October 27, 1999

Mr. Daniel K. McGhee 

Bureau of Radiological Health 

Iowa Department of Public Health 

Lucas State Office Building 

321 E. 1 241 Street 

Des Moines, IA 50319-0075 

Dear Mr. McGhee: 

Thank you for submitting the Memorandum ofUrderstanding (MOU) with the State of Iowa 

based on the standardized format for the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS). After 

review, we are now ready to finalize the MOU with the State of Iowa. I have enclosed three 

signed copies of the final MOU for you to retain for your files. It Is now in effect. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission looks forward to working with the State of Iowa In Incident 

response and other matters In the future. We believe that this MOU is further evidence of the 

close coordination with the States that benefits the pubic, health and safety. Once again, thanks 

for your interest and participation In this worthwhile progam. 

If you have any further questions or comments, please contact Eric Weinstein at 301-415-7559. 

Sincerely,

OQtsi s~nad by WWkin 0.. Thavel 

William D. Travers 

Executive Director 

for Operations

As stated

Distribution (w/encl): 

Public. 

IRO R/F 

J. Jolicoeur, IRO 

R. Virgilia, OSP 

R. Bores, RI

Distribution w/o end: 

H. Miller, RI 

B. Trojanowski, RII 

EDO r/f

R. Lickus, Rill 

C. Hackney, RIV

xjfortho~e t...L 

L•3hlightod. Please mae 

-'nrnainlng dUstibuthL 

osm, jb W117.

DOCUMENT NAME: G:\lRO\Weinstel~erdsMOU-IA.wpd *See previous concurrence: 

To mcr.v. a c O of this document. Indicate hI the box: "C" - Cop without attachment/enclosure D • Copy with attachmentfenclosure 'N' - No copy 

OFFICE IRO .I DD:RO J D:RO OGC OSP 

NAME EWeinsteirn* CLMiller* FJCongel* D. Gauch* PHLohaus* 

DATE 10107/99 10/0819911 10/08199 10108199 10/21/99 

iOFFICE D@ I EDO./ I I/I 

NAME FJMWD e 

DATE 10/0/99 10/s 99 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

'PaiL sre

Enclosure:
A(IEE1VI .NL' LI C Cu Cu[NLf!T 1`OM AGREEMEN t ' 2 

PE99 NOV-5 A 8:24 

PERTAINING TO THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE DATA SYSTEM 

BETWEEN 

THE STATE OF IOWA 

AND 

THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Authority 

The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the State of Iowa (IA) enter 

into this Agreement under the authority of Section 274i of the Atomic Energy Act of 

1954, as amended. 

The State of Iowa recognizes theFederal Government, primarily the NRC, as having 

the exclusive authority and responsibility to regulate the radiological and national 

security aspects of the construction and operation of nuclear production or utilization 

facilities, except for certain authority over air emissions granted to States by the 

Clean Air Act. 

Background 

A. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Energy Reorganization 

Act of 1974, as amended, auithorize the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC) to license and regulate, among other activities, the manufacture, 

construction, and operation of utilization facilities (nuclear power plants) in 

order to assure common defense and security and to protect the public health 

and safety. Under these statutes, the NRC is the responsible agency 

regulating nuclear power plant safety. 

B. NRC believes that its mission to protect the public health and safety can be 

served by a' policy of cooperation with State governments and has formally 

adopted a policy statement "Cooperation with States at Commercial Nuclear 

Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production or Utilization Facilities" (54 FR 

7530, February 22, 1989). The policy statement provides that NRC will 

consider State proposals to enter into instruments of cooperation for certain 

programs when these programs have provisions to ensure close cooperation 

with NRC. This agreement is intended to be consistent with, and implement 

the provisions of the NRC's policy statement.
C. NRC fulfills its statutory mandate to regulate nuclear power plant safety by, 

among other things, responding to emergencies at licensee's facilities and 

monitoring the status and adequacy of the licensee's responses to emergency 

situations. 

D. IA fulfills its statutory mandate to provide for preparedness, response, 

mitigation, and recovery in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant 

through the Iowa Radiological Emergency Response Plan. 

ill. Scope 

A. This Agreement defines the way in which NRC and the State of Iowa will 

cooperate in planning and maintaining the capability to transfer reactor plant 

data via the Emergency Response Data System during emergencies at nuclear 

power plants in the State of Iowa. 

B. It is understood by the NRC and the State of Iowa that ERDS data will only 

be transmitted by a licensee during emergencies classified at the Alert level or 

above, during scheduled tests, or during exercises when available. 

C. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to restrict or expand the statutory 

authority of NRC or the State of Iowa, or to affect or otherwise alter the 

terms of any agreement in effect under the authority of Section 274b of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; nor is anything in this Agreement 

intended to restrict or expand the authority of the State of Iowa on matters 

not within the scope of this Agreement. 

D. Nothing in this Agreement confers upon the State of Iowa authority to (I) 

interpret or modify NRC regulations and NRC requirements imposed on the 

licensee; (2) take enforcement actions; (3) issue confirmatory letters; (4) 

amend, modify, or revoke a license issued by NRC; or (5) direct or 

recommend nuclear power plant employees to take or not to take any action. 

Authority for all such actions is reserved exclusively to the NRC. 

IV. NRC's General Responsibilities 

Under this agreement, NRC is responsible for maintaining the Emergency Response 

Data System (ERDS). ERDS is a system designed to receive, store, and retransmit 

data from in-plant data systems at nuclear power plants during emergencies. The 

NRC will provide user access to ERDS data to one user terminal for the State of 

Iowa during emergencies at nuclear power plants which have implemented an ERDS 

interface and for which any portion of the plant's 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone

ý11
(EPZ) lies within the State of Iowa. The NRC agrees to provide unique software 

a!ready available to NRC (not commercially available) that was developed under 

NRC contract for configuring an ERDSworksdtion. 

V. Iowa's General Responsibilities 

A. The State of Iowa will, in cooperation with the NRC, establish a capability to 

receive ERDS data. To this end, the State of Iowa will provide the necessary 

computer hardware and commercially licensed software required for ERDS 

data transfer to users. 

B. The State of Iowa agrees not to use ERDS to access data from nuclear power 

plants for which a portion of the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone does not 

fall within its State boundary. 

C. For the purpose of minimizing the impact on plant operators, clarification of 

ERDS data will be pursued though the NRC. 

VI. Implementation 

The State of Iowa and the NRC agree to work in concert to assure that the following communications and information exchange protocol regarding the NRC ERDS are 

followed. 

A. The State of Iowaand the NRC agree in good faith to make available to each 

other information within the intent and scope of this Agreement. 

B. NRC and the State of Iowa agree to meet as necessary to exchange information on matters of common concern pertinent to this Agreement.' 

Unless otherwise agreed, such meetings will be held in the NRC Operations Center. The affected utilities will be kept informed of pertinent information 

covered by this Agreement. 

C. To preclude the premature public release of sensitive information, NRC and 

the State of Iowa will protect sensitive information to the extent permitted by the Federal Freedom of Information Act, the State Freedom of Information 

Act, 10 CFR 2.790, and other applicable authority. 

D. NRC will conduct periodic tests of licensee ERDS data links. A copy of the 

test schedule will be provided to Iowa by the NRC. Iowa may test its ability 

to access ERDS data during these scheduled tests, or may schedule 

independent tests of the State link with the NRC. 

E. NRC will provide access to ERDS for emergency exercises with reactor units 

capable of transmitting exercise data to ERDS. For exercises in which the