concerning the Savannah River Site (SRS) High-Level Waste
(HLW) Tank Integrity Program. The additional time is needed to coordinate with the Office of River Protection on current tank integrity programs used at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and to coordinate with the Office of Waste Processing on technological developments that may enhance inspection of in-service tanks.
Although we intend to focus the briefing on the SRS HLW Tank Integrity Program, we would like to have complex-wide knowledge of existing practices and technologies being considered for tank structural integrity inspections available for discussion. We believe this coordination will allow a more complex-wide context for the briefing.
Upon acceptance of the 30-day extension, the Office of Environmental Management will be prepared to brief DNFSB on actions being taken to address the issues related to the SRS HLW Tank Integrity Program by November 18, 2008. My staff has discussed this request with Mr. Dan Ogg of your staff.
If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Dae Y. Chung, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety Management and Operations at (202) 586-5151.
Sincerely,
James
M. Owendoff
Chief
Operating Officer for
Environmental
Management
cc:
M.
Whitaker, HS- 1. I
J. Allison, SR
D. Chung, EM-60