[DNFSB LETTERHEAD]
January 24, 2003
The Honorable Robert Gordon Card
Under Secretary of Energy, Science and
Environment
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1000
Dear Mr. Card:
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
(Board) appreciates the briefing you provided on January 9, 2003, regarding the
review of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Orders that recently was completed
by your office. As we discussed, the
Board is mandated by law (42 U.S.C. § 2286a(a)(1)) to review and evaluate the content of all applicable DOE
Orders, regulations, and requirements.
The information you provided will assist the Board in satisfying this
responsibility.
Based upon an initial review of disposition
directions you have issued to the Offices of Primary Interest for each Order, the Board
is concerned that two of the proposed actions may have detrimental impacts:
Applicability
to Contractors―Restricting
the applicability of DOE Orders to only major facility management contractors
could result in those contractors directly responsible for hazardous work being
outside the umbrella of DOE’s Integrated Safety Management (ISM) System. In addition, limiting the applicability of
Contractor Requirements Documents to DOE’s site/facility management contracts
conflicts with the requirements of DOE Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) Clause
970.5223-l (the ISM clause), which mandates that applicable contract requirements
be passed down to subcontractors. Note
that this proposed change affects several of the Orders reviewed.
DOE Order
225.1A, Accident Investigations―Changing the default Accident Investigation Board from Type A to Type B,
with direction to upgrade if necessary, is non-conservative. The default Accident Investigation Board
should be Type A, with an allowance to downgrade if appropriate.
The Board’s staff will conduct detailed
reviews of any proposed revisions to DOE Orders of interest to the Board as
they are made available by DOE during the normal directives development
process, and will provide comments using the existing protocol. This protocol was established by mutual
agreement in 1995 and has been executed by DOE’s Office of the Departmental
Representative to the Board since that time.
Sincerely,
c:
Mr. Mark B. Whitaker, Jr.