[DOE LETTERHEAD]
National
Nuclear Security Administration
July 28, 2005
The Honorable A.
J. Eggenberger
Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Suite
700
Washington, D.C.
20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The purpose of this letter is to
inform you that the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has completed Commitments
4.2.3.3 and 4.2.4.3 of the Implementation Plan for Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board (DNFSB) Recommendation 2002-1, Quality
Assurance for Safety Software at Department of Energy Defense Nuclear
Facilities. Commitment
4.2.3.3 required NNSA to
complete the identification, selection, and assessments of safety system
software and firmware in accordance with the schedule established in Commitment
4.2.3.2. Similarly, Commitment 4.2.4.3
required NNSA to
complete the assessments in accordance with the schedule established in
4.2.4.2.
In our letter of December 22,
2003, we had provided you schedules for completing the identification, selection
and assessment of safety software. These
schedules have been periodically updated and provided to you and your staff
during our quarterly briefings.
The list of safety software at NNSA
nuclear facilities
is provided in Enclosure 1. As
a part
of our Roadmap for Quality Assurance
Excellence effort, we are continuing to validate the list of software and
updating it, as appropriate. Furthermore,
we are developing a process for identifying software in accordance with the
definition and scope of DOE O
414.1C, Quality Assurance. We
expect to complete this process by June 2006.
We have conducted at least one
software quality assurance assessment at each site. A list
of assessments is provided in Enclosure 2. The assessment reports have been provided to your
staff. As a part of our Roadmap for
Quality Assurance Excellence, we are continuing to assess safety software
quality assurance at our facilities. Lessons
learned from the assessments
are being incorporated into the NNSA Safety Software
Quality Assurance
Good Practices Handbook, currently
under preparation.
We will continue to provide you
the status of our progress in institutionalizing software quality assurance at NNSA facilities. If you have any questions, please contact me or
have your staff
contact Rabi Singh at (301) 903-5864.
Sincerely,
Thomas
P. D’Agostino
Acting Deputy Administrator
for Defense Programs
Enclosures: (Have been provided
to the Board.)
1. List of NNSA Safety Software
2. List of Safety Software Quality Assurance
Assessments
cc w/enclosures:
M. Whitaker, DR-1
J. Shaw, EH-1
J. Paul, NA-2