[DOE LETTERHEAD]

 

OFFICE OF RIVER PROTECTION

 

April 1, 2005

 

The Honorable John T. Conway

Chairman

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20004

 

Dear Mr. Chairman:

 

DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD (DNFSB) OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING FIRE PROTECTION FOR HANFORD WASTE TREATMENT AND IMMOBILIZATION PLANT

 

Reference:  DNFSB letter from J. T. Conway to P. M. Golan, DOE, dated February 4, 2005.

 

This letter provides the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report in response to concerns identified by the DNFSB in the Reference letter.  The Reference letter provided DOE with a report detailing DNFSB observations concerning fire protection for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.  The report included three observations developed through document reviews and discussions with representatives of the DOE Office of River Protection and Bechtel National, Inc., on November 16-18, 2004 (meetings at Hanford), and December 20-23, 2004 (teleconferences).

 

The attached report provides DOE responses to the DNFSB observations discussed in the Reference letter.  Thank you for providing your observations on this important topic. If you have further questions concerning DOE’s response, please contact me.

 

Sincerely,

 

Roy J. Schepens

Manager

 

Attachment:

Response to DNFSB Letter

 

cc w/attach:

M. T. Sautman, DNFSB

M. B. Whitaker, DR-1

P. M. Bubar, EM-3

I. R. Triay, EM-3

C. S. O’Dell, EM-3.2

S. M. Hahn, RL