[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
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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