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. 00-080 May 11, 2000

NRC STAFF AND STAKEHOLDERS TO BRIEF COMMISSION ON MAY 25

ON NEW IMPROVEMENTS TO PUBLIC PETITION PROCESS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will brief the Commission on May 25 on a number

of planned improvements for handling petitions submitted by the public requesting that the agency take

enforcement action against a licensee. Members of public interest groups and the nuclear industry also

will participate.

Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations describes the public petition

process -- the primary mechanism for the public to request that the NRC take enforcement action

against one of its licensees. The request shall be made in writing to NRC’s Executive Director for

Operations, specifying the basis for requesting the agency to take enforcement action. Unsupported

assertions are not considered grounds for consideration as a 2.206 petition.

If the petition is accepted for review, NRC publishes a notice in the Federal Register, notifying

the public of the matter to be reviewed. The NRC’s official response to a 2.206 petition is a written

director’s decision that includes the technical staff’s evaluation of the issues raised, results of any NRC

investigation or inspection, and a decision on the petitioner’s request for agency action.

Depending on its evaluation, the agency could modify, suspend or revoke an NRC-issued

license or take any other appropriate enforcement action to resolve a problem. The NRC receives

about 20 such petitions annually.

The planned changes to the staff’s review process are the result of an effort to improve the

public petition process which has been criticized as being too slow, providing little follow-up with

petitioners and lacking public confidence. These changes are based on comments and

recommendations from a variety of sources, including petitioners, citizens’ groups and a report by the

Center for Strategic and International Studies. The changes are designed to increase opportunities for

meaningful petitioner participation in the staff’s review of petitions and improve public confidence.

The staff plans to implement three significant changes:

-- Provide an opportunity for petitioners to meet with the NRC’s Petition Review Board

after it has discussed the petition. This would allow the petitioner to comment on the Board’s

recommendations regarding acceptance or denial of the petition and on any requested
immediate actions. The staff would retain the current option for a meeting between petitioners

and the Petition Review Board before the petition is discussed.

-- Eliminate the criteria in Management Directive 8.11, “Review Process for 10

CFR 2.206 Petitions,” that must be satisfied before a technical issues meeting can be

offered during the NRC staff’s review of the petition. Instead, the staff will hold

technical meetings with the petitioner whenever it believes that such a meeting -- whether

initiated by the petitioner or the staff -- would be beneficial to the staff’s review.

-- Provide a copy of the proposed office director’s decision to the petitioner and the

licensee for comments. This would allow both the petitioner and the licensee an

opportunity to review the proposed decision and identify any factual errors in the

decision. The staff would then reconsider the proposed decision, making any

changes considered appropriate.

The NRC plans to implement these changes on an interim basis starting in June. A revised

management directive, taking into consideration comments at the May 25 meeting, will be published

for comment at the end of July, with the final directive targeted for late October.

All director’s decisions and the NRC management directive containing the guidelines for

handling 2.206 petitions are available through the NRC Public Document Room, at 202-634-3273, and

on the agency’s web site, under the “Public Participation & School Programs” icon

(http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/public.html).

A pamphlet describing the improved 2.206 process also will be made available on the agency’s

web site and from its Office of Public Affairs.

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