[DOE LETTERHEAD]
June 24, 2003
The Honorable John T. Conway
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to notify you
of the Office of Environmental Management (EM) Quality Assurance Improvement
Plan items that have been completed.
The enclosure provides a more detailed discussion on the action items
1.3.2, 1.3.5, and 1.3.6, which are considered to be completed and closed.
Even though I have seen improvement, a
review of field elements’ documents indicates that needed improvements remain,
on using feedback data to drive improvement, to fully implement Quality
Assurance and Integrated Safety Management System requirements, to link contractor
self-assessment to Department of Energy (DOE) oversight activities, and to
fully implement DOE self-assessment. EM
will continue to take actions to ensure that emphasis is placed on
implementation and institutionalization of programs that demonstrates improved
performance.
I would be happy to brief you in more detail
on my efforts to drive improvement, upon your request. If you have any further questions, please
call me or Ms. Sandra Johnson at (202) 586-0651.
Sincerely,
Jessie Hill Roberson
Assistant Secretary for
Environmental Management
cc:
Paul Golan, EM-3
Beverly Cook, EH-1
Mark Whitaker, DR-1