[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66387-66388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29793]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0485]


Development of NRC's Safety Culture Policy: Public Workshops; 
Request for Nomination of Participants in Round Table Discussions and 
Stakeholder Participation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of public workshops; request for nomination of 
participants in round table discussions.

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SUMMARY: The NRC has prepared a draft policy statement on safety 
culture to include the unique aspects of nuclear safety and security, 
and to note expectations that the policy applies to individuals and 
organizations performing or overseeing NRC-regulated activities. The 
NRC is conducting public workshops to solicit input relating to the 
development of the safety culture policy statement. These workshops 
will be composed of panel discussions. Attendees' participation and 
feedback on the discussions will also be solicited during the 
workshops. In addition to announcing the public workshops, the other 
purpose of this notice is to request the names of individuals desiring 
to participate in the panel discussion portion of the workshops. 
Nominations and requests to participate in the panel discussions are 
requested by January 15, 2010, to allow for their consideration.
    The NRC staff is holding workshops to support an overarching goal 
of forging a consensus around the objectives, strategies, activities 
and measures that enhance safety culture for NRC-regulated activities. 
Specifics include the development of the safety culture common 
terminology effort that comprises: (1) Development of a common safety 
culture definition; and (2) development of high-level description/
traits of areas important to safety culture. These workshops aim to 
develop these concepts for incorporation into our draft final policy 
statement and will be considered when revising our oversight programs 
for NRC-regulated nuclear industries. The tentative dates for the 
planned public workshops are February 2-4, 2010, and April 13-15, 2010, 
and October 27-28, 2010, at or near NRC headquarters in Rockville, MD. 
Please check the NRC Web site (http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm and/or http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement/safety-culture.html) for any updates to the 
workshop schedules and/or information regarding this effort.
    In addition to this Federal Register Notice, the NRC has issued a 
separate Federal Register Notice (November 6, 2009, 74 FR 57525, ADAMS 
Number ML093030375), which provides individuals and organizations with 
an interest in nuclear safety, an opportunity to comment on the draft 
safety culture policy statement in the event they are unable to attend 
the workshops referenced in this Federal Register Notice.

DATES: Public Workshop Dates: Workshop meeting notices will be 
available on the NRC Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm at least ten days 
prior to each workshop. The meeting notices on the NRC Public Meeting 
Schedule Web site will provide information on how those unable to 
participate in person may do so via teleconference and/or possibly 
through the Internet.

ADDRESSES: Individuals or organizations with an interest in nuclear 
safety are encouraged to submit names of individuals who will represent 
each industry group, stakeholder, union, and so forth, or themselves in 
the panel discussion portion of the workshops, to Alex Sapountzis or 
Maria Schwartz by mail to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of 
Enforcement, Concerns Resolution Branch, Mail Stop O-4 A15A, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by e-mail to [email protected] 
or [email protected].
    Public Workshops: The public workshops will be held at or near the 
NRC Headquarters building located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
MD 20852. Because on-street parking is extremely limited, the most 
convenient transportation to the workshop venue, if held at NRC 
headquarters, is via Metro's Red Line to the White Flint Stop, which is 
directly across the street from NRC Headquarters. Please allow time to 
register with building security upon entering the building. Those 
unable to travel and attend in person may participate by teleconference 
and/or possibly through the internet. The public meeting notice will 
provide specific details regarding this option.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Sapountzis, telephone (301) 415-
7822 or by e-mail to [email protected]; or Maria Schwartz, 
telephone (301) 415-1888 or by e-mail to [email protected]. Both 
of these individuals can also be contacted by mail at the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Office of Enforcement, Concerns Resolution 
Branch, Mail Stop O-4 A15A, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Prior to each 
workshop, attendees are requested to register with one of the contacts 
listed in the workshop meeting notice (i.e., the notice serves to 
announce the date, time and location of the workshop), so that 
sufficient accommodations can be made for their participation. Please 
let the contact know if special services, such as services for the 
hearing impaired, are necessary.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

(1) Purpose of the Public Workshops

    The goal of these workshops is to develop concepts that will be 
incorporated into our draft final policy statement and to consider 
incorporating these views into our oversight programs for NRC-regulated 
nuclear industries, as appropriate. Furthermore, the NRC is working 
with the Agreement States to facilitate their consideration and support 
of effort in their oversight programs for materials licensees.
    The development of the safety culture common terminology concepts 
(definition and high-level description/traits of areas important to 
safety culture) will be used in the development of a final safety 
culture policy statement to facilitate transparency and common 
understanding of safety culture-related concepts by interested 
stakeholders. The staff expects that the final safety culture policy 
will set forth expectations for fostering a strong safety culture, will 
pertain to all levels of an organization, and will apply to all 
individuals performing or overseeing NRC-regulated activities. The NRC 
is working towards increasing the attention that is given to safety 
culture as part of its efforts to ensure the safe and secure use of 
radioactive material within NRC's jurisdiction. Because the development 
of a robust safety culture is important for all NRC-regulated nuclear 
industries, the NRC is seeking involvement in this effort by 
individuals and organizations with an interest in nuclear safety. The

[[Page 66388]]

NRC plans to conduct a series of workshops to maximize the involvement 
of interested persons in this effort to develop the safety culture 
definition and the description/traits that will be used to develop the 
final safety culture policy statement.

(2) Background

    In SECY-09-0075 (ADAMS Number ML091130068), dated May 18, 2009, the 
staff provided a draft safety culture policy statement to the 
Commission for its approval. SECY-09-0075 also provided a response to 
the questions posed in Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) COMGBJ-08-
0001 (ADAMS Number ML080560476). Based on document reviews and other 
information collection activities addressing safety culture, as well as 
outreach activities which included a public meeting held on February 3, 
2009, (ADAMS Number ML090270103 for the notice with topics to be 
discussed and meeting summary, ADAMS Number ML090930572), the staff 
concluded the following: (1) The Commission's expectations for safety 
culture should be published in one policy statement entitled, ``Safety 
Culture Policy Statement;'' (2) the current Reactor Oversight Process 
(ROP), which includes consideration of cross-cutting aspects of 
inspection findings, offers valuable insights into licensee's safety 
culture; (3) the staff should enhance its safety culture initiative for 
materials licensees, which includes obtaining additional stakeholder 
views on how the NRC can increase attention to safety culture in the 
materials area; and (4) the staff should continue to engage the 
Agreement States on how best to increase the involvement of the 
Agreement States and Agreement State licensees in safety culture 
initiatives (Note: The ADAMS documents referenced in this notice are 
publicly available and contain additional information on the NRC's 
safety culture initiative, which will not be repeated in this notice. 
The NRC has established a safety culture Web site that contains 
additional information on safety culture at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement/safety-culture.html).
    On October 16, 2009, the Commission directed the NRC staff in SRM 
(SECY-09-0075) to publish the draft safety culture policy statement for 
public comment for no less than a 90-day public comment period. The 
draft safety culture policy statement was issued for public comment in 
a Federal Register Notice (November 6, 2009, 74 FR 57525), which 
provides individuals and organizations with an interest in nuclear 
safety an opportunity to comment on the draft safety culture policy 
statement. Additionally, within the SRM, the Commission stressed the 
importance it places on engaging a broad range of stakeholders in 
developing the draft final safety culture policy statement in order to 
``ensure the final policy statement presented to the Commission 
benefits from consideration of a spectrum of views and provides the 
necessary foundation for safety culture applicable to the entire 
nuclear industry.'' Interested stakeholders may include, for example, 
Agreement States, organizations representing NRC licensees or Agreement 
State licensees, and organizations/unions established to provide 
government or nuclear safety oversight.
    Publicly Available Documents: Publicly available documents related 
to this safety culture initiative can be accessed using the following 
methods: NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), where the public may 
examine, and have copied for a fee, publicly available documents. The 
address is U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room, 
Public File Area 0-1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, MD 20852; or NRC's Agency wide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS), which can be accessed at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, the public can gain entry into 
ADAMS which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. If 
you do not have access to ADAMS or if you encounter problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the PDR Reference 
staff at 1-800-397-4209, or (301) 415-4737 or by email to 
[email protected].

(3) Topics for Discussion

    The topics that will be discussed at these workshops include 
developing a common safety culture definition and high-level 
description/traits of areas important to safety culture. This effort 
will support the development of a final safety culture policy statement 
that is transparent, understandable and applicable to all individuals 
performing or overseeing NRC-regulated industries.

(4) Agendas

    Detailed agendas will be available on the NRC Public Meeting 
Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings 
at least ten days prior to each workshop.

(5) Format of Workshops

    To ensure that this process is open, effective, and collaborative, 
the format of each workshop will consist of a panel discussions among 
stakeholders, including representatives from NRC-regulated nuclear 
industries, interest groups such as unions, and members of the public. 
The panel discussions will be followed by an interactive discussion 
with other meeting attendees. The NRC is requesting that individuals or 
organizations with an interest in nuclear safety nominate/self-nominate 
individuals to participate in the panel discussions (e.g., nuclear 
power reactor licensees, nuclear fuel cycle facility licensees, 
Agreement State regulators and so forth should each nominate one or 
more individuals to speak for that industry/group of licensees/
organizations/unions; members of the public with a background/specific 
interest in safety culture should self-nominate). Nominations and 
requests to participate in the panel discussions are requested by 
January 15, 2010. Nominations should also include information 
supporting the nomination such as affiliation(s) and expertise. The NRC 
will use the nominations and information supporting the nomination to 
select final participants with a goal of ensuring a broad spectrum of 
views and backgrounds. Nominated individuals who are not selected to 
participate in the panel discussions are highly encouraged to attend 
the workshops, where there will be opportunities to offer input.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of December 2009.
Roy Zimmerman,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E9-29793 Filed 12-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P