[DOE LETTERHEAD]
National
Nuclear Security Administration
July 21, 2005
The Honorable A. J. Eggenberger
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Suite
700
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Mr. Chairman:
In your May 31, 2005, letter on
the confinement ventilation systems at the Plutonium Facility (PF-4) at
Technical Area 55 of
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), you requested a report that outlines
National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) plan and schedule for implementation
of an effective safety-class system that would protect the public from the unmitigated
consequences of a potential event at this facility.
As directed by NNSA, LANL
completed and submitted on July 14, 2005, the Backfit Cost-Benefit Analysis for
upgrading the PF-4 ventilation system and its supporting systems to function as
an active safety class. However, a
significant effort is still required to allow an adequate review of this
backfit analysis and to consider the cost implications in the context of the
spectrum of risk reduction alternatives. Therefore, the Office of Defense Programs
finds it necessary to request a 60-day extension to prepare an adequate formal
position.
The request for extension has
previously been discussed with your staff. Should you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to contact me or have a member of your staff contact Sujita Pierpoint
at (301) 903-9601 or Gerald Schlapper at (505) 665-7111.
Sincerely,
Thomas P. D’Agostino
Acting Deputy Administrator
for Defense Programs
cc: M. Whitaker, DR-1
E.
Wilmot, LASO