NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov

Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. 00-055 March 29, 2000

NRC TO EXPAND USE OF REVISED REACTOR OVERSIGHT PROCESS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has revised its inspection and assessment programs of

commercial nuclear power plants by approving initial implementation of its revised reactor oversight

process at all commercial nuclear power plants (with the exception of the D.C. Cook plants, due to

their extended shutdown) beginning in April. The NRC expects to make additional refinements to the

program during the first year of implementation.

The revised reactor oversight process reflects several important themes for all of NRC’s

activities - a focus on safety, an effort to improve objectivity, a commitment to stakeholder

involvement, and improved transparency of agency activities for both licensees and the general public.

The staff made its recommendation for initial implementation of the expanded program at a

March 7 briefing for the Commission that was open to the public. The recommendation was based on

the results of a six-month pilot test of the program conducted at 13 nuclear power plants at nine sites

from May to November 1999. In the briefing, NRC senior managers said the pilot program

demonstrated the fundamental soundness of the revised reactor oversight process. The new program

provides an objective, understandable and predictable approach to the oversight of nuclear reactors and

uses risk insights to focus NRC and licensee attention on issues most important to safety.

As an adjunct to the pilot effort, the NRC created an independent panel to evaluate the program

and consider whether revisions were necessary before it was expanded to include all operating reactors.

The panel, which included NRC staff from headquarters and regional offices, together with

representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute, participating nuclear power plant licensees, the Union

of Concerned Scientists, and the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, used 19 criteria to evaluate the

results of the pilot program. During that program, NRC held numerous public meetings and workshops

around the country to solicit comments from the public as well as industry, state and local government

representatives, incorporating suggestions as appropriate.

The Commission has also approved a staff recommendation that the Systematic Assessment of

License Performance (SALP) process, which was suspended in late 1998, be officially terminated. The

SALP reports, which were issued every 12 to 24 months, will be replaced by a continual assessment
process, to be summarized by an annual end-of-cycle assessment letter to the licensee. In the future,

NRC will post quarterly updates of plant performance information and semi-annual updates to each

plant’s inspection plans at http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.html on its web

site. Additional details on the results of the pilot program are available on NRC’s web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/COMMISSION/activities.html in SECY paper 00-0049. A description of the

revised reactor oversight process is available at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/primer.htm .

##