[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5917-5918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2710]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Revised Reactor Oversight Process Workshop

AGENCY:  Nuclear Regulatory Commission

ACTION:  Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY:  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing 
significant revisions to its processes for overseeing the safety 
performance of commercial nuclear power plants that include integrating 
the inspection, assessment, and enforcement processes. As part of its 
proposal, the NRC staff established a new regulatory oversight 
framework with a set of performance indicators and associated 
thresholds, developed a new baseline inspection program that 
supplements and verifies the performance indicators, and created a 
continuous assessment process that includes a method for consistently 
determining the appropriate regulatory actions in response to varying 
levels of safety performance. The changes are the result of continuing 
work on a concept as described in SECY-99-007, ``Recommendations for 
Reactor Oversight Process Improvements'' dated January 8, 1999, and 
SECY-99-007A, ``Recommendations for Reactor Oversight Improvements 
(Follow-Up to SECY-99-007)'' dated March 22, 1999. On June 18, 1999, 
the Staff Requirements Memorandum on SECY-99-007 and SECY-99-007A was 
issued which approved the scope and concepts for the revised reactor 
oversight process (RROP), and approved the staff's plan for conducting 
a pilot program. The six-month pilot program for the RROP was conducted 
at two sites per region from May 30, 1999, to November 27, 1999. The 
purpose of the pilot program was to apply the RROP and collect lessons 
learned so that the various processes and procedures could be refined 
and revised as necessary prior to initial implementation.
    Now that the pilot program is complete and lessons learned 
identified, the NRC will hold public workshops in each of the four NRC 
regions. The workshop will provide information to NRC, industry, and 
the public on the NRC's Revised Reactor Oversight Process that is 
currently scheduled to be implemented starting April 2, 2000, pending 
NRC Commission approval. The workshop will focus on the key attributes 
of the new oversight process and their associated program documents.
    Information about the revised reactor oversight process and the 
pilot program is available on the Internet at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/index.html
    A preliminary agenda for the workshop will consist of the 
following:
    Day 1: registration, background and concept review, workshop 
objectives, performance indicators--overview, performance indicator 
threshold review, examples, and recent changes
    Day 2: baseline inspection program--overview, program review, 
procedure review, and recent changes supplemental inspection program, 
inspection planning and documentation regional inspection planning 
significance determination processes (SDP)--reactor and non-reactor, 
including recent changes
    Day 3: reactor and non-reactor SDPs) examples of SDP and 
enforcement (parallel breakout sessions for enforcement and recent 
changes event response inspection activities assessment process, 
examples, and recent changes wrap-up/closing remarks

DATES:  Registration for the workshop will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 
on the first day of the workshop. There is no pre-registration. The 
workshop will run from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. the first day and from 
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. the second and third day.

Workshop Locations

Region III

    Date: Feb 22-24
    Address: Hilton Lisle/Naperville, IL, 3003 Corporate West Dr, 
Lisle, IL 60532.
    Telephone: (630)-505-0900.
    Special Rate: $89.00*
    Cut off date: 1/31/2000

Region II

    Date: March 6-8, 2000
    Address: Georgia International Convention Center (Location is 
Tentative), 1902 Sullivan Road, College Park, GA 30337-0506.
    Hotel: There are a number of Hotels in the immediate area. The 
convention center does not have sleeping facilities.

Region IV

    Date: March 14-16, 2000.
    Address: Wyndham Arlington, 1500 Convention Center Drive, 
Arlington, TX 76011.
    Telephone: (800)-442-7275.
    Special Rate: $77*.
    Cut off date: 2/11/2000.

Region I

    Dated: March 21-23, 2000.
    Address: Holiday Inn, Independence Mall, 400 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, PA.
    Telephone: (800)-843-2355.
    Special Rate: $139*.
    Cut off date: 2/28/2000.
    * Special group rate is available when registering with the hotel 
and asking for the ``NRC's Regulatory Oversight Process Workshop'' 
block of rooms. The group rate is subject to applicable state and local 
taxes and availability.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Alan Madison, Mail Stop: O5-H4, 
Inspection Program Branch, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U. S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-001, telephone 301-
415-1490.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of January 2000.


[[Page 5918]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William M. Dean,
Chief, Inspection Program Branch, Division of Inspection Program 
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-2710 Filed 2-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-U