[DS LETTERHEAD]

 

May 10, 2005

 

The Honorable A. J. Eggenberger

Acting Chairman

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20004-2901

 

Dear Dr. Eggenberger:

 

Thank you for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s letter requesting report on the use of conditions of approval in safety evaluation reports for nuclear facility safety bases submitted to meet 10 CFR Part 830, Nuclear Safety Management.

 

Enclosed is the report responding to that request.  As stated in the report, we will revise DOE Standard (STD) 1104, Change Notice 1, Review and Approval of Nuclear and Facility Safety Basis Documents (Documented Safety Analyses and Technical Safety Requirements) to include guidance on:

 

1. What constitutes a basis for rejection of the safety bases versus conditions of approval,

 

2. Writing a condition of approval including the need to specify the closure date or condition and examples of appropriate conditions of approval, and

 

3. Tracking and verifying conditions of approval of closure.

 

In order to ensure that we have the benefit of recommendations from the breadth of the DOE complex and consistent with the procedures of the DOE Technical Standards Program (TSP), the changes to DOE STD-1104 will be processed through the electronic review and comment process (RevCom) for TSP to refine the guidance.  We expect to be able to issue the proposed revisions to DOE STD-1104, by December 2005.  In the interim, the Office of Environmental Management took a proactive measure to ensure more consistent application of conditions of approval at their facilities by sending additional guidance to the field on April 19, 2005.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. John Spitaleri Shaw, Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health, on (202) 586-6151 or members of your staff may contact Mr. Richard Black on (301) 903-0078.

 

Sincerely,

 

Clay Sell

 

Enclosure