[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 213 (Friday, November 2, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55711-55712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27577]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[SECY-01-0188]


Future Licensing and Inspection Readiness Assessment

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing, for 
information, the availability of SECY-01-0188, ``Future Licensing and 
Inspection Readiness Assessment,'' dated October 12, 2001. This 
document presents the staff's assessment of its readiness to review 
applications for licenses and to inspect new nuclear power plants in 
response to the Commission's February 13, 2001, staff requirements 
memorandum (SRM) for COMJSM-00-0003, ``Staff Readiness for New Nuclear 
Plant Construction and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.'' Because of the 
high level of external stakeholder interest in the assessment contained 
in SECY-01-0188, the Commission is announcing its public availability 
at this time.

ADDRESSES: SECY-01-0188 is available for inspection and copying for a 
fee at the Commission's Public Document Room, U.S. NRC's Headquarters 
Building, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and 
electronically from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC web 
site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Electronic Reading Room). The ADAMS 
accession number for SECY-01-0188 is ML012640279. The NRC maintains an 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. These 
documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading 
Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. If you 
do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the 
documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) 
Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to 
[email protected]. A free single copy of SECY-01-0188 will be made available 
to interested parties until the supply is exhausted. Such copies may be 
requested by writing to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Distribution Services, Washington, DC 20555-0001 or submitting an e-
mail to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nanette Gilles, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O-11D17, Washington, DC 20555, Phone 
Number: (301) 415-1180, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the SRM for COMJSM-00-0003 the Commission 
directed the staff to assess its technical, licensing, and inspection 
capabilities and identify enhancements, if any, that would be necessary 
to ensure that the agency can effectively carry out its 
responsibilities associated with an ESP application, a license 
application, and the construction of a new nuclear power plant. In 
addition, the staff was directed to critically assess the regulatory 
infrastructure supporting both part 50 and part 52, and other 
applicable regulations, and identify where enhancements, if any, are 
necessary. The Commission further directed the staff to incorporate 
into its planning the need for early interactions with the Advisory 
Committee on Reactor Safeguards and to integrate the tasks identified 
during this effort with the various related activities that are 
underway. The Commission also directed the staff to provide the 
Commission with a schedule and resource estimates for completing these 
tasks. The Commission stated that the staff should encourage the 
industry to be as specific as possible about its plans and schedules so 
that the agency can plan and budget for advanced reactor activities 
without disrupting other current important initiatives. The Commission 
also stated that the staff should work with NRC stakeholders to 
exercise, to the extent appropriate, the NRC's review process and 
identify potential policy issues that should be addressed by the 
Commission in a timely manner.
    The staff provided its initial response to the February 13, 2001, 
SRM in a May 1, 2001, memorandum to the Commission. As the staff stated 
in that memorandum, the Future Licensing and Inspection Readiness 
Assessment (FLIRA) interoffice working group was established to address 
the ability of the NRC to support future application reviews under 10 
CFR parts 50 and 52 and other applicable regulations. The FLIRA working 
group assessed the following matters:
     Licensing scenarios for the future application reviews, 
the durations of the reviews, and resource estimates to complete the 
reviews in full-time equivalents (FTE) for the NRC staff and in dollars 
for technical assistance support;
     Critical skills that must be available within the agency 
or that can be accessed through contractual agreements to perform these 
reviews; and
     Regulatory infrastructure needs to support future 
licensing reviews.
    The attachment to SECY-01-0188 contains the FLIRA working group's 
assessment report. In developing its estimates of the durations and 
resources required to conduct the reviews discussed in the report, the 
staff considered (1) the results of a critical skills and resources 
survey taken of the staff in August 2001 to support this assessment, 
(2) industry plans and proposed schedules as discussed in public 
meetings and correspondence, (3) its past experience with licensing and 
pre-application reviews; (4) the effect of complex issues on these 
reviews; and (5) estimates from previous resource and schedule 
evaluations. The resource estimates developed reflect the most recent 
information received regarding industry plans and the staff's best 
estimate at this time regarding resource needs, recognizing that budget 
realities may not be consistent with the needs. Questions regarding the 
information contained in SECY-01-0188 should be directed to the contact 
point identified above.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of October 2001.


[[Page 55712]]


    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
James E. Lyons,
Director, New Reactor Licensing Project Office, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-27577 Filed 11-1-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P