In response to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board review, the Department of Energy’s nuclear branches are taking a “deep dive” into aging infrastructure, DOE said last week.
In an April 24 letter to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the head of DOE’s Office of Nuclear Safety said progress is being made on addressing board concerns over decaying nuclear facilities detailed in DNFSB’s Benchmarking Review from 2020.
“Additionally, as the Secretary [of Energy] mentioned in her January 24th 2024, memo, the Department will remain engaged on this topic and support the Board’s future activities including potential public hearings focused on aging infrastructure management,” according to the April 24 letter.
The April 24 letter was addressed to DNFSB Chair Joyce Connery from Garrett Smith, who runs DOE’s Office of Nuclear Safety. While DNFSB has no outright regulatory authority, it issues independent safety analysis and advice to the secretary of energy, which must be responded to in writing.
For two years now, DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Environmental Management and Office of Science have worked on plans to better address safety hazards posed by decades-old and deteriorating structures at nuclear sites.
DOE and the federal government’s independent safety watchdog have been going back and forth over the age and condition of DOE nuclear facilities. Last November, DNFSB said in a letter it wanted to see more branch-by-branch specifics and not just DOE-wide programs.
The DOE weapons complex has its roots in the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. Shoring up, modernizing or replacing decades-old facilities is an ongoing issue for DOE.
“The NNSA best practices and process enhancement initiatives are at various levels of implementation and in progress,” according to the letter. “Deep dive” meetings have been held at venues such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.
The Environmental Management office plans to hold a couple of such detailed meetings on infrastructure modernization during fiscal 2024, according to the letter. The nuclear-cleanup branch continues to support its field office with information on “negative trends related to Structure, System, Component degradation that may warrant additional, focused oversight.”
The cleanup office is also using a DOE property-monitoring system to keep a better watch on facilities issues, according to the letter.
