ADAMS USER GROUP MEETING

October 25, 2006

1:00-3:00 p.m.

NRC Headquarters

Room T2 B1

Agenda for ADAMS User Group Meeting #12

1. Opening remarks - Anna McGowan, Moderator (1:05-1:10 p.m.)

General announcements and introductions (1:10-1:15 p.m.)

2. Action items from the 07/20/05 meeting update and the status of the Listserv 

(1:15-1:45 p.m.)

3. Technical Issues related to ADAMS (1:45-2:00 p.m.)

4. Member Issues (2:00-2:55 p.m.)

5. New business (2:55-3:00 p.m.)

6. Adjournment (3:00 p.m.) 

Meeting Minutes

1. Opening remarks - Anna McGowan, Moderator (1:05-1:10 p.m.)

General announcements and introductions (1:10-1:16 p.m.)

Tom Smith opened the meeting at 1:05 p.m. The NRC staff and public users who were present

in the meeting room introduced themselves. Tom then asked the users on the telephone bridge

to introduce themselves.

Tom briefly discussed the next release of ADAMS, Version 4.4, scheduled for release in early

2007. He also discussed how the PDF conversion of TIFF files in ADAMS is nearly complete,

and should be finished in the next few months. After that time, there should be no more TIFF

files in ADAMS. He also stated there was currently (at the time of this meeting) a little over

311,000 full text files in the Publicly Available Records System (PARS).

Anna McGowan was then welcomed as the new moderator of the ADAMS Public User Group

meetings.

2. Action items from the 07/20/05 meeting update and the status of the Listserv 

The AUG Listserv and subscription instructions are currently available on the NRC web site at

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html . The PDR staff receives e-mails from the list,

and encourages public users to subscribe. Tom reiterated why there is a Listserv and

explained that it was a suggestion from the last AUG meeting. One user asked if this was a

“real” Listserv per the definition of a Listserv. The answer was “no”, and there was a short

discussion on changing the name to reflect what this particular list is.
3. Technical issues related to ADAMS

(a) The ADAMS Public User Survey, linked from the ADAMS web pages, was available from

February to May 2006. This was the second version of the survey, but there was a smaller

response to this survey then to the one available in 2005. The comments from the 2006 survey

will be used in planning for the new version of ADAMS. Anna thanked everyone who

participated.

(b) Currently there are no changes planned for Citrix-based PARS.

( c ) There was a question about Web-based PARS search results, and the status of searching. 

There is currently no change in the status of capability since 2005 because the custom coding

cannot be changed.

(d) NRC is currently in the process of converting all the TIFF files in ADAMS to PDF files. In the

process, there is sometimes a viewer error problem. Anna recommends that when a user sees

this error message, s/he should contact the PDR staff who can report it and provide the

solution.

4. Member Issues

Q: There is a concern about coding documents as public or non-public, as some non-public

documents are accidently coded as public. 

A: The NRC is currently performing a Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information

(SUNSI) review where reviewers are working to re-release documents as appropriate. The

NRC Program Offices are performing the actual document review. In response to a question,

Tom explained the criteria for documents to be available in PARS; they need to have a public

release date, and be marked as non-sensitive and publicly available in the profile.

The PDR staff can assist users for locating specific documents, and say whether they are

currently being reviewed by the responsible Program Office.

ACTION ITEM: Is there a priority or a methodology in reviewing agency documents? Are there 

specific topics or subjects of documents that are reviewed first?

Q: Can there be a new search in Web-based PARS, similar to Google?

A: Anna quoted from the January 24, 2003 NRC Press Release (No. 03-014) about the release

of Web-based PARS. The Press Release is available at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2003/03-014.html . She explained that

Web-based PARS uses Convera RetrievalWare, which is also used by other government

agencies. It has a concept search that is similar to a “Yahoo!” or “Google” search. Tom

explained the three search techniques; Concept, Boolean, and Pattern. 

Q: Why does the file name in the Citrix Document Manager not match the file name in the Copy

To box when copying documents? 

A: Anna explained that the file name can be changed in the “Copy To” box if the user wishes; 

the system uses a default name. The user asked if the default name can be changed, and the

answer was no. 
Q: Can more lines can be available in Web PARS in the viewer? 

A: No, the system sets the number of lines so there is no choice in this instance.

Q: Are there ways to identify security inspection documents in ADAMS so they can be located

more easily? There are currently several different ways they are indexed. 

A: Security related inspection report cover letters are publicly available for the plants. A

suggestion was to use the term “redacted” in the Title when searching for these documents. 

Since the NRC Commission said to release these documents to the public through ADAMS,

then the recommendation was that they should be easier to locate. 

Q: Can the data that is available in the internal database on nuclear materials be made publicly

available in ADAMS? 

A: A staff member replied that this kind of data is available in the Daily Event Reports web

page, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/ . There is a search button on

this page for searching specific types of events.

Q: Will ADAMS be able to work with the new Adobe (Version 8) which will be available in the

near future? What would be the impact on ADAMS and the Electronic Information Exchange

(EIE)? 

A: Tom explained that the NRC will use the current version of Adobe, as well as two previous

versions. Appendix A, the “Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the Commission” explains

more. Appendix A is directly available at

http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/guid-elec-submission.pdf and is linked from the

“Electronic Submittals page, http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html . Tom is currently

working on consolidating four different guidances on this issue.

Q: Will there be more flexibility in the electronic submissions, specifically for new reactor

documents? 

A: Tom said yes, explaining that hyperlinks will be allowed and file naming conventions will be

standardized. NRC is currently working with the industry to finalize these naming conventions. 

 

Q: Are there any plans to make guidance available to the public? Those who submit new

reactor documents to the NRC need more guidance. 

A: Yes. File naming conventions will be addressed in a working group that is forming.

Q: How can it be determined that a document in ADAMS is officially signed? Is there a digital

signature? 

A: The /RA/ in the signature block means that the document is an official agency record.

Q: Is there a point of contact for file naming conventions? 

A: Tom Smith will look into this (ACTION ITEM).
Q: When the utility responds to the NRC, will those responses be made publicly available?

A: Most documents associated with new reactors will be made publicly available.

 ACTION ITEM: Tom will look at this for the web site. Users can send Tom questions

via e-mail.

5. New business

• When the Energy Policy Act goes into effect in February 2007, there will be new

licensees who will be submitting information. Just a caution to watch coding since it is a

new category for NRC. New people sending materials may not be aware of things that

can not be publicly available. 

• The next AUG meeting is planned for April 2007. There will be a call for Agenda items

prior to the meeting.

• One attendee asked the following questions and comments:

• Is the Commission not releasing documents? Another user commented that this

is not an issue for the PDR staff.

• There are always references to documents to which the public does not have

access and the agency is sensitive to this issue. The PDR staff will check on the

public availability of documents since the person writing the document does not

always verify that documents are available. NRC staff is urged to double check

public availability before they publish an ADAMS Accession Number in a Federal

Register notice or Press Release.

6. Adjournment