[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 113 (Thursday, June 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35648-35649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12638]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Nuclear Security Administration


Notice of Availability of the Report on the Secretary of Energy's 
Final Decision and Supporting Reasoning Regarding Defense Nuclear 
Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 2019-2, Safety of the Savannah 
River Site Tritium Facilities

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security 
Administration (NNSA) announces the availability of a Report on the 
Secretary of Energy's Final Decision and Supporting Reasoning Regarding 
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 2019-2, Safety 
of the Savannah River Site Tritium Facilities. The Board issued 
Recommendation 2019-2 on June 11, 2019. The Recommendation focused on 
the Department of Energy (DOE) actions to improve the safety of the 
Tritium Facilities, upgrades to safety management programs, and the 
implementation of robust controls to prevent very high radiation doses, 
creating the potential for acute radiation sickness or fatality in a 
significant number of individuals. The Recommendation identified three 
specific sub-recommendations.

DATES: This notice will be published on June 11, 2020.

ADDRESSES: This report, together with its attachments, documents the 
Secretary of Energy's final decision and supporting reasoning regarding 
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB or Board) Recommendation 
2019-2, Safety of the Savannah River Site Tritium Facilities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
Notice, please contact Ms. Nicole Nelson-Jean, Manager of the Savannah 
River Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear 
Security Administration, Savannah River Field Office, P.O. Box A, 
Aiken, South Carolina 29802; phone: 803-208-3689; email to: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As explained in detail in the Department's 
September 10, 2019, response to the Recommendation (the text of which 
is included as Attachment 1 to this report), the Department of Energy's 
National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) Administrator 
stated that DOE/NNSA's safety programs and policies, and their 
effective implementation by its well trained workforce, provide 
reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and 
safety. In addition, focused ongoing actions at the Tritium Facilities 
adequately address DNFSB concerns outlined in Recommendation 2019-2 and 
make the need for additional actions in response to the DNFSB 
Recommendation unnecessarily duplicative of that effort, and would 
therefore, detract from our continued progress. The Administrator's 
response, on behalf of the Secretary of Energy, constituted a full non-
acceptance of the Recommendation.
    Per 42 United States Code Section 2286d paragraph (e), Board 
Recommendations, when the Secretary of Energy does not fully accept a 
Recommendation, the Board must either reaffirm or revise the 
recommendation, and the Secretary of Energy must then consider the 
Board's action and make a final decision on whether to implement all or 
part of the Board's recommendations. Subject to subsection (i) of the 
section, the Secretary shall publish the final decision and the 
reasoning for such decision in the Federal Register and shall transmit 
to the Committees on Armed Services, Appropriations, and Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 
Services, Appropriations, and Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate a written report containing that decision and reasoning.
    The Board reaffirmed the Recommendation in a letter to the 
Secretary of Energy on December 5, 2019. In the letter, the Board 
provided the following context to support the Board's Recommendation:

[[Page 35649]]

    ``In rejecting Recommendation 2019-2, DOE presented several actions 
and plans in its September 10, 2019, letter and during the briefing on 
October 28, 2019, as addressing our concerns. We acknowledge that these 
ongoing and planned actions are aimed at addressing issues identified 
in Recommendation 2019-2. However, we are concerned these actions will 
not, in the near term or long term, fully address the high consequences 
to workers. Further, we do not agree that ongoing actions and plans 
obliviate the need for Recommendation 2019-2.''
    The Board's December 5, 2019, letter does not provide any new 
substantive information and reaffirms its original recommendation 
without changing it. The Board's reaffirmation ignores the reasoning 
and analysis underlying the DOE/NNSA position and incorrectly asserts 
that the disagreement has to do with Board's authority rather than the 
Board's analysis.
    In a letter dated January 3, 2020, the DOE/NNSA Administrator 
reaffirmed, on behalf of the Secretary, the Department's September 10, 
2019, response as the Secretary's final decision regarding 
Recommendation 2019-2 (the text of which is included as Attachment 2 to 
the attached report).
    The current Tritium Facilities' documented safety analysis contains 
appropriate safety significant controls, along with continuous 
improvement efforts and a new documented safety analysis. These efforts 
are nearing completion and will strengthen the safety posture at the 
Tritium Facilities. The planned Tritium Finishing Facility, included in 
the President's Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request, will fundamentally 
improve safety at Savannah River Site (SRS), as DOE/NNSA moves from the 
H-Area Old Manufacturing (HAOM) Facility to this new seismically-
qualified facility. Furthermore, the SRS Emergency Management Program 
has demonstrated steady and significant improvement over the past 
several years and continues to provide adequate protection to the 
workforce and the public surrounding the SRS.
    DOE/NNSA has already initiated, and in some cases completed, the 
actions the DNFSB recommends; the SRS tritium operations are providing 
adequate protection of public and additionally, workforce safety. Many 
significant long-term projects to enhance safety in SRS tritium 
operations are nearing completion. Notably, the ongoing major 
construction project to replace the HAOM Tritium Facilities with new, 
modern, and robust facilities is being supported by the Department and 
Congress.
    These activities are significant and are the proper implementation 
of DOE/NNSA safety improvements at SRS. Therefore, DOE/NNSA concludes 
that the most efficient, effective, and quickest way to improve safety 
at the SRS Tritium Facilities is to continue with the current approach 
and path forward. As previously noted, DOE/NNSA actions and plans that 
would have responded to this recommendation are complete or underway 
and therefore, are considered to have met the issues highlighted in the 
recommendation.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on April 6, 
2020, by Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security 
Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration, pursuant to 
delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with 
the original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For 
administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of 
the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal 
Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the 
document in electronic format for publication, as an official document 
of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no way 
alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the 
Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2020.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2020-12638 Filed 6-10-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P