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POLICY ISSUE
(Information)

SECY-08-0061

April 30 , 2008

• PURPOSE
• BACKGROUND
• DISCUSSION
• COORDINATION

PURPOSE:

To provide the Commission with a periodic update on activities contained in the Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Plan (RPP) including a summary of the significant accomplishments achieved over the past 6 months and anticipated for the next 6 months.  This paper does not address any new commitments or resource implications.

BACKGROUND:

In a staff requirements memorandum, dated June 1, 2006, available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML061520304, the Commission directed the staff to improve upon the prior iteration, the Risk-Informed Regulation Implementation Plan (RIRIP), by developing an integrated master plan for activities designed to help the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) achieve its goal of a holistic, risk-informed, and performance-based regulatory structure.  The Commission also directed the staff to seek ways to more transparently communicate to the public and stakeholders the purpose and use of probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) in the agency's reactor, materials, and waste regulatory programs.

SECY-07-0074, "Update on the Improvements to the Risk-Informed Regulation Implementation Plan," dated April 26, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070890396), conveyed that plan, which the staff retitled as the "Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Plan."  The new RPP differs significantly from its predecessors, the RIRIP and PRA Implementation Plan.  In addition to allowing for the inclusion of performance-based elements, the RPP focuses on the three regulatory arenas, reactors, materials, and waste as is done in the agency's Planning, Budgeting and Performance Management process.

The RPP focuses on both the upfront planning process as well as project completion.  In the planning process, formalized objectives, bases, and goals for each arena help determine which initiatives the NRC should continue, which initiatives the agency should sunset, and which new initiatives the agency should consider.  To help meet the Commission's expectations for both a risk-informed and a performance-based regulatory structure, the RPP includes explicit criteria for the staff's review and consideration of performance-based approaches to help determine which initiatives should be both risk-informed and performance-based.  In addition, the RPP provides for the performance and documentation of an effectiveness review following the completion of selected projects to assess their success in achieving the stated objectives.

SECY-07-0191, "Implementation and Update of the Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Plan," dated October 31, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML072700587), discussed the staff's progress in implementing the RPP.  It included as Attachment 1 an updated set of objectives, bases, and goals for the reactor, materials, and waste regulatory arenas.  In November 2007, the staff completed its commitment to make all aspects of the RPP, including these objectives, bases, and goals, available to the general public via the agency's public Internet site.

DISCUSSION:

This report is the second update of the RPP.  The format of this report is slightly modified in that most of the information traditionally provided in previous updates to the RIRIP is now located on the NRC's public Web site.  This site, initiated in November 2007, provides a readily accessible, comprehensive explanation and overview of the agency's risk‑informed and performance‑based regulatory activities and reflects the current status of the agency's risk-informed and performance-based activities.

Significant Accomplishments

The enclosure, "Recent Accomplishments and Near-Term Anticipated Accomplishments ," summarizes the major risk-informed and performance-based initiatives that staff has completed over the past 6 months, as well as those activities planned for the next 6 months.

Effectiveness Reviews

The staff has not performed any effectiveness reviews since the last RPP update, SECY-07-0191, dated October 31, 2007.

Potential New Policy Issues

The staff has not identified any policy issues requiring Commission consideration.

COORDINATION:

The Office of the General Counsel has reviewed this paper and has no legal objection.  The Office of the Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this paper for resource implications and has no objections.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008