ADAMS USER GROUP MEETING

May 9, 2007

1:00–3:00 p.m.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters

Room O1 F22

Agenda for ADAMS User Group Meeting #13

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

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

3. Update on action items from October 25, 2006, meeting—Tom Smith

(1:15 p.m.–1:20 p.m.)

4. Member issues/technical issues related to ADAMS (1:20 p.m.–1:45 p.m.)

• Issues related to advanced search return list display fields for Citrix-based ADAMS

• ADAMS Public User Group distribution list—further discussion

• Question about profile titles

• Current status of adding older NUREGs to ADAMS

• Public availability of State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequences Analysis (SOARCA)

documents

• System capability to send links to ADAMS document in email

5. New business (1:45 p.m.–2:00 p.m.)

6. Adjournment (2:00 p.m.)

Meeting Minutes

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

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

Anna McGowan opened the meeting at 1:05 p.m. She introduced the staff and members of the

public present in the meeting room, including the new Public Document Room (PDR) librarian,

Sardar Zuberi. She also asked the users on the telephone bridge to introduce themselves.

She quickly briefed everyone on the transfer of a PDR librarian to another NRC office and the

retirement of a long-serving librarian who had worked in the PDR, Dona McColloch. The PDR

is now staffed with three librarians.

A problem was noticed last month by a member of the ADAMS User Group (AUG). The

document type search results in Citrix versus Web-based Publicly Available Records System

(PARS) were not the same. Upon investigation, it was discovered that there was a problem

with the reindexing of document changes in Web-based PARS. This situation has been

corrected, but if anyone experiences future discrepancies report them to the PDR staff.

3. Update on the action items from the October 25, 2006, meeting—Tom Smith

(1:15 p.m.–1:20 p.m.)

ACTION ITEM 1

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

A: There are two issues. One is file naming conventions, which are based on templates

depending on the document type. The file naming conventions govern how best to create a

document profile. Contact the PDR if there is a problem with a record. The second issue

relates to new reactors. The NRC is currently working with representatives of the nuclear

industry to determine how to name files for new reactors. For guidance about this issue, see

the revised Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC for the current naming

conventions. The point of contact for the new reactor records will be Tom Smith for the time

being.

ACTION ITEM 2

Q: When the utility responds to the NRC, will those responses be made publicly available?

A: Yes, most documents associated with reactors are made publicly available. Documents,

however, that contain proprietary information or restricted data are not made public. Usually, in
this case, there is a publicly available cover letter with no attachment. This is currently true of

existing reactor documentation and will be true of new reactor documentation. Users can send

questions via email to the PDR at pdr@nrc.gov or to Tom Smith directly at tes@nrc.gov.

ACTION ITEM 3

Q: Is there a priority or a methodology in reviewing agency documents? Are there specific

topics or subjects of documents that are reviewed first?

A: Incoming and outgoing document types are varied, but usually documents are processed as

they are received. At the present time, all documents are reviewed but some documents are

marked as nonpublic or pending review (e.g., licensee event reports and final safety analysis

report updates). After the review, the documents are released based on the NRC’s 6-day rule

which is still in effect. Those documents that require immediate posting, however, are given

priority treatment.

4. Member issues/technical issues related to ADAMS (1:20 p.m.–1:45 p.m.)

The following are topics that were brought up by AUG members for further discussion:

• Issues related to advanced search return list display fields for Citrix-based

ADAMS

The display fields are constrained by the limits of the software and the

capabilities of the user’s computer. Users can edit their settings in the advanced

search mode.

• ADAMS Public User Group distribution list—further discussion

The distribution list has the original membership list from 2005. Users are

welcome to sign up through the ADAMS Web page.

• Question about profile titles

The profile is based on the ADAMS indexing rules. Titles of letter documents

usually come from the subject line of the letter.

• Current status of adding older NUREGs to ADAMS

The decision to add older NUREGs to ADAMS is up to the individual offices,

which base these decisions, in part, on funding levels and document retirement

schedules. Retrofitted documents include those related to the development of a

high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain and past speeches by NRC staff

members.

• Public availability of State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequences Analysis (SOARCA)

documents

Documents about public meetings are made publicly available.

• System capability to send link to ADAMS document in email

A direct link to an individual ADAMS document exists, but users will need the

ADAMS accession number. The following is an example:

http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/idmws/viewdocbyaccession.asp?AccessionNum

ber=ML071000137.

It was also recommended that users download Citrix Version 10, but only after

they remove the prior version of Citrix. Users are directed to the instructions in

the blue box on the Citrix-based PARS Web page at

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/citrix-based.html.

Topics and additional questions for discussion

(1) The conversion of TIFF files in ADAMS to PDF is nearly complete and should be

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

ADAMS. At the time of this meeting, 1200 TIFF files remain in PARS.

(2) A little more than 311,000 full-text files were in PARS at the group’s last meeting on

October 25, 2006. As of May 8, 2007, PARS contains 335,572 full-text records.

(3) At the last meeting, a question arose as to whether there could be a new search in
Web-based PARS similar to Google. Ms McGowan 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 other Government agencies

use. It has a concept search that is similar to a Yahoo! or Google search. The new

Google search tool is now used on the NRC home page, but this tool does not search

ADAMS.

The NRC public Web site uses Google’s free custom search, an external service to host the

site search. This technology enables the NRC to host both the search form and the search

results page at the public Web site while taking advantage of the power and simplicity of the

Google search engine at www.google.com to search only NRC-designated Web sites. The

benefits of the Google search interface include the following:

• Improved scope and flexibility. This service will enable users to search across all publicfacing

NRC Web sites at once using existing Google.com technology. This will improve

exposure for several of the sites that do not have site searches of their own. However,

the new search function will not search beyond the login screen of restricted sites such

as the Licensing Support Network.

• Improved speed. While results may vary based on network conditions, they typically are

returned in less than 500 milliseconds.

• Improved accuracy. The staff’s tests to date indicate that the quality and ranking of

results returned by this service in response to frequently used search queries are far

superior to those returned by the current site search at the NRC public Web site.

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

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

Exchange?

The NRC will use the current version of Adobe, as well as the two previous versions.

Information about Adobe 8 is in the process of being added to the updated version of

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

(5) The NRC Consolidated Guidance Document, which consolidates three different

guidance documents, is currently being developed.

(6) Regarding future ADAMS releases, Version 4.4 may be combined with Version 4.5,

which has an expected release date of June 30, 2007. If a future release or

enhancement impacts the public version of ADAMS, the PDR staff will make the public

aware.

(7) There is an updated message regarding security and the upgrade process in the blue

box on the Citrix-based PARS Web page at

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/citrix-based.html. This announcement was made

available about a week before this meeting.

(8) What procedures does the NRC have to determine whether documents that should be

captured into ADAMS have in fact been captured?

A number of procedures are available to NRC staff to determine which documents

should be captured into ADAMS. These include Management Directive 3.4 (currently

under revision) and Management Directive 3.53, both of which are available at

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/management-directives/volumes/vol-3.ht

ml. There is also an internal document titled the “ADAMS Desk Reference Guide.”

External users can see the 2003 update of the “Users’ Guide for Citrix-Based Access to

ADAMS” (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/users-guide.html), which has similar

information. There is also guidance in the NRC records schedule (NUREG-0910, “NRC

Comprehensive Records Disposition Schedule”).
(9) What procedures are used to determine that all eligible documents have been copied to

public ADAMS?

There are procedures to determine that all eligible documents are in PARS. In the past,

the agency has had contractors audit PARS, and if there were issues identified, they

were investigated. The NRC does not have a mechanism to compare the number of

records created on a daily basis with those that get captured into ADAMS.

(10) Are there any audit results of the procedure tests available?

No.

5. New Business (1:20 p.m.–2:00 p.m.)

There was a brief discussion about the need to upgrade systems over time and the fact that the

NRC is in the beginning stages of looking at a “Next Generation ADAMS” or ngADAMS.

Jack Montgomery (OIS/IRSD) briefly discussed the vision. He explained that a governance

group is in place to discuss the vision of “Next Generation ADAMS,” and that ADAMS is not

going away. He further assured the AUG that the NRC will not neglect the public’s information

needs.

Ms. McGowan then asked if there were further questions.

Q: Is there a formal process for a “Next Generation ADAMS”?

A: There is currently no business case or feedback yet. Please send your comments to the

PDR staff.

Q: Are there public reports about what is going on with a “Next Generation ADAMS”?

A: Some of the reports must be kept internal (e.g., acquisition information), and most

requirements are internal. Communications are recommended to go through the PDR staff.

Mr. Smith reminded the group that in late 2002 there was an invitation for the public and AUG

members to assist with Beta testing the Web-based PARS; something very similar will likely be

done for a “Next Generation ADAMS” once it is available.

Q: Appendix A to the E-Rule is currently under revision. Can the public obtain a revised copy

for comment?

A: Mr. Smith is working on this revision, and there should be a 30-day comment period. It will

discuss the E-Rule, High-Level Waste, the draft E-Filing Rule, and special requirements for new

reactors.

ACTION: An email will be sent to the AUG distribution list with information as it is available.

Q: Is there a timeframe for a “Next Generation ADAMS”?

A: It is too early for a specific timeline, as it depends on acquisitions and other factors. The

current communication avenue is with the PDR staff.

Q: Will the technology architecture change with a “Next Generation ADAMS”?

A: Probably, there may be new server infrastructure.

Q: How can I sign up for the AUG distribution list?

A: You need to sign up on the Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html.

An attendee announced that he had created and was operating an external, public-based email

list-serv for ADAMS-associated issues. He gave the group the following URL,

http://lists.topica.com/lists/nrcadams

The next AUG meeting is planned for November 14, 2007, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. There

will be a call for agenda items prior to the meeting.

6. Adjournment (2:00 p.m.)