November 17, 1998

The Honorable Victor H. Reis
Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs
Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585-0104

Dear Dr. Reis:

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) has been following the Department of Energy's (DOE) efforts to startup certain classified activities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Enclosed for your consideration is an issue report prepared by the Board's staff that raises the concern that because of inadequate planning, there may not be sufficient time or talent for effective reviews of safety prior to commencement of these startup activities.  Consequently, the Board requests, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2286b(d), a brief report that addresses DOE's path forward for completing the startup preparations.   This report should include the following specific items:

• Plans and a resource-loaded schedule for DOE review of the following:
  


1. deliverables required by the safety evaluation report and authorization agreement;



2. revisions to the safety analysis report and the technical safety requirements.

• Names, qualifications, and affiliations for all individuals assigned the responsibility of reviewing technical portions of these documents.

The Board requests that this report be issued no later than 30 days from the date of this letter.
Sincerely,

John T. Conway
Chairman

cc:
Mr. Mark B. Whitaker, Jr.

Enclosure