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Commission Direction-Setting and Policymaking
Activities
On this page:
See also the Schedule
for Upcoming Commission Meetings
Commission Appointments
The NRC is headed by five
Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S.
Senate for five-year terms. One of the Commissioners is designated by
the President to serve as Chairman.
Chairman and Commission Responsibilities
The Chairman
is the principal executive officer of the Commission and is responsible
to the Commission for developing policy planning and guidance for consideration
by the Commission, including budget formulation. The Chairman also serves
as the official spokesperson for the Commission.
The Commission
as a collegial body formulates policies, develops regulations governing
nuclear reactor and nuclear material safety and security, issues orders to licensees,
and adjudicates legal matters.
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How the Commission Operates
The Commission makes decisions in several ways:
- The primary decisionmaking tool is a written issue paper submitted
by the NRC staff to the Commission. Policy, security, rulemaking, and adjudicatory
matters, and general information are provided in a stylized document
referred to as a "SECY Paper."
- Commission
Action Memoranda, known as "COMs," are written exchanges
among Commissioners on issues before the Commission or a matter a Commissioner
wants to bring to the attention of his or her fellow Commissioners.
COMs may also come from NRC staff seeking Commission guidance.
- Commission meetings may be held with the NRC staff and/or outside
parties to discuss issues before the Commission for action. Members
of the public are welcome to attend and observe public Commission meetings
held at the NRC Headquarters building. Unofficial transcripts
are produced for each public meeting and are available on the Web for
viewing or downloading approximately two days after the meeting. Public
meetings are broadcast live on the Web and are archived for future viewing
as indicated on our meetings
page. See the Schedule
of Upcoming Commission Meetings for more information.
Issues before the Commission are decided by majority vote. After the
Commission completes voting on a SECY Paper or Commission Action Memoranda,
the Office of the Secretary (SECY) records the decision in a memorandum
to the staff called "Staff
Requirements Memorandum" (SRM) and also issues a "Commission
Voting Record" (CVR) which includes the record of votes and individual
views of all Commissioners. SRMs are also issued following each Commission
meeting to document any discussion or requests made at the meeting.
Commission Orders
address appeals or motions before the Commission in such matters as license
transfers, license renewals, amendments to nuclear facility licenses,
and enforcement matters. In some cases CLIs are issued in export and rulemaking
matters.
See Internal Commission
Procedures for a more detailed information on the procedures governing
the conduct of business at the Commission level.
Commission
Resources in the Electronic Reading Room
Recently Released
Commission Documents: Daily listing of Commission documents released
to the public.
Commission Papers
(SECY): Written issue papers the NRC staff submits to the Commission
for Commission decision and information about policy, security, rulemaking, and
adjudicatory matters (1996 to present).
Commission Action
Memoranda (COMs): COMs may be (1) written
exchanges among Commissioners on issues before the agency or on matters
a Commissioner wants to bring to the attention of his or her follow Commissioners
or (2) memoranda from the NRC staff seeking guidance from the Commission.
Using COMs allows Commissioners to develop preliminary views, explore
options and propose direction to the staff, and to initiate activities
before staff offices become involved (1996 to present).
Staff Requirements
Memoranda (SRMs): After the Commission completes its vote on a written
issue paper submitted by the NRC staff, the Office of the Secretary records
the decision in a "Staff Requirements Memorandum" (SRM). The
SRM includes a concise statement of the Commission's decision on the
recommendation of the paper, noting specifically any approved modifications
to the recommendations. The SRM also contains a clear statement of any
additional requirements or tasks to be performed by the staff together
with appropriate action due dates (1996 to present).
Commission Voting
Record (CVR): After the Commission completes its vote on a written
issue paper submitted by the NRC staff (SECY)
and the SRM has
been issued, the Office of the Secretary will issue a CVR that includes
(a) an indication of affirmative votes, negative votes, abstentions, non-participation,
and individual views of all Commissioners; (b) a copy of each Commissioner's
vote sheet; (c) a comment resolution section indicating the extent to which
differing views, if any, as expressed in the individual vote sheets, were
accommodated, resolved, and reflected in the final decision; and (d) a
copy of the final SRM (1997 to present).
Commission Meeting Slides, Transcripts, Meeting SRMs and Full Written Explanation for Closed Meetings: Verbatim records of Commission meetings open to the public organized by date of meeting and associated slides and Staff Requirements Memoranda (SRMs). (1996 to present). Also listed are closed meetings with written explanation for closing the meeting.
Combined Index
of Related Commission Documents: This index contains SECY that
have been publicly released and any associated SRM, CVR,
or "Commission
Meeting Transcript" (1996 to present).
Commission Orders:
The Commission has supervisory authority over the conduct of adjudicatory
proceedings of the Atomic
Safety Licensing Board Panel. In a Commission Order, the Commission
may review a panel's memorandum and order, reverse a ruling of the panel,
rule on a petitioner's request to intervene in a proceeding, grant a petitioner
additional time to prepare for a proceeding, or review certain issues
involved in a proceeding (1999 to present).
Commission Speeches:
Speeches of individual Commissioners at various meetings and events in
the United States and abroad (1997 to present).
Commission
Correspondence: Important Commission correspondence to Congress
and others concerning NRC activities.
Commission
Responses to GAO Reports: Commission comments on Government Accountability
Office (GAO) Reports concerning NRC activities.
Commission Policy
Statements: Subject listing of all Commission Policy Statements.
Not all documents are publicly released upon issuance. As a general policy,
SECY Papers are released 10 business days after issuance of the paper by
the Office of the Secretary unless they contain sensitive information that
warrants protection (adjudicatory, enforcement or investigatory, lawyer-client
or legal work product, classified or proprietary, personal privacy information,
and other sensitive material). SRMs, CVRs, and COMs will be released to
the public immediately after Commission action (Commission voting and preparation
of SRM) is completed unless they contain information that warrants protection
as noted above. The Commission may authorize release of a SECY Paper at
an earlier time than normal to allow earlier public access.
For additional information, see Chapter II, "Decision
Documents" of the Internal
Commission Procedures.
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