About Board Recommendations
The Board's power to issue recommendations to the Secretary is one of its most
important powers. The Board's enabling legislation
establishes that "the Board shall make such recommendations to the Secretary of
Energy with respect to Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities, including
operations of such facilities, standards, and research needs, as the Board determines are
necessary to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety. In making its
recommendations the Board shall consider the technical and economic feasibility of
implementing the recommended measures."
Once the Board makes a recommendation, the Secretary must respond within 45 days of its
publication in the Federal Register. The Secretary may accept or reject the Board's
recommendation in whole or in part. Further, the Secretary must submit an implementation
plan to the Board for each accepted recommendation within 90 days of the date the
Secretary's acceptance of the recommendation is published in the Federal Register. The Department's processes for
evaluating recommendations and developing implementation plans are defined in the
Department's Interface Manual DOE Manual M 140-1.1).
Department implementation plans contain defined actions or commitments necessary to
resolve the identified technical and management issues. The Department provides evidence
of completion of these commitments to the Board for their review. Upon completion of the
actions defined in the Department's implementation plan and resolution of the identified
safety issues, recommendations are closed. From 1990 to 2007, the Board has issued a total
of 49 recommendations. Of these, 36 are closed and 13 are open. The Department's
2006 Annual Report to Congress provides a categorization of recommendations by
scope of organizations involved, lead implementation organization, and
progress towards completion of implementation.
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