[SOE LETTERHEAD]
May 3, 2004
The Honorable John
T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue,
NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC
20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this
letter is to transmit the revised Implementation Plan for Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 2000-1 concerning sludge removal
at the K-Basins.
The enclosed
revision includes:
1)
The removal path for each sludge type within the K-East and K-West
Basins;
2)
The disposition path for any irradiated fuel or fuel fragments
that may be found in the sludge;
3)
Revised commitments for the completion of sludge removal from the
K-East and K-West Basins; and
4)
Intermediate milestones for activities that represent progress in removing
the sludge from the basins, such as selection of the retrieval and treatment
processes for the sludge streams and startup of removal of floor and canister
sludge.
The Department of
Energy (DOE) will review approve and control configuration of the baseline. �In addition, the revised commitments will be
contractual requirements at Hanford. �The
DOE is committed to ensuring that the proper resources and oversight are
applied to the sludge removal project, and the commitments are accomplished on
schedule.
Should you or your
staff have any questions concerning this issue, please call Mr. Keith Klein at
(509) 376-7395 or Dr. Ines Triay at (202) 586-0738.
Sincerely,
Spencer Abraham
cc w/o enclosure:
Jessie Hill
Roberson, EM/DOE
Mark Whitaker, DR/DOE
Keith Klein, RL/DOE