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Departmental Representative to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
2024
2024 BY MONTH: JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
This list last updated
- December 17, 2024, Board letter regarding DOE Order 151.1E, Comprehensive Emergency Management System, and the NNSA Administrator's memorandum dated September 18, 2023, which advised NNSA field office managers to delegate the approvals of revisions to some emergency program documents.
- December 12, 2024, Department letter responding to the Board letter dated June 14, 2024, regarding progress toward resolving the identified shortcomings with DOE-SR's Facility Representative program.
- December 11, 2024, Department letter responding to the Board letter dated July 25, 2024, regarding NNSS PULSE and ECSE safety design basis documents.
- December 6, 2024, Board letter regarding DOE's application of Standard 3009-2014, Preparation of Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Documented Safety Analysis, and establishing a 120-day reporting requirement for a briefing and report that contains: 1) DOE's plans to transition facility DSAs to DOE Standard 3009-2014, 2) DOE's rationale for facilities that will not transition to DOE Standard 3009-2014 within 5 years, 3) DOE's plans to ensure wide and timely implementation of new safe harbors that strengthen safety requirements.
- November 26, 2024, Department response letter regarding the revision to DOE Order 425.1D, Verification of Readiness to Start Up or Restart Nuclear Facilities.
- November 15, 2024, Board letter concerning the DOE development of Oder 421.1, Nuclear Safety Basis and establishing a 60-day reporting requirement, and before the new order is issued, for a report and briefing regarding DOE's path forward for issuing DOE Order 421.1.
- November 14, 2024, Department letter providing response to the Board letter dated May 15, 2024, regarding the final design of the continuous air monitor system for the WIPP Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System
- November 13, 2024, Board letter transmitting its report, "Reasons to Expand the Coverage of the Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS) at the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF)", as SRPPF project engages the DOE Criticality Safety Support Group to assess CAAS coverage.
- November 8, 2024, Department extension letter to provide response to the Board letter of August 13, 2024, regarding safety of lithium-ion batteries at defense nuclear facilities.
- October 7, 2024, Department letter transmitting the Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety
- October 3, 2024, Board letter providing its review of the maintenance program at the WTP's Low Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford Site for DOE's information and use to further improve program practices.
- August 22, 2024, Department letter stating that DOE is taking a 45-Day extension to complete the Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety.
- August 13, 2024, Department letter providing the 2024 annual report regarding safety at Savannah River Site Building 235-F.
- August 13, 2024, Board letter providing its safety review of lithium-ion batteries uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) at the NNSS Device Assembly Facility (DAF), and establishing a 90-day reporting requirement for DOE to provide a briefing and report addressing any actions DOE has taken or plans to take to: 1) develop or adopt requirements and provide guidance on hazard analysis and controls for lithium-ion battery energy storage systems at defense nuclear facilities, and 2) address the identified safety issues with the lithium-ion battery UPS now installed at DAF.
- July 25, 2024, Board letter providing its review of the safety design basis documents for two projects in the NNSS Enhanced Capabilities for Subcritical Experiments and evaluation of seismic faults within PULSE. The Board also established a 120-day reporting requirement for DOE/NNSA to provide a report and briefing to address the Board's safety questions.
- July 17, 2024, Board letter providing its report entitled, Plutonium Storage Container Fire Testing, which outlines technical issues with the development and conduct of the tests. The Board encourages DOE to consider the limitations indicated by these issues when its contractors use the test results in safety analyses or develop future test protocols in this area.
- July 3, 2024, Department 60-day extension letter to respond to the Board's letter dated May 15, 2024, regarding concerns with the final design of the continuous air monitor system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System.
- June 21, 2024, Department letter documenting completion of Milestone 5.4.3 of the DOE Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2020-1, Nuclear Safety Requirements.
- June 14, 2024, Board letter providing its assessment of the SRS Facility Representative program and establishing a 6-month reporting requirement for a report and briefing regarding progress toward resolving the identified shortcomings with DOE-SR's Facility Representative program.
- June 4, 2024, Board letter informing DOE of its plans to conduct public hearing sessions in August 2024 and to sponsor a workshop in September 2024 on the topic of aging infrastructure management.
- June 4, 2024, Board letter recognizing that DOE has named Mr. Jason Clough of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Idaho Operations Office (NE-ID), as the 2023 Facility Representative of the Year, and Mr. Nino Travljanin of Savannah River Operations Office (DOE-SR) as the 2023 Safety System Oversight Engineer of the Year.
- June 3, 2024, Follow up Board letter, from the Board's visit to Pantex in April 2024 and requesting that NNSA provide the revised schedule for revising the remaining safety basis documents to the Board's staff when it becomes available. The Board also established a 60-day reporting requirement (from date of review completion) for NNSA to provide a briefing on the results of the Recommendation 2019-1 Implementation Plan effectiveness review.
- June 3, 2024, Board letter providing its review of maintenance practices for aboveground and underground electrical cable systems in the DOE defense nuclear complex for DOE's information and use.
- May 24, 2024, Federal Register publication of the Department's response to Board recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety.
- May 15, 2024, Board letter providing its review of the final design of the continuous air monitor (CAM) system for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) and establishing a 60-day reporting requirement for a written response and briefing to address the Board's safety concerns over whether the CAM system can reliably perform its safety functions.
- May 3, 2024, Department letter in response to DNFSB Recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety.
- April 26, 2024, Report to Congress: Fiscal Year 2023 Department of Energy Activities Relating to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
- April 24, 2024, Department letter transmitting Milestone 5.1.4, "Implement Best Practices and Process Enhancements Based on Results of Benchmarking Review," of the Department's Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2020-1, Nuclear Safety Requirements.
- April 10, 2024, Board letter regarding safety issues pertaining to the glovebox safety and glovebox glove integrity programs at LANL and establishing a 120-day reporting requirement for NNSA to provide a briefing to address these safety issues and NNSA's plans for disseminating lessons-learned from the glovebox loss of integrity events investigated at LANL.
- April 9, 2024, Board letter providing its review of the Pantex Plant False Ceiling Replacement and identifying opportunities for safety improvement for DOE's information and use. The Board also identified safety concerns regarding cast iron fittings in the fire suppression systems at Pantex and LANL Plutonium Facility and advises DOE to communicate the issue complex-wide through use of an Operating Experience Level 1 or 2 document.
- March 29, 2024, Board letter granting the DOE request for a 45-day extension to provide a response for Recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety.
- March 26, 2024, Department letter in response to the Board's October 4, 2023, letter regarding ongoing safety improvements at the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise (SRTE).
- March 25, 2024, Department letter responding to the Board letter date January 24, 2024, regarding the DOE revision of Order 251.1D, Departmental Directives Program.
- March 21, 2024, Department letter requesting a 45-day extension to provide a response for Recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety.
- March 18, 2024, DNFSB 34th Annual Report to Congress for calendar year 2023
- February 20, 2024, Board letter responding to DOE's January 31, 2024, extension letter regarding the revision of Order 425.1D, Verification of Readiness to Start Up or Restart Nuclear Facilities.
- February 12, 2024, Board letter providing its review of the fire protection program at the Pantex Plant for the NNSA's information and use.
- February 8, 2024, Federal Register publication of DNFSB Recommendation 2023-1, Nuclear Safety Requirements.
- January 31, 2024, Department 90-day extension letter to respond to the Board's letter dated December 5, 2023, regarding concerns with proposed changes on the revision to DOE Order 425.1D, Verification of Readiness to Start Up or Restart Nuclear Facilities
- January 30, 2024, Department letter transmitting the FY2023 Annual Nuclear Criticality Safety Metrics Report
- January 29, 2024, Department letter transmitting Deliverable 5.1.3 of the Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2020-1, Nuclear Safety Requirements
- January 26, 2024, Board letter transmitting Recommendation 2023-1, Onsite Transportation Safety
- January 24, 2024, Board letter concerning the revision of DOE Order 251.1D, Departmental Directives Program, and establishing a 60-day reporting requirement for a report and briefing regarding DOE's path forward on the revision to this order.
- January 19, 2024, Board letter transmitting the report from its review of the Chemical Compatibility Program for Transuranic Waste at NNSA facilities at LANL, for DOE's use and information.
- January 18, 2024, Department letter providing LANL PF-4 MELCOR Leak Path Factor Parametric Report, and PF-4 Fire Suppression System Documented Safety Analysis Functional Requirements.
- January 17, 2024, Department letter responding to the Board letters dated August 3, 2023, and November 28, 2023, regarding concerns with facility worker safety at the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF) project.
- January 16, 2024, Department letter stating that DOE has completed all commitments in the Implementation Plan for Recommendation 2019-1, Uncontrolled Hazard Scenarios and 10 CFR 830 Implementation at the Pantex Plant
- January 5, 2024, Board letter providing its review of Software Quality Assurance (SQA) of Continuous Air Monitors for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Recovery Glovebox Line for the National Nuclear Security Administration and LLNL to use going forward to further improve SQA practices at the Plutonium Facility.
