Reactor Safety Chapter of the Strategic Plan Workshop

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Reactor Safety Chapter of the Strategic Plan Workshop

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for public comment/notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is requesting public comment

on the draft Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the NRC Strategic Plan.

The NRC is conducting a workshop on August 20, 1999, to give

stakeholders an opportunity to meet with agency representatives to ask

questions and comment on the Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the

Strategic Plan that the Commission has under consideration. This

workshop is open to the public and all interested parties may attend.

DATES: August 20, 1999, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: One White Flint North, NRC Commission Hearing Room, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James L. Blaha, Mail Stop O16-E15,

U.S.

[[Page 44062]]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. Telephone:

(301) 415-1703; FAX: (301) 415-2162; Internet: [email protected]

Background

As part of the Government Performance and Results Act, the NRC is

required to update its strategic plan triennially. The NRC's first

strategic plan was issued in September 1997. Since that time, the NRC

has implemented a Planning, Budgeting and Performance Measurement

(PBPM) process which focuses on becoming more performance-based and

outcome-oriented. The Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the NRC

Strategic Plan reflects this approach to long-range planning, as well

as institutionalizing regulatory reforms that have been initiated

within the last 18 months. The Nuclear Reactor Safety chapter has

progressed to a point that further improvement will be enhanced by

stakeholder input.

In the Fall of 1997 the agency undertook an effort to review and

revise its strategic plan to better align and link the goals and

strategies and to improve the logic and functionality of the strategic

plan. The revision, however, did not fully consider the issues raised

during the NRC's July 30, 1998, hearing before the Senate Subcommittee

on Clean Air, Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety; the July

17, 1998, Commission meeting with stakeholders; the Chairman's August

7, 1998, tasking memorandum; or the progress achieved to make NRC

planning and budgeting more outcome-oriented. Since that time, the

agency has begun an internal review to address these issues. This has

resulted in a draft of selected portions of the strategic plan.

The draft of the Strategic Plan reflects revisions that focus on

the Nuclear Reactor Safety arena and reflects the progress to date.

Updates to this plan reflect changes in Commission policy over the past

year, stakeholder input, as well as the development of new performance

goals and measures. Also included in this package are edits to the

front end sections that describe the Agency's mission, strategic goals,

management goals, and strategic arenas. The Nuclear Reactor Safety

Chapter reflects the new focus on four performance goals and the key

strategies to be used to achieve these goals. Once completed, this

chapter will be used as a model to revise and finalize the other

program arena chapters.

This draft of the strategic plan is intended to reflect the results

from the change process which has occurred over the past 18 months and

which continues at the NRC. It also describes how this paradigm shift

will become an integral part of NRC's future planning, budgeting, and

performance management. A schedule to facilitate dialogue among the

Commission staff, stakeholders, and Congress is provided below:

Revisions to the Nuclear Reactor Safety (NRS) Chapter of the Strategic

Plan

August 3: Issue draft NRS chapter to stakeholders for comment

August 20: Stakeholder Workshop on NRS chapter

Early September: Revised NRS chapter to Commission

Late September: Senate Oversight hearing

The remaining Strategic Plan chapters (Nuclear Materials Safety,

Nuclear Waste Safety, International Nuclear Safety Support) will be

revised over the next year.

Stakeholder Input to the NRS Chapter of the Strategic Plan

While NRC recognizes work is yet to be finished, further

improvements to the draft Strategic Plan will benefit from stakeholder

input. The NRC is particularly interested in stakeholder views on the

four performance goals and their associated measures and strategies.

The draft specifically identifies a number of performance measures for

which stakeholder input will be especially useful.

Stakeholder input is requested on the following broad areas:

Do strategic goals, management goals, and performance

goals address the appropriate areas requiring emphasis?

Are the strategies to achieve these goals adequate to

achieve success?

Are the performance measures adequate to indicate whether

we are achieving our goals? Are there better measures?

Do goals and strategies reflect NRC's commitment to

institutionalize change and become more performance based?

August 20, 1999 Workshop

NRC will be conducting a public workshop on August 10, 1999 at 1:00

p.m. in Rockville, Maryland, in the Commission Hearing Room to discuss

the Nuclear Reactor Safety Chapter of the Strategic Plan. The NRC staff

will answer questions and receive comments. Members of the public are

invited to attend. Those wishing to participate in discussions are

urged to contact Jim Blaha at 301-415-1703 to facilitate agenda

planning.

In addition to participating in the workshop, stakeholders may

submit written comments on the draft of the Strategic Plan to the NRC.

Comments are requested by August 27, 1999. The draft Strategic Plan, as

well as the ability to provide comments electronically, are available

on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/COMMISSION/INITIATIVES/

1999/index.html. Comments may also be provided in writing to the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Debra J. Corley, Mail Stop O-

16E15, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001.

Stakeholder comments will be considered in another update of the

draft Nuclear Reactor Safety chapter. This update will be provided to

the Commission and made publically available prior to our Senate

oversight hearing planned for September 1999. Stakeholders will also

have other opportunities to comment on the NRC Strategic Plan which is

required to be submitted to Congress by September 2000 in accordance

with the Government Performance and Results Act.

The NRC is accessible to the White Flint Metro Station. Visitor

parking near the NRC buildings is limited.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of August, 1999.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Frank J. Miraglia, Jr.,

Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs, Office of Executive

Director for Operations.

[FR Doc. 99-20910 Filed 8-11-99; 8:45 am]

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