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Publication InformationDate Completed: August 2004 Office of the Chief Financial Officer Table of Contents
MissionLicense and regulate the Nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, promote the common defense and security, and protect the environment. VisionExcellence in regulating the safe and secure use and management of radioactive materials for the public good. A Message from the ChairmanMy fellow Commissioners and I are pleased to present the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2004 to 2009. The plan describes how we intend to accomplish our mission. In particular, it establishes our strategic direction by defining the agency vision, goals, outcomes, and strategies that we intend to pursue.The new Strategic Plan incorporates a number of revisions in order to address a changing environment. The events of September 11, 2001, brought to this country a new recognition of the importance of physical security and emergency preparedness. We recognize that safety, security, and emergency preparedness are integrated activities, and we have revised the plan to reflect this new reality. The Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2004-2009 gives prominence to the value of openness in our regulatory processes as essential for ensuring that the NRC remains a strong, fair, predictable, and credible regulator. We continue to believe that our actions must be effective, efficient, realistic, and timely. Management excellence is also essential for successful implementation of our mission and goals. In developing our Strategic Plan, we benefited from input from the public, those we regulate, and those interested in the effectiveness of regulation. We thank all our stakeholders who shaped the Strategic Plan, especially the NRC staff that has worked diligently to produce a Strategic Plan that we believe is comprehensive, clear, and can be readily understood. The Strategic Plan for 2004-2009 will serve as a guide for how we will discharge our responsibilities to serve the American public. About the NRCThe U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the agency) was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. The agency began operations in 1975. The U.S. Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 separated the Atomic Energy Commission's regulatory functions from its military and promotional functions and assigned the regulatory functions to the NRC. The NRC thus inherited part of the Atomic Energy Commission's mission under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954: to regulate the civilian commercial, industrial, academic, and medical uses of nuclear materials in order to protect the public health and safety and promote the common defense and security. In so doing, Congress defined the NRC's mission to enable the Nation to use radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes while ensuring that public health and safety, common defense and security, and the environment are protected. The NRC's scope of responsibility includes regulation of commercial nuclear power plants; research, test, and training reactors; nuclear fuel cycle facilities (also called fuel cycle facilities); medical, academic, and industrial uses of radioactive materials; and the transport, storage, and disposal of radioactive materials and wastes. The NRC's regulations are designed to protect the public and occupational workers from radiation hazards in those industries using radioactive materials. The NRC is headed by five Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, to serve 5-year terms. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairman. Under the leadership and policy direction of the Chairman and Commissioners, the NRC issues licenses and oversees licensees for civilian uses of radioactive materials:
The NRC has responsibility for regulatory activities related to radiation protection and nuclear safety for nuclear facilities and for protection of the common defense and security related to uses of radioactive materials. The NRC also has a role in overseeing certain international uses of radioactive materials. For example, the NRC issues and oversees licenses for the import and export of radioactive materials, and participates in multilateral safeguards and security inspections. The agency works closely with its international counterparts in these areas. In addition, 33 States have signed agreements with the NRC under which they assume regulatory responsibility for the use of certain quantities of radioactive materials for civilian purposes in their respective States. These Agreement States implement State regulations that are compatible with NRC regulations for approximately 80 percent of the more than 17,000 radioactive materials licensees in the United States. The NRC works closely with Agreement States to ensure a sound and consistent regulatory framework. The NRC, the Agreement States, and those who hold licenses to use radioactive materials share a common responsibility to protect public health and safety and the environment in the United States. Because licensees actually use radioactive materials, they have the ultimate responsibility to handle and use the materials. The Changing Regulatory EnvironmentThe many industries that utilize radioactive materials are experiencing change, particularly in the areas of nuclear safety, security and emergency preparedness, risk-informed performance-based regulations, energy production, and waste management. In the next 5 years the Nation is likely to see the following changes occur:
The backdrop to these industry-specific changes is elevated security and heightened public concern about safety. The NRC recognizes that recent issues, ranging from the potential for terrorist activities to public concern about the adequacy of emergency preparedness plans for areas surrounding nuclear facilities, have contributed to building public confidence through increased public dialogue about the uses of radioactive materials. In this regard the NRC is committed to sharing openly its information and decision-making processes with the public, consistent with the law, and is committed to implementing regulatory processes that facilitate stakeholder involvement. While the NRC will continue to make as much information as possible available to the public, the agency will withhold a relatively small amount of information that could assist potential terrorists. The manner in which the NRC regulates is also evolving. As the agency continues to learn from operational experience and develops more effective ways of assessing risks and using risk-informed and performance- based approaches founded in "realistic conservatism," it is better able to make appropriate safety decisions and to better allocate resources to areas where they will have the greatest positive effect. The NRC continues to seek improved effectiveness and efficiency. Toward that end, the agency is taking on specific management challenges identified through ongoing program evaluations. With respect to all facilities licensed by the NRC and Agreement States, the NRC is increasingly approaching safety, security, and emergency preparedness in an integrated manner. Safety requirements for structures, systems, components, programs, and people all contribute to both safety and security by making accidents unlikely and mitigation capability strong. In addition, safety and security requirements together make these facilities uninviting targets. Ensuring the protection of public health and safety and the environment has always been, and continues to be, the NRC's primary goal. Accordingly, safety is the most important consideration in evaluating license applications, licensee performance, and proposed changes to the regulatory framework. Because security is essential to the NRC's mission and linked with safety, it is also an important consideration in the agency's actions. The agency continuously works to improve its effectiveness and efficiency without conflicting with or undermining its safety and security mission. All of these trends and issues have been considered in developing this Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2004-2009. Organization of the PlanOver the next several years, the NRC will focus on a single strategic objective and five goals that support that objective, as described in detail in subsequent sections of this plan. Each section begins with an appropriate goal, strategic outcomes, and a discussion of the evolving issues affecting that particular goal. In each case, this discussion is followed by a description of the strategies and significant means by which the agency will achieve the given goal. The NRC will assess its progress through performance measures and metrics (used to gauge program performance and to verify that key program outputs and outcomes are met). Appendix A expands on the discussion of the agency's strategic objective and goals by discussing key external factors that could affect the agency's ability to effectively execute this Strategic Plan. Appendix B describes the schedule of planned program evaluations that the agency will use to adjust and refine its performance. Appendix C is a glossary of terms used in the plan. Our strategic objective, goals, and strategic outcomes follow. Strategic ObjectiveEnable the use and management of radioactive materials and nuclear fuels for beneficial civilian purposes in a manner that protects public health and safety and the environment, promotes the security of our nation, and provides for regulatory actions that are open, effective, efficient, realistic, and timely. GoalsI. Safety: Ensure protection of public health and safety and the environment. II. Security: Ensure the secure use and management of radioactive materials. III. Openness: Ensure openness in our regulatory process. IV. Effectiveness: Ensure that NRC actions are effective, efficient, realistic, and timely. V. Management: Ensure excellence in agency management to carry out the NRC's strategic objective. Strategic Outcomes
I. SAFETYGoalEnsure Protection of Public Health and Safety and the Environment. Strategic Outcomes
DiscussionThe NRC's primary goal is to regulate the safe uses of radioactive materials for civilian purposes to ensure the protection of public health and safety and the environment. In response to anticipated developments in the nuclear arena over the next several years, the NRC will place significant emphasis on strengthening the interrelationship among safety, security, and emergency preparedness. The NRC achieves its safety goal by licensing individuals and organizations to use radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes and then ensuring that the performance of these licensees is at or above acceptable safety levels. In particular, we maintain vigilance over safety performance through ongoing licensing reviews and inspections, and expanded oversight. We also use enforcement actions for significant deficiencies, including issuing orders for corrective action, issuing shutdown orders, imposing civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution, or, when appropriate, suspending or revoking a license. The NRC's regulatory actions apply to all licensees whether they use radioactive materials for power generation, reactor fuel production, medical therapies, industrial processes, research, or waste storage and disposal. The agency's regulatory activities are applied in a graded manner consistent with the risk presented by specific uses, incorporating sound science and operating experience to ensure that licensees have adequate safety margins. In carrying out its safety mission, the NRC conducts activities and takes the full range of actions necessary to ensure that a licensee's performance does not fall below acceptable levels. Future challenges to the agency's regulatory climate are expected to require adjustment to both internal and external factors, such as the use of risk-informed and, as appropriate, performance-based regulations. Some important considerations include materials degradation at nuclear power plants; high-level waste transport, storage, and disposal; new and evolving technologies; and continual review of ongoing operational experience. The importance of materials degradation issues is highlighted by recent experiences, including a cavity in a reactor vessel head that the licensee discovered while the facility was shut down. Because of the lessons the NRC learned from these events, the agency increased inspection activities and expanded research into materials degradation issues. Another materials degradation concern is that the majority of operating nuclear power plants are expected to apply for 20-year extensions of their licenses. The primary consideration in the license renewal process is to ensure that the effects of aging are monitored, managed, and controlled such that safety is ensured for the renewal period. License renewal applications for aging plants call for analysis of the robustness, longevity, and continued performance of nuclear power plant components such as electric cabling, instruments and controls, piping, and containment structures. The NRC faces a major challenge as the Department of Energy prepares an application to establish the Nation's first repository for high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The NRC's review of this application will require evaluation of a wide range of technical and scientific analyses and the resolution of various regulatory issues. A related issue may require that safe interim storage capacity must be made available until a repository is licensed and ready to receive high-level waste. Toward that end, the NRC regulates various options for interim storage, including spent fuel pools onsite and dry casks at independent spent fuel storage installations. In addition, the NRC must ensure the safety of spent fuel transportation casks. These casks will be evaluated, tested, and certified as capable of transporting spent fuel from reactor sites or other storage facilities to the national repository. One challenge the NRC is addressing involves the new reactor designs being submitted for review and possible licensing by the NRC. These next-generation designs require detailed analysis of their vulnerability to accidents and security compromises, as well as development of inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria for their construction. The NRC is evaluating commercial gas centrifuge facilities that utilize new methods of enriching nuclear fuel for operation in the United States. The NRC is reviewing a license application for a mixed oxide fuel facility that would use plutonium salvaged from decommissioned nuclear weapons to fabricate fuel assemblies for nuclear power plants as a technique for reducing existing quantities of weapons-usable materials. A final area of future consideration for the NRC will arise as the agency continually reviews domestic and international operational experience to help identify potential new licensee-specific or generic safety issues. It is the responsibility of the NRC to ensure that its licensees use radioactive materials safely. The NRC employs a multi-faceted regulatory approach to safety that includes the following activities:
The NRC recognizes that close cooperation among Federal agencies, State authorities, and local and Indian Tribal governments will lead to the most effective regulation. Therefore, the NRC works with other Federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Justice, and Homeland Security, as well as State, local, and Tribal authorities to ensure appropriate coordination of safety and security measures at nuclear facilities and the protection of the safety and rights of occupational workers. Nuclear safety is, moreover, a global issue. As a result, the NRC closely cooperates with its counterpart foreign regulatory bodies and international organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency, to share information, resources, best practices, and lessons learned from operating experience and to influence the development of standards and guidance consistent with U.S. objectives. Strategies and MeansThe NRC will employ the following strategies to ensure protection of public health and safety and the environment. Safety Strategies
Means to Support Safety StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to ensure protection of public health, safety, and the environment. The major programs include licensing and inspection oversight programs, including key program activities such as the incident response program, the Agreement States program, and the ongoing research program. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following examples:
II. SECURITYGOALEnsure the Secure Use and Management of Radioactive Materials STRATEGIC OUTCOME
DiscussionThe primary challenge facing the NRC in the coming years is to emerge from the period of uncertainty in post-September 11 security requirements; determine what long-term security provisions are necessary; and revise its regulations, orders, and internal procedures as necessary to ensure public health and safety and the common defense and security in an elevated threat environment. In particular, the NRC will focus its efforts on the following activities:
The NRC is being called upon to expand its role in international activities related to the security of radioactive materials and nuclear facilities. The agency participates in the formulation of foreign policy guidance and shares with the Department of Energy the responsibility for providing international assistance in nuclear security and safeguards. The agency also reviews applications and issues import and export licenses for nuclear materials and equipment. The NRC's involvement with the International Atomic Energy Agency on nuclear safeguards, nonproliferation, and international regulatory standards is also being affected. Strategies and MeansThe NRC will employ the following strategies to ensure the secure use and management of radioactive materials. Security Strategies
Means to Support Security StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to ensure the secure use and management of radioactive materials, including the following examples:
III. OPENNESSGOALEnsure Openness in Our Regulatory Process STRATEGIC OUTCOMEStakeholders are informed and involved in NRC processes as appropriate. DiscussionThe NRC views nuclear regulation as the public's business and, as such, it should be transacted openly and candidly in order to maintain the public's confidence. The goal to ensure openness explicitly recognizes that the public must be informed about, and have a reasonable opportunity to participate meaningfully in, the NRC's regulatory processes. Over the next several years, the public's interest in the safety and security of nuclear facilities and transportation of nuclear waste is expected to increase because of emerging issues. In particular, these issues include the anticipated license application from the Department of Energy for a high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, the potential increase in the number of spent nuclear fuel shipments, the increase in the number of applications to extend the operating life of reactors, applications for a variety of fuel cycle facilities, and possible submittal of applications for reactor facilities. As a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, both security and emergency planning issues have become increasingly important to both the public and government officials. The NRC must, therefore, concentrate its efforts on assuring the public that its rigorous oversight and "defense-in-depth" approach ensures that the public is adequately protected, and that emergency plans surrounding the facility are well conceived and will work. In light of increased terrorist activity worldwide, the agency has had to reexamine its traditional practice of releasing almost all documents to the public. While most important safety information would not be useful to potential terrorists and can be shared with the public, that is not true for an increasing amount of security information. The NRC will adopt policies relating to sensitive security information consistent with those at the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. Although the NRC will withhold a relatively small amount of information that could assist potential terrorists, the agency will continue to make as much information as possible available to the public. The focus on security has emerged at a time of renewed interest in nuclear power. Some utilities are applying to the NRC for early site permits for new reactors, and existing plants are extending their licenses so they can operate for an additional 20 years. As the NRC processes these requests, it will need to address public concerns about vulnerability to many different types of terrorist attacks without disclosing information that could aid terrorists. The NRC believes in the importance of transparency in its communications, as well as early and meaningful public involvement in the regulatory process. The agency is committed to keeping the public informed and believes that a responsible and effective regulatory process includes an involved public that is well informed. Strategies and MeansThe NRC will employ the following strategies to ensure openness in its regulatory processes. Openness Strategies
Means to Support Openness StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to ensure openness in the agency's regulatory process. Activities to be conducted during this strategic planning period include the following examples:
IV. EFFECTIVENESSGOALEnsure That NRC Actions Are Effective, Efficient, Realistic, and Timely STRATEGIC OUTCOMENo significant licensing or regulatory impediments to the safe and beneficial uses of radioactive materials. DiscussionOver the next several years, the NRC anticipates a significant increase in agency workload. In particular, the workload is likely to include licensing requests of unprecedented technical complexity, including the Department of Energy application to license the Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository and requests to license the next generation of nuclear reactors. Security demands are becoming more complex, requiring diverse professional expertise and close coordination with other Federal, State, and local agencies. Increases in both the frequency and the extent of stakeholder involvement in the NRC's regulatory processes are expected as the agency works to improve openness. These and other challenges are coming at a time when initiatives such as the Government Performance and Results Act are challenging Federal agencies to become more effective and efficient and to justify their budget requests with demonstrated program results. The drive to improve performance in Government, 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. Effectiveness means achieving the desired outcome from a program, process, or activity. The concept of effectiveness applies to all levels of the agency, from individual actions, to programs, to agency-wide initiatives. At the program level, for example, effectiveness refers to the degree of success in achieving program goals and requires careful alignment of planned activities to intended program results to ensure that the right work is being performed. Efficiency refers to productivity, quality, and cost characteristics that together define how economically an activity or process is performed. The NRC recognizes that the efficiency of the agency's regulatory processes is important to the regulated community and other stakeholders, including Federal, State, and local agencies, and to the public. Efficient regulatory processes help the NRC to meet stakeholder expectations regarding timely, accurate, and responsible agency actions. While the NRC will never compromise safety for the sake of increased efficiency, the agency works to improve the efficiency of its regulatory processes whenever practicable. Timeliness, a key product of efficiency, means acting within a predictable time frame and without unnecessary delays. NRC actions should be timely to support the agency's strategic objective of enabling the safe, beneficial use of radioactive materials. The timeliness of agency actions is key to providing a stable, reliable, and responsive regulatory environment. The agency has established timeliness goals for many of its regulatory activities and regularly tracks its performance in meeting these goals. Throughout the regulatory processes, the NRC seeks to impose only those requirements that are necessary to achieve the agency's mission. NRC regulations were established using the "defense-in-depth" principles and conservative practices that, in some cases, have led to requirements that may exceed what is necessary to reasonably ensure the protection of public health and safety and the environment. Advances in risk analysis and scientific understanding, as well as lessons learned through operating experience, are used to help the agency to focus on the most significant safety requirements and, in certain instances, to avoid unnecessary conservatism that offers little safety benefit. The NRC believes that efforts to improve efficiency, timeliness, and realism are congruent with the agency's safety and security goals. In fact, initiatives related to this goal should serve to sharpen the agency's focus on safety and security and ensure that available resources are optimally directed toward the NRC's mission. Many factors could contribute to licensing and regulatory impediments, such as an inadequate regulatory framework, an ineffective program, or an inefficient process that results in an untimely regulatory decision. The NRC is committed to addressing such issues through initiatives related to this goal, and it will also monitor the regulated community for instances where agency actions may have unnecessarily impeded licensees and applicants. In conducting this monitoring, the NRC may consider the results of self-assessments and external assessments, feedback from stakeholders, Congressional direction, and other sources. Strategies and MeansThe NRC will employ the following strategies to ensure that its actions are effective, efficient, realistic, and timely. Effectiveness Strategies
Means to Support Effectiveness StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to ensure achievement of the effectiveness goal. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following examples: Conduct systematic evaluations to assess the effectiveness of the agency's programs in relation to its strategic objective and goals. In addition to dedicated internal resources, the NRC will retain outside expertise, as needed, to provide objective assessments and recommendations to improve program performance. [Supports Strategies 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8]
V. MANAGEMENTGOALEnsure Excellence in Agency Management to carry out the NRC's strategic objective STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
DiscussionThe NRC strives for management excellence in carrying out all of its regulatory responsibilities. The agency believes that management excellence should be achieved while fostering the successful conduct of priority activities. In setting this goal, the NRC considered the management and support needed to achieve the agency's mission, preexisting management challenges, and other initiatives identified by central organizations such as the General Accounting Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management. This goal includes strategies for the management of human capital, infrastructure management, improved financial performance, expanded electronic government, budget and performance integration, and internal communications. Over the next several years, the NRC will deal with a variety of issues across the management spectrum. Among these, the greatest challenges will be to acquire, develop and sustain the agency's highly skilled and diverse technical workforce and to strengthen its information technology infrastructure. The NRC will support its workforce with a high quality, cost-effective administrative infrastructure. Strategies will focus on enhancing individual and collective productivity with the appropriate tools and on employing innovative and sound management practices. Strategies and Means to Ensure Excellence in Agency ManagementThe NRC will employ a variety of strategies, resources, skills, processes, and technologies to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of agency management. The Agency Management strategies will be achieved by a variety of means, some of which are listed below. A. Management of Human CapitalThe NRC's technical, engineering, legal, and administrative workforce possesses detailed knowledge and specialized technical skills that enable the agency to fulfill its mission. To maintain this expertise and respond to emerging needs, the NRC will need to build its human capital in areas as diverse as nuclear engineering, nuclear safeguards and security, risk assessment, health physics, geochemistry, hydrology, materials engineering, law, information technology, communications, financial management, and other administrative skills. These individuals will achieve their greatest effectiveness when they are appropriately deployed, fully engaged in fulfilling the NRC's mission requirements, and recognized for their performance. For this reason, the agency periodically assesses its management of human capital, looking for ways to make improvements that will better support the achievement of the mission. The NRC will also focus its use of competitive sourcing to improve efficiency and bolster needed skills for the coming years. Human Capital StrategiesThe NRC will employ the following strategies to achieve the management excellence goal:
Selected Means to Achieve Human Capital StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the goal of excellence in agency management. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following examples:
B. Infrastructure ManagementTo provide the NRC with high quality, cost-effective infrastructure management to support the agency's mission and strategic goal achievement, strategies focus on protecting workers and enhancing their individual and collective productivity with the appropriate tools, while employing innovative and sound business practices. Infrastructure Management StrategiesThe NRC will employ the following strategies to achieve the management excellence goal:
Selected Means to Achieve Infrastructure Management StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the goal of excellence in agency management. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following example:
C. Improved Financial PerformanceAccurate and timely financial information is critical to achieving the NRC's goals. The effectiveness of the agency's financial management directly affects the fees borne by licensees, as well as the burden on the taxpaying public. Improved Financial Performance StrategiesThe NRC will employ the strategies described below to achieve the management excellence goal:
Selected Means to Achieve Improved Financial Performance StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the goal of excellence in agency management. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following example: Assess needs and identify opportunities to streamline the agency's financial management processes and systems. [Supports Strategies 1 and 2] D. Expanded Electronic GovernmentThe NRC's information technology infrastructure is facing three critical challenges:
Expanded Electronic Government StrategiesThe NRC will employ the following strategies to achieve the management excellence goal:
Selected Means to Achieve Expanded Electronic Government StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the goal of excellence in agency management. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following examples:
E. Budget and Performance IntegrationThe Government Performance and Results Act calls upon Federal agencies to align their resource allocation decisions more closely with performance outcomes. The NRC has put in place several key processes to ensure such alignment and is now focusing its efforts on effective implementation. Budget and Performance Integration StrategiesThe NRC will employ the following strategies to achieve the management excellence goal:
Selected Means to Achieve Budget and Performance Integration StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the goal of excellence in agency management. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following example: Improve the performance management system for senior executives by aligning individual performance objectives with organizational and agency goals. [Supports Strategy 1] F. Internal CommunicationsInternal communications are critically important to the NRC and vital to achieving agency goals. NRC management recognizes that it must strengthen its internal communication methods to foster and support a culture of openness and innovation. Internal Communications StrategiesThe NRC will employ the following strategies to achieve the management excellence goal:
Selected Means to Achieve Internal Communications StrategiesThe NRC conducts a number of programs and initiatives to achieve the goal of excellence in agency management. Activities to be conducted in these programs during this strategic planning period include the following examples:
Appendix AKey External FactorsThe NRC's ability to achieve its goals depends on a changing equation of industry operating experience, national priorities, market forces, and availability of resources. This appendix discusses significant external factors, all of which are beyond the control of the NRC but could have an impact on the agency's ability to achieve its strategic goals. Receipt of New Reactor Operating License ApplicationsThe U.S. nuclear industry has indicated a new and growing interest in licensing and constructing new nuclear power plants. If the NRC receives a substantial increase in new reactor operating license applications beyond that presently anticipated, significant reallocation of resources would be necessary to provide timely review of the applications and inspection of construction activities. In addition, the high level of public interest likely to be associated with such applications would require significant efforts by the NRC to keep stakeholders informed and involved in the licensing process. Significant Operating Incident (Domestic or International)A significant safety incident could cause an unexpected increase in safety and security requirements that would likely change the agency's focus on initiatives related to its five goals until the situation was stabilized. Because NRC stakeholders (including the public) are highly sensitive to many issues regarding the use of radioactive materials, even events of relatively minor safety or security significance can sometimes require a response that consumes considerable agency resources. Significant Terrorist IncidentA significant terrorist incident anywhere in the United States could significantly alter the Nation's priorities. This, in turn, could affect significance levels, a need for new or changed security requirements, or other policy decisions that might impact the NRC, its partners, and the industry it regulates. In particular, the impact on State regulatory and enforcement authorities might affect their ability to work with the NRC in achieving its goals. A significant terrorist incident at a nuclear facility or activity anywhere in the world would likely result in similar changes in the NRC's priorities and potentially in U.S. policy regarding export activities, the NRC's role in international security, and/or requirements for security at U.S. nuclear power plants. Timing of the Department of Energy Application and Related Activities for the High-Level Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain The proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel represents a major effort for the NRC in planning, review, analysis, and ultimate decision-making regarding the licensing of the facility. The agency has begun to ramp up this effort in response to pre-application activities by the Department of Energy. The timing of the Department's actions will heavily influence the NRC's resource allocation decisions over the next several years. Acceleration or delay in the Department's activities will most likely require reprogramming of NRC resources, which may affect other programs that are directly associated with achieving the agency's goals. Homeland Security InitiativesEmergency preparedness activities with Federal, State, and local agencies continue to increase in scope and number. This impacts the agencies' priorities and workloads. As more resources are diverted to external coordination activities, previous work activities are re-prioritized. Legislative InitiativesNumerous legislative initiatives under consideration by Congress could have a major impact on the NRC. In particular, pending energy legislation would affect the agency's priorities and workload, if enacted. Increasing interest in diversified sources of energy and energy independence could lead to an increase in license applications for nuclear power plants. Any attendant increase in resources devoted to license review and analysis might affect the agency's ability to achieve its goals for this planning period. Appendix BProgram EvaluationsConsistent with the NRC's goal of ensuring safety, the agency is evaluating several of its safety programs aimed at ensuring that the performance of licensees are at or above acceptable safety levels. The program evaluations presented below reinforce the NRC's commitment to ensuring nuclear safety. The NRC considered the results of the evaluations in developing the strategies in the Safety section. For example, the results of evaluations of the agency's Reactor Inspection and Performance Assessment program and the Fuel Cycle Licensing and Inspection program were used to strengthen the alignment of program performance measures with the agency's strategic outcomes, as well as to better demonstrate contributions of program activities and outputs. Planned Program Evaluations:Reactor License Renewal ProgramExpected Completion Date: FY 2004 Reactor Operating Experience ProgramExpected Completion Date: FY 2004 High-Level Waste RepositoryExpected Completion Date: FY 2005 Reactor Oversight ProgramExpected Completion Date: FY 2005 Reactor Licensing ProgramExpected Completion Date: FY 2005 Uranium RecoveryExpected Completion Date: FY 2006 Reactor Safety Research Program Research and Test Reactor Program Allegation ProgramExpected Completion Date: FY 2006 Schedule for Planned Program EvaluationsFY 2004: FY 2005: FY 2006: Appendix CGlossaryAgreement State: a State that has signed an agreement with the NRC allowing the State to regulate the use of certain radioactive materials within its borders. Defense-in-Depth: an element of the NRC's Safety Philosophy that employs successive compensatory measures to prevent accidents or lessen the effects of damage if a malfunction or accident occurs at a nuclear facility. The NRC's Safety Philosophy ensures that the public is adequately protected and that emergency plans surrounding a nuclear facility are well conceived and will work. Moreover, the philosophy ensures that safety will not be wholly dependent on any single element of the design, construction, maintenance, or operation of a nuclear facility. Design Basis Threat: a profile of the type, composition, and capabilities of an adversary. The NRC and its licensees use the design basis threat as a basis for designing safeguards systems to protect against acts of radiological sabotage and to prevent the theft of special nuclear material. Diversity: differences that define each employee as a unique individual. Differences in culture, ethnicity, race, gender, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, experiences, opinions, and beliefs are just some of the distinctions that each employee brings to the workplace. Effectiveness: ability to achieve the intended outcome(s) of an activity, program, or process. A program cannot be considered effective if it is not meeting its objectives and achieving the intended outcome(s). Efficiency: the ability to act with a minimum of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort. Efficiency embodies a combination of productivity, cost, timeliness, and quality. Enterprise Architecture: a strategic information asset base that defines (a) the mission, (b) the information necessary to perform the mission, (c) the technologies necessary to perform the mission, and (d) the transitional processes for implementing new technologies in response to changing mission needs. In addition, enterprise architecture includes (a) a baseline architecture, (b) a target architecture, and (c) a sequencing plan. Enterprise architecture is used to inform and guide information technology planning and investment decisions. High-Level Waste: the highly radioactive materials that are produced as byproducts of the reactions that occur inside nuclear reactors. Such wastes take one of two forms, becoming either spent (used) reactor fuel when it is accepted for disposal or waste materials that remain after spent fuel is reprocessed. Low-Level Waste: items that have become contaminated with radioactive material or have become radioactive through exposure to neutron radiation. This waste typically consists of contaminated protective shoe covers and clothing, wiping rags, mops, filters, reactor water treatment residues, equipment and tools, luminous dials, medical swabs, injection needles, and syringes. The radioactivity can range from just above background levels found in nature to very high levels found in certain cases (such as parts from inside the reactor vessel in a nuclear power plant). Outcome Goals: long-term performance goals; the intended outcomes of specific strategies. Performance-Based: an approach to regulatory practice that establishes performance and results as the primary bases for decision-making. Performance-based regulations have the following attributes: (1) measurable, calculable or objectively observable parameters exist or can be developed to monitor performance; (2) objective criteria exist or can be developed to assess performance; (3) licensees have flexibility to determine how to meet the established performance criteria in ways that will encourage and reward improved outcomes; and (4) a framework exists or can be developed in which the failure to meet a performance criterion, while undesirable, will not in and of itself constitute or result in an immediate safety concern. Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART): an instrument used by the Office of Management and Budget to inform budgeting decisions, support management, identify design problems, and promote performance measurement and accountability. Regulatory Framework: several interrelated aspects--(1) the NRC's mandate from Congress in the form of enabling legislation, (2) the NRC's licenses, orders, and regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, (3) regulatory guides, and review plans and other documents that guide the application of NRC requirements that amplify those regulations, (4) the licensing and inspection procedures utilized by NRC employees, and (5) the enforcement guidance. Risk-Informed: an approach to decision-making in which risk insights are considered along with other factors such as engineering judgment, safety limits, redundancy, and diversity. Risk insights are gathered by asking three questions: "What can go wrong?"; "How likely is it?"; and "What are the consequences?" A risk assessment is a systematic method for addressing these three questions as they relate to understanding likely outcomes, sensitivities, areas of importance, system interactions, and areas of uncertainty. Risk Insights: refers to the results and findings that come from risk assessments. A risk assessment is a systematic method for addressing the three risk questions as they relate to the performance of a particular system (which may include a human component) to understand likely outcomes, sensitivities, areas of importance, system interactions and areas of uncertainty. Spent Fuel: see High-Level Waste. Stakeholders: members of the public with a specific interest in a given topic. Standards: technical requirements and recommended practices for performance of any device, apparatus, system, or phenomenon associated with a specific field. Yucca Mountain Repository: a proposed underground facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for the permanent disposal of high-level waste produced from nuclear power plants and the Nation's nuclear weapons production activities. Endnotes(1) "Nuclear reactor accidents" are defined in the NRC Severe Accident Policy Statement as those events that result in substantial damage to the reactor fuel, whether or not serious offsite consequences occur. (2) "Significant radiation exposures" are defined as those that result in unintended permanent functional damage to an organ or a physiological system as determined by a physician in accordance with Abnormal Occurrence Criterion I.A.3. (3) Releases that have the potential to cause "adverse impact" are those that exceed the limits for reporting abnormal occurrences as given by Abnormal Occurrence criterion 1.B.1 [normally 5,000 times Table 2 (air and water) of Appendix B, Part 20]. (4) "Public" includes occupational workers. |
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