NRC ISSUES NEW STRATEGIC PLAN
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today issued its new Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2009, establishing how the agency intends to carry out its mission.

NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz said, “Our vision is to achieve excellence in regulating the safe and secure use and management of radioactive materials for the public good. We are committed to achieve our mandate and to work for a more consistent, effective and efficient regulatory framework. The Strategic Plan will serve as a guide for how we will discharge our responsibilities to serve the American public.”

The plan includes five goals of safety, security, openness, effectiveness, and management, which together support our ability to maintain the public health and safety. It also reflects the interrelationship among safety, security and emergency response. Each goal has strategic outcomes, which will provide a general barometer whether the goals are being achieved. There are also strategies that describe actions intended to accomplish the goals.

The agency’s five goals are described below in further detail:

Safety – Ensure protection of public health and safety and the environment.

The NRC’s primary goal continues to be the safe use of radioactive materials to ensure the protection of public health and safety and the environment. Specific strategies are identified to ensure there are no reactor accidents or releases of radioactive materials that result in significant radiation exposures, fatalities or adverse environmental impacts.

Security – Ensure the secure use and management of radioactive materials.

The goal on security has been added in response to the events of September 11, 2001. To achieve this goal, specific strategies are identified to ensure there are no instances in which licensed radioactive materials are used in a terrorist act in the United States.

Openness – Ensure openness in our regulatory process.

The agency recognizes that stakeholders need to be informed about, and have an opportunity to participate in the NRC’s regulatory process. The NRC views nuclear regulation as the public’s business and, as such, it should be transacted openly and candidly, to the extent possible in order to maintain the public’s confidence but not jeopardize national security.

Effectiveness – Ensure that NRC actions are effective, efficient, realistic, and timely.

The Agency’s drive to improve its performance, coupled with increasing demands on the NRC’s finite resources, clearly indicates a need for the Agency to become more effective, efficient, realistic, and timely in its regulatory activities. Initiatives related to this goal are congruent with the Agency’s safety and security goals, and serve to ensure that available resources are optimally directed toward the NRC’s mission.

Management – Ensure excellence in Agency management to carry out the NRC’s Strategic Objective.

The Agency believes that management excellence is essential to support the staff in accomplishing the Agency’s mission. This goal includes strategies for the management of human capital, infrastructure management, financial management, electronic government, budget and performance integration, and internal communications.

Success in achieving each goal will be gauged primarily through performance measures developed for the agency’s annual performance budget and will be reported in the annual Performance and Accountability Report.

Stakeholder feedback was particularly valuable in helping the Commission develop the Strategic Plan.

The new Strategic Plan (NUREG-1614, Volume 3) is available on the NRC’s web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov in the lower right-hand corner of the home page. Copies are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office by calling 202-512-1800.

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Tuesday, December 09, 2008