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# Our Plans, Budget, & Performance

The NRC uses an integrated process to plan, budget, and assess its performance. Three principal publications document this process:
            - Strategic Plan ( NUREG-1614 )
            - Congressional Budget Justification ( NUREG-1100 )
            - Performance and Accountability Report ( NUREG-1542 )

NRC's process aligns with and supports the Federal performance framework (see Performance.gov for details).

On this page:
            - Strategic Plan
            - Congressional Budget Justification
            - Annual Performance Plan and Report 
            - The Performance and Accountability Report                - Citizens' Report 
            - Executive Fleet Performance Report
            - Conference Expense Waivers and Reports
            - Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan                - Climate Change Adaptation Policy Statement 
            - Information Technology/Information Management (IT/IM) Strategic Plan
            - Artificial Intelligence Strategic Plan
            - Evidence-Building and Evaluation
            - NRC's Data Center Consolidation Plan
            - NRC's Web Improvement Plan
            - NRC's Customer Service Plan
            - NRC's Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules
            - 2011 Hiring Reform Action Plan
            - Other Assessments                - NRC's Inspector General Audits
              - Government Accountability Office Audits 
            - Project Aim
            - Becoming a Modern, Risk-Informed Regulator

*This page includes links to files in non-HTML format. See Plugins, Viewers, and Other Tools for more information.*

## Strategic Plan

The NRC's Strategic Plan (NUREG-1614) provides a blueprint for the agency to plan, implement, and monitor work needed to achieve the agency's mission. It establishes strategic goals, long-term strategies and performance expectations, and provides a basis for the agency's annual budget and performance plans.  Success in achieving each goal in the Strategic Plan will be gauged primarily through performance measures contained in the agency's annual Congressional Budget Justification. For additional information, please visit our Strategic Planning page.

## Congressional Budget Justification

Each year, the NRC publishes its Congressional Budget Justification (NUREG-1100). This publication describes the agency's programs in the performance plan, the budget estimates for these program activities, and the distribution of the budget. The NRC sends its budget request to the President who submits it to Congress for authorization. A large percentage of the NRC's authorized budget is defrayed by the collection of license fees as required by law.
            - FY 2025 Congressional Budget Justification Summary Slides
            - FY 2025 Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ)

## Annual Performance Plan and Report

The FY 2024 NRC Annual Performance Plan and Report combines the performance reporting and planning requirements from the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010. The Annual Performance Plan and Report provides a comprehensive overview of the NRC’s plans and progress toward achieving the goals and objectives described in the agency’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022‒2026 and the agency's performance goals. The Annual Performance Plan and Report also monitors progress toward the agency’s performance measures and provides historical performance results and upcoming targets.

## The Performance and Accountability Report

The Performance and Accountability Report (NUREG-1542) presents a comprehensive and integrated picture of the agency's performance for a specific fiscal year. This report includes
            - the NRC's audited financial statements,
            - the results of an evaluation of management controls,
            - a report on the agency's success in achieving its strategic and performance goals,
            - the results of any significant assessments of program activities that were carried out during the reporting period, and
            - the NRC Inspector General's most serious management challenges facing the agency and how the NRC is addressing them.

## Executive Fleet Performance Report

On October 5, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13514, entitled "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance," aimed at making ambitious and broad improvements in the overall sustainability of the Federal Government. Among other improvements, EO 13514 set a goal to reduce petroleum use in the Federal fleet. The related Presidential Memorandum on Federal Fleet Performance, dated May 24, 2011, stated that "We owe a responsibility to American citizens to lead by example and contribute to meeting our national goals of reducing oil imports by one-third by 2025 and putting one million advanced vehicles on the road by 2015. Living up to that responsibility means the Federal fleet should operate only as many vehicles as needed to work efficiently, leveraging Federal purchasing dollars to build manufacturing capacity for more alternative fueled vehicles, and reducing petroleum consumption through efficiency and alternative fuels." Toward that end, the Presidential Memorandum required all Federal agencies to disclose any executive fleet vehicles that are larger than a midsize sedan or that do not comply with alternative fuel requirements. The NRC fulfilled this requirement by publishing our Executive Fleet Vehicle Report.

## Conference Expense Waivers and Reports

On November 9, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13589, entitled "Promoting Efficient Spending," which directed Federal agencies to "take even more aggressive steps to ensure the Government is a good steward of taxpayer money." The related OMB Memorandum M-12-12, dated May 11, 2012 and subsequent OMB Memorandum M-17-08, dated November 25, 2016, recognized that "the Federal Government has a responsibility to [ensure] that Federal funds are used for purposes that are appropriate, cost effective, and important to the core mission" of each agency. As part of the effort to safeguard Federal funds, Section 2 of the OMB memorandum directed agencies to "exercise discretion and judgment in ensuring that conference expenses are appropriate, necessary, and managed in a manner that minimizes expense to taxpayers." Specifically, OMB outlined a series of new conference-related policies and practices, which directed agencies to initiate senior-level review of all planned conferences, initiate senior level approval of all future conference expenses in excess of $100,000, prohibit expenses in excess of $500,000 on a single conference (unless the agency head issues a waiver to achieve a compelling purpose), and report publicly on all conference expenses in excess of $100,000.

Consistent with that guidance, on November 1, 2023, NRC Chairman Hanson issued a waiver for the 2024 Regulatory Information Conference (RIC), to be held on March 12-14, 2024, citing exceptional circumstances under which spending more than $500,000 on this event is the most cost-effective option to achieve a compelling purpose. Chairman Hanson had issued a waiver on July 28, 2022 for the 2023 RIC, scheduled on March 14-16, 2023. The 2023 RIC was the only NRC-sponsored conference in fiscal year (FY) 2023 for which the net expenses, primarily associated with conference planning and organization, exceeded $100,000. Details on the 2023 hybrid RIC are provided in the FY 2023 Conferences Report below:
            - FY 2023 Conferences Report
            - Waiver for the 2014 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2015 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2016 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2017 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2018 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2019 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2020 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2021 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2022 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2023 RIC
            - Waiver for the 2024 RIC

## Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan

On March 19, 2015, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13693, "Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade," which replaces and revokes EO 13423 and EO 13514. Under the new executive order, all Federal agencies are required to inventory their greenhouse gas emissions, set targets to reduce their emissions, and develop a plan for meeting a wide range of goals for improving sustainability. These sustainability goals cover the areas of water efficiency, reduced waste, sustainable community development planning, high-performance buildings, sustainable acquisition, electronics stewardship, and environmental management. As required by EO 13693, the NRC staff develops, implements, and annually updates the agency's Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan. In addition, as required by EO 13693, the NRC released a Climate Change Adaptation Policy Statement and a Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Both documents commit the agency to plan for the impacts of climate change on NRC operations and assets.

View the NRC's Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans:
            - FY 2016
            - FY 2015
            - FY 2014
            - FY 2013
            - FY 2012
            - FY 2011
            - FY 2010

## Information Technology/Information Management (IT/IM) Strategic Plan

Our Information Technology/Information Management (IT/IM) Strategic Plan (NUREG-1908) describes how IT/IM activities at the NRC contribute to the agency's mission. In so doing, the plan responds to Federal Requirements in the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, serving as the NRC's strategic information resources management plan in accordance with Section 3506(b)(2) of the PRA. Each 5-year IT/IM plan lays out the mission and vision for the agency's IT/IM programs and establishes goals, along with strategies for accomplishing those goals and measures of success in their attainment. These goals, strategies, and measures provide the foundation for directing and assessing the performance and results of the NRC's IT/IM over the next 3 – 5 years.

## Artificial Intelligence Strategic Plan

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the fastest-growing technologies globally and is anticipating the increased use of AI applied to NRC-regulated activities. Our Artificial Intelligence Strategic Plan describes how the NRC will ensure staff readiness for the review of AI applications in the nuclear industry. The strategic plan (NUREG-2261) includes five strategic goals: (1) ensure NRC readiness for regulatory decision-making, (2) establish an organizational framework to review AI applications, (3) strengthen and expand AI partnerships, (4) cultivate an AI proficient workforce, and (5) pursue use cases to build an AI foundation across the NRC. The overall goal of this strategic plan is to ensure staff readiness to review and evaluate AI applications effectively and efficiently.

## Evidence-Building and Evaluation

The "Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018” (Public Law 115-435) (Evidence Act) emphasizes collaboration and coordination to advance data and evidence-building functions in the Federal Government.  The Evidence Act statutorily mandates Federal evidence-building activities, open government data, confidential information protection, and statistical efficiency.  The Office of Management and Budget guidance M-19-23, states that “The Evidence Act builds on longstanding principles underlying Federal policies and data infrastructure investments supporting information quality, access protection, and evidence building and use.” For more information, visit the NRC's Evidence-Building and Evaluation page.

## NRC's Data Center Consolidation Plan

NRC's Data Center Consolidation Plan was created in response to the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) whose intent is to reverse the historic growth of Federal data centers. The FDCCI seeks to curb unsustainable increases in the number of data centers by reducing the cost of data center hardware, software, and operations; shifting IT investments to more efficient computing platforms; promoting the use of Green IT by reducing the overall energy and real estate footprint of government data centers; and increasing the IT security posture of the government.

## NRC's Web Improvement Plan

Consistent with Executive Order (EO) 13571, "Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service," and the related guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we’ve developed an initial Web Improvement Plan. This plan is the first step in communicating the NRC's strategy for managing our Web resources more efficiently, improving online content, and enhancing the public's experience of our agency websites. As such, this plan responds to specific questions regarding the management of our websites in the .gov domain. As we continue to iteratively develop this plan over the next several months, we will address additional questions regarding our web improvement strategy, actions, measurements, and timelines. For additional detail, see our page on the CIO-Council .Gov Reform Initiative.

## NRC's Customer Service Plan

Consistent with Executive Order (EO) 13571, "Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service," and the related guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we've developed a Customer Service Plan to describe our "signature initiative" and other initiatives we've undertaken to streamline our interactions and transactions with the public and other key stakeholder groups. In particular, we are focusing on enhancing licensing operations, critical interactions with licensees, and public access to regulatory documents. For additional detail, see Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service.

## NRC's Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules

Consistent with Executive Order (EO) 13579, "Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies," and the related guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we developed a final Plan. The final Plan builds on our longstanding focus on ensuring that our regulations are effective, efficient, and up-to-date, recognizing our established processes to build a sound regulatory framework. The final Plan also discusses efforts to incorporate risk assessments into regulatory decisionmaking, and to address the cumulative effects of regulation. It also addresses the NRC's methodology for prioritizing the agency's rulemaking activities, as well as previous and ongoing efforts to update the agency's regulations on a systematic, ongoing basis. In addition, the final Plan discusses rulemaking initiatives arising out of the NRC's ongoing review of agency regulations related to the events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. For additional information, please see the related *Federal Register notice*.

## 2011 Hiring Reform Action Plan

The NRC's Hiring Reform Action Plan describes how the agency intends to accomplish the tasks required to implement the President's initiative on Federal Hiring Reform. This action plan defines each of tasks, the action to be taken and responsible individual(s). The effective date for these actions is November 1, 2010.

## Other Assessments

Certain aspects of NRC's performance also receive independent assessment by the Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The NRC's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) independently and objectively conducts and supervises financial and performance audits and conducts criminal, civil, and administrative investigations. Performance audits focus on NRC administrative and program operations. Financial audits review NRC's internal control systems, transaction processing, financial systems, and contracts. The OIG also assists the agency by assessing and reporting on the NRC's efforts to ensure its safety-related programs are operating in accordance with prescribed rules and regulations.

The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress. GAO exists to support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the Federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates Federal programs and activities; and provides analyses, options, recommendations, and other assistance to help the Congress make effective oversight, policy, and funding decisions.

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Monday, March 11, 2024

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Page Last Reviewed/Updated Monday, March 11, 2024