[DOE
LETTERHEAD]
March 1, 2004
The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Mr. Chairman:
In my letters to the Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) dated September 5, 2003 and December 15, 2003,
regarding the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed revision to the DOE Handbook: Electrical Safety (DOE-HDBK-1092-98), we committed
to provide you an initial review of the Handbook by February 2004. The purpose of this letter is to provide you
an update of the activities on this Handbook, and to provide the DNFSB with a
draft of revised Chapters l-8.
As noted in my December 15th letter, a DOE
Electrical Safety Group was formed and chartered to provide a comprehensive
review of the Handbook. Its initial
deliberations and decisions were outlined in that letter and their meetings
continue. We invited and coordinated
these activities with your staff to ensure their concerns and issues were addressed.
I am pleased to inform you that the DOE
Electrical Safety Group completed its revision to Chapters l-8 of the Handbook
and it is provided for your review. It
also includes the criteria for an electrical safety program that are contained
in Appendix A. This revision updates and
enhances the references to appropriate industry codes and standards. This includes appropriate reference to and
adoption of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the
Workplace.
We committed to provide you a fully revised
Handbook for review, including a new chapter on electrical safety guidance for
underground utility and excavation activities and enhanced chapter(s) on
electrical safety for research and development, by April 2004. We will continue to work with your staff on
these revisions.
If you have any questions, please call me at
202-586-6151 or your staff may contact Richard Black at 301-903-0104.
Sincerely,
Beverly A. Cook
Assistant Secretary
Environment, Safety and Health
cc:
M. Whitaker, DR-1
E. Beckner, NA-10
J. Roberson, EM-l
R. Hardwick, EH-2