[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 140 (Friday, July 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 38041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18175]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Working Group on Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation 
Program (IMPEP) Lessons Learned

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of formation of working group and public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory (NRC) is announcing a meeting and the 
formation of a working group on Integrated Materials Performance 
Evaluation Program (IMPEP) Lessons Learned. The working group will 
provide recommendations to the NRC on enhancements and lessons learned 
to strengthen the IMPEP process. The working group is composed of 
representatives from the NRC and Agreement States.

DATES: The first meeting will be held on July 31-August 2, 2001, from 8 
am to 5 pm.

ADDRESSES: NRC Headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-3-B-6, 
Rockville, Maryland, 20852. These meetings will be open to the public. 
Future meetings will be announced on the NRC public meeting web site, 
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/PUBLIC/meet.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen Schneider, Senior Health 
Physicist, Office of State and Tribal Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001. Telephone: 301-415-2320; e-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In FY 1996, NRC began implementation of 
IMPEP in the evaluation of Agreement State and Regional materials 
programs to assure that public health and safety are adequately 
protected from the hazards associated with the use of radioactive 
materials and that Agreement State programs are compatible with NRC's 
programs. The IMPEP process employs a team of NRC and Agreement State 
staff to assess both Agreement State and NRC Regional Office 
radioactive materials licensing and inspection programs. All reviews 
use common criteria in the assessment and place primary emphasis on 
performance. Additional areas have been identified as non-common 
performance indicators and are also addressed in the assessment. The 
final determination of adequacy of each NRC Regional Office and both 
adequacy and compatibility of each Agreement State program, based on 
the review team's report, is made by a Management Review Board (MRB) 
composed of NRC managers and an Agreement State program manager who 
serves as the Agreement State liaison to the MRB.
    At the end of FY1999, NRC completed its first round of IMPEP 
reviews for all Agreement States. Regional reviews originally were 
performed every 2 years and are now performed every 4 years. Agreement 
State reviews occur at frequencies of 2-4 years. From its inception, 
IMPEP has been an iterative process. As the program progressed from the 
pilot, through interim implementation to final implementation, NRC 
staff has factored in experience, comments and suggestions to enhance 
IMPEP. At the completion of this first cycle of reviews, NRC believes 
that an independent examination by a working group of the IMPEP 
experiences to date could further enhance this program. The working 
group will evaluate IMPEP experiences for additional enhancements and 
lessons learned to strengthen the IMPEP process.
    A copy of the working group charter is available through the NRC's 
Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) at 
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html, where the accession number is 
ML011930478. Copies may also be obtained by contacting the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) by calling (800) 397-4209, faxing a request to 
(301) 415-3548, or sending a request by electronic mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of July 2001.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Paul H. Lohaus,
Director, Office of State and Tribal Programs.
[FR Doc. 01-18175 Filed 7-19-01; 8:45 am]
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