[DOE LETTERHEAD]
May 8, 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 provide the
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) with the status of the Quality
Assurance Improvement Plan (QAIP), and to report completion of deliverables 1.5
and 1.5.1.
In December 2002, I directed Environmental
Management sites to submit Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS)
declarations annually with their budget request. EM received all site declarations for the current cycle in
February 2003, and recently completed an assessment of those declarations. While EM sites met the literal requirements
of ISMS, it was clear through our assessment that ISMS was not being
effectively used to improve safety.
In April 2003, the sites were directed to re-evaluate their ISMS
declarations discussing how ISMS was being used to improve safety
performance. A copy of that correspondence
is attached.
While EM has made progress in fully and
effectively implementing ISMS, it is clear that more work needs to be
done. While these actions complete QAIP
deliverable 1.5 and 1.5.1, EM will use the tools of the QAIP, including the
integrated assessment process, to ensure ISMS implementation continues to
improve safety and become more relevant.
If you have any further questions, please call me or Mr. Paul Golan at
(202) 586-0738.
Sincerely,
Jessie Hill Roberson
Assistant Secretary for
Environmental
Management
cc:
Mark Whitaker, DR-1