[DOE LETTERHEAD]
December 15, 2005
The Honorable A. J. Eggenberger
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, N.W.
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The Department of Energy (DOE)
committed to develop guidance to contractors and DOE to evaluate confinement
ventilation systems under DOE’s Implementation Plan for Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 2004-2, Active Confinement
Systems. This guidance is deliverable 8.5.4, Safety Related Ventilation Systems Evaluation
Guidance and
deliverable 8.7, Non
Safety Related Ventilation
System Evaluation Guidance. These deliverables are due
December 10, 2005 and December 15, 2005, respectively. Since
the guidance methodology is similar, the two deliverables will be combined into
one document. However, we need more time
to develop this guidance.
DOE held two workshops to obtain
input for this guidance from safety basis and safety systems experts around the
complex. Members of your staff attended
both workshops and provided valuable insight and input for the guidance
document. We need additional time
because developing the review methodology and providing the cost-benefit review
criteria is more difficult than originally envisioned when the Implementation
Plan was developed.
The DNFSB 2004-2 Implementation Plan Core Team and I, the DOE Responsible Manager,
believe that we can provide this guidance document no later than January 31, 2006. We
will continue to work with your staff on the final product.
Sincerely,
Richard L. Black
Director
Office of Nuclear and Facility
Safety Policy
cc: M. Whitaker, DR-1
J.
Shaw, EH-1
R. Shearer,
EH-1
J.
McConnell, NA-2
C.
Lagdon, US-1