POLICY ISSUE

(Information)

August 29, 2006 SECY-06-0189

FOR: The Commissioners

FROM: Luis A. Reyes

Executive Director for Operations /RA/

SUBJECT: SEMIANNUAL REPORT ON THE STATUS OF STAFF INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY/INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS

PROCESS ACTIVITIES IN PREPARATION FOR THE HIGH-LEVEL

WASTE REPOSITORY PROCEEDINGS

PURPOSE:

To inform the Commission about the status of Information Technology/Information

Management (IT/IM) and business process activities in preparation for the proceeding on a

license application, in an electronic environment, for the construction of a high-level waste

(HLW) repository. 

BACKGROUND:

This report is issued semiannually and covers HLW IT/IM and business process activities. The

scope of the information paper includes activities from January 1, 2006, through June 30, 2006. 

DISCUSSION:

A. Program Management

The HLW Licensing Support Program (HLW-LSP) Project Plan continues to be maintained

using an interactive process and ongoing communication with staff and management from all

organizations that support the program. 

CONTACT: James C. Corbett, OIS

 (301) 415-8719
The Commissioners 2

B. Status of the High Level Waste Meta-System

Essentially all resources in the HLW IT/IM area remain focused on supporting Release 2 of the

Meta-System. At this point, the major challenge is the certification and accreditation (C&A) of

the component systems comprising the Meta-System. Currently all components with the

exception of Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) and the Electronic Hearing Docket (EHD)

have an interim authority to operate (IATO). Any upgrades and modifications of these

components to enhance the functionality and operability of the Meta-System will require

updating existing security documentation and will further delay the C&A process. The Office of

Information Services (OIS) and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP) have

coordinated efforts and obtained an Enterprise Digital Data Management System (DDMS)

IATO. OIS and ASLBP will now move the system into a production environment. ASLBP is

working with OIS to develop a process for reporting key IT project metrics and will engage

agency executives in evaluating the progress and necessity of IT investments. OIS and ASLBP

also are working to develop a practical schedule to migrate the Licensing Support Network

(LSN) to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in order to meet the Office of Management and

Budget’s direction that Federal agencies begin migration by June 2008.

C. Electronic Information Exchange

The staff has implemented enhancements to EIE capability in order to provide, as appropriate,

priority to HLW electronic submissions. These enhancements proved to be of great value in the

most recent round of testing. To obtain a current IATO, the staff plans to update the existing

plan of action and milestones (POA&M) and C&A documents for EIE.

D. Electronic Hearing Docket

As a result of the e-filing rulemaking for adjudications, the staff considered merging the EHD for

the HLW proceeding with the EHD for general proceedings. Activities associated with

expanding the EHD for general proceedings will be funded from within the program the

expansion primarily supports (e.g., new reactors). The resulting EHD is intended to

accommodate all proceedings, providing a protective order file and a search engine for Webbased searches. To that end, the staff prepared security documents for obtaining an IATO for

the EHD as a single system. The staff has submitted the appropriate documentation to the

Senior Information Technology Security Officer (SITSO) for review and subsequent transmittal

to the Designated Approving Authority for approval. 

ASLBP, SECY and OIS agreed on a methodology that can accommodate the folder structures

of both the EHD and the DDMS. This agreement, when fully implemented, will provide some

flexibility in the display of folders on the EHD while also allowing the EHD servers to map to the

appropriate folders in the DDMS file structure. 

The staff has also initiated a redesign of the NRC Web site during this period. The redesign will

provide links to and between adjudicatory material so that the public, potential parties in

proceedings, and parties in active proceedings have readily available tools for participating in

the NRC adjudicatory process. Once the design is complete, direct links from the NRC Home

Page will allow visitors to intervene in proceedings, submit proceeding documents, and view

filings. Other links will provide access to adjudicatory information sites that will guide a
The Commissioners 3

participant or potential participant in the steps necessary to submit an electronic filing to the

official adjudicatory dockets in e-filing and the HLW proceedings. 

COORDINATION:

The Office of the General Counsel reviewed this paper and has no legal objection. This paper

has also been coordinated with the Office of the Secretary of the Commission and the

Licensing Support Network Administrator. 

/RA William F. Kane Acting for/

Luis A. Reyes

Executive Director 

 for Operations
The Commissioners 3

participant or potential participant in the steps necessary to submit an electronic filing to the

official adjudicatory dockets in e-filing and the HLW proceedings. 

COORDINATION:

The Office of the General Counsel reviewed this paper and has no legal objection. This paper

has also been coordinated with the Office of the Secretary of the Commission and the

Licensing Support Network Administrator. 

/RA William F. Kane Acting for/

Luis A. Reyes

Executive Director 

 for Operations

DISTRIBUTION:

L. Reyes, EDO 200400048 E. Baker, OIS

W. Kane, DEDR OEDO-2006-0310 K. Greene, OIS

M. Virgilio, DEDMRS K. Cyr, GC J. Corbett, OIS

J. Silber, DEDIA E. Hawkens, ASLBP P. Hall, OIS

W. Dean, AO J. Strosnider, NMSS 05-381 (CIOO)

ADAMS Accession No.: ML062300159

ADAMS Document Title: SECY-XX-XXXX - Semiannual Report on Status of Staff

Information Technology/Information Management and Business

Process Activities in Preparation for the High-Level Waste

Repository Proceedings

OFFICE TECH EDITOR HBPI/OIS HBPI/OIS DD/OIS D/OIS

NAME H. Chang: HC P. Hall: PH J. Corbett:JCC K. Greene E. Baker

DATE 08 / 18 /06 08 / 11 /06 08 / 18 /06 08/18/06 08/18/0 

OFFICE ASLBP OGC NMSS SECY DEDIA

NAME E. Hawkens:EH

via e-mail

K. Cyr:J. Moore

via e-mail

J. Strosnider:D.

Pstrak via e-mail

A. Vietti-Cook:E.

Julian via e-mail

J. Silber

DATE 08 / 08 /06 08 / 09 /06 08 / 11 /06 08 / 09 /06 08/29 /06

OFFICE DEDMRS EDO

NAME M. Virgilio L. Reyes

DATE / /06 08/29/06 / /06 / /06 / /06

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
The Commissioners 5