[DOE LETTERHEAD]

 

October 31, 2003

 

The Honorable John T. Conway

Chairman

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20004-2941

 

Dear Mr. Chairman:

 

The Implementation Plan for Software Quality Assurance (SQA) in response to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 2002-l requires the Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH) to establish a schedule to develop, revise, approve, and issue software quality assurance directives per commitment 4.3.2.1.  At the present time, it is envisioned that the Department of Energy (DOE) Order 414.1A will be revised to include an attachment to address SQA requirements.  EH will also publish a guide that addresses in more detail, the acceptable methods for conducting SQA within the Department that incorporates the best practices from existing industry standards.  If it is determined during the directive development process that it may be appropriate to put SQA requirements in a separate order, then we will keep you informed of the changes.

 

The schedule for revising DOE Order 414.1A to incorporate SQA requirements is December 31, 2004.  This schedule will allow incorporation of the lessons learned from the field assessments of SQA and provide sufficient time to establish the requirements with the line organizations within the Department.  The SQA guide will be published in 60 days following approval of the Order revision.  The attached list of DOE Directives will be updated following the revision to DOE Order 414.1A in accordance with an expedited administrative update.  We expect that the DNFSB will be actively involved in the directive development process.  If information becomes available from the sites that SQA guidance is urgently needed, then the directives process will be accelerated to the extent practical.

 

The development of order revision and supporting guidance involves a significant effort and coordination.  Please contact Chip Lagdon at (301) 903-4218 or me at (301) 903-8008 if you have any questions concerning this commitment.

 

Sincerely,

 

Frank B. Russo

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Office of Corporate Performance Assessment

 

Attachment

 

cc:

Beverly A. Cook, EH-1

Mark B. Whitaker, DR-1

Chip Lagdon, EH-31.