[DNFSB
LETTERHEAD]
February 2, 2005
Mr. Robert F. Warther
Manager
U.S. Department of Energy
Ohio Field Office
175 Tri County Parkway
Springdale, Ohio 45246-3222
Dear Mr. Warther:
The Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board (Board) continues to closely monitor the efforts of the Department
of Energy’s (DOE) Fernald Closure Project and its contractor, Fluor Fernald,
Inc., to retrieve, treat, and package for disposal the radioactive wastes in
the silos at Fernald. The Board notes
that Fluor Fernald personnel completed readiness reviews for the first two of
three phases of the silos remediation effort, including the Silo 3 Retrieval
and Disposition Project and the Silos 1 and 2 Accelerated Waste Retrieval
Project. Recently, a member of the Board’s
staff observed efforts to complete a contractor Standard Startup Review and a
DOE Readiness Assessment for the third phase of the silos remediation effort,
the Silos 1 and 2 Remediation Facility. This review was stopped when it became
apparent that the Fluor Fernald line organization was not adequately prepared
to operate the facility safely.
The Board notes that DOE
mandated that a DOE Readiness Assessment be completed for each of these
activities even though it was not required by DOE directives. The Board also commends those involved in the
readiness review process for recognizing the above shortcomings and halting the
reviews.
However, the two previous
readiness reviews for the silos remediation effort also identified a large
number of significant deficiencies. Written comments from both contractor and DOE
review teams noted that line management had not been thorough in its readiness preparations.
Furthermore, the second DOE Readiness
Assessment found that not only had the project’s readiness self-assessment been
less than thorough, but the project’s independent assessments, added as
corrective actions following the first readiness review, had also been inadequate.
The Board is troubled by the
repeated lack of readiness on the part of the Fluor Fernald line organization
and the apparent failure of earlier corrective actions to address this problem.
A well-prepared organization relies on a
readiness review only for validation of its preparations to operate safely and
usually passes the review with but a few corrective actions needed to improve operations.
The Board would like to
understand what efforts are being made by DOE and Fluor Fernald to address
these recurring deficiencies. Therefore,
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2286b(d), the Board requests
that DOE and Fluor Fernald inform the Board on actions taken to ensure that the
Silos 1 and 2 Remediation Facility is fully ready to operate safely. This report should be provided prior to startup
authorization from DOE.
Sincerely,
John T. Conway
Chairman
c: Mr. Paul M. Golan
Mr.
Mark B. Whitaker, Jr.