[DOE LETTERHEAD]

 

National Nuclear Security Administration

 

November 24, 2003

 

The Honorable John T. Conway

Chairman

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue, NW

Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20004-290 1

Dear Mr. Chairman:

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is committed to meeting the commitments and protocols concerning High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter identified in the Department’s letter of June 4, 200l.   On January 9, 2003, you requested a status of efforts to meet commitments made by the Department in its June 2001 letter.  The Department responded on July 11, 2003, and provided additional NNSA information on October 17, 2003.

 

NNSA expects that its line management will ensure that those systems relied upon to fulfill an intended safety function are maintained and tested to carry out these functions.  To this end, line managers are also responsible for implementing Department requirements for HEPA filters, including the conduct of testing and self-assessment.  In our assessment of the status of the HEPA filter programs at the NNSA sites, we have noted that assessment activities covering our site’s required HEPA filter programs were not as rigorous or well defined as expected.  In Secretary Abraham’s July 11, 2003, letter, he committed that NNSA would “take the necessary action to improve and strengthen these programs where needed”.  We have taken steps to meet this commitment by requiring all sites to ensure lasting programs are in place to meet these commitments.  The institutionalization of HEPA filter testing commitments will be part of our contractors’ scheduled assessments of ‘vital safety systems’ under Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 2000-2, “Configuration Management, Vital Safety Systems”.  We are explicitly requiring that our contractors ensure that 100% testing of filters per applicable DOE/NNSA commitments has been achieved as part of their vital safety systems assessments.  Additionally, we have requested that our sites prepare a formal response to document the steps taken to routinely verify that the applicable HEPA filter testing requirements are being met.

 

If you have any further questions, please contact me or have your staff contact Xavier Ascanio of my staff at 301-903-3757.

 

Sincerely,

 

Everet H. Beckner

Deputy Administrator

for Defense Programs

 

Enclosure

 

cc w/enclosure:

M. Whitaker, DR-1