U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

AGENCY E-GOVERNMENT ACT IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE 

October 14, 2008 

This report responds to the September 2, 2008 memorandum from Ms. Karen Evans to Chief 

Information Officers on the subject, “FY 2008 E-Government Act Reporting Instructions.” 

Overview 

In accordance with the guidance in the September 2, 2008 memorandum, Section 1 of this report 

discusses the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) implementation of a key electronic 

government initiative, the NRC’s Meta System. Section 2 provides the requested links (where 

available) to NRC’s Web site where the information identified in the reporting guidance may be 

found. 

Section 1 – NRC Meta System 

A: Describe the initiative and how the initiative is transforming agency operations. 

The NRC initiated its Meta System project to provide the means to receive and manage complex 

electronic document submittals in anticipation of major license applications for new nuclear 

power plants, license renewals for existing nuclear power plants, and the Department of Energy’s 

(DOE) high-level waste (HLW) repository license application for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. 

The Meta System project examined the NRC’s current business processes and its supporting 

technology components in the context of organizational responsibilities. The resulting gap 

analyses identified 268 process issues, 146 information technology enhancements, and 15 

adjustments to organizational responsibilities. Required changes resulting from these analyses 

have been implemented using a phased approach prioritized by business need. At the completion 

of each phase, testing was conducted in an environment supporting a real-life simulation of each 

business process from beginning to end. With the completion of the final phase, annual 

simulations confirm the operational integrity of the Meta System. Simulations have also be 

performed as required to evaluate operational readiness or to validate business process 

improvements and technology enhancements identified as a result of operational experience or 

driven by external factors such as technology refresh requirements or vendor support 

agreements. This capability has resulted in a high degree of confidence that changes 

implemented will not negatively impact either upstream or downstream information flows. 

Today, the Meta System manages the interaction amongst 12 internal organizations and 40 

external organizations along with14 systems supporting 100 primary business processes and 70 

major interdependent exchanges of data. 

The Meta System has been instrumental in allowing the NRC to achieve significant operating 

goals entailing the receipt, processing, and distribution of high volumes of complex documents 

during this challenging time in its history. 
B: Explain how your agency maintains an ongoing dialogue with interested parties to find 

innovative ways to use information technology for this initiative. 

Internal stakeholders of the NRC Meta System Project meet regularly to review and discuss 

operational experiences. In combination with regular execution of the entire business process 

from beginning to end to evaluate operational readiness, we evaluate operational experience to 

identify process and technology improvements. 

The NRC engages potential parties to the Yucca Mountain adjudicatory proceeding, the 

Department of Energy, and the Nuclear Engineering Institute (NEI) to coordinate working group 

sessions to identify process and technology improvements to streamline the receipt, processing, 

and distribution of documents to the NRC. 

In addition, the Meta System Help Desk maintains an ongoing dialogue with external 

stakeholders by providing end-user support for the Meta System applications, answering 

questions about business processes, and identifying areas for improvement. 

C: Identify external partners (e.g., Federal, State, or local agencies; industry) who 

collaborate with your agency on the initiative. 

External partners that the agency collaborates with on this program include parties to the Yucca 

Mountain adjudicatory proceeding, the Department of Energy, and NEI and industry participants. 

D: Identify improved performance (e.g., outcome measures) by tracking performance 

measures supporting agency objectives and strategic goals. 

The Meta System ensures the optimum flow of documents into the NRC, efficient processing of 

documents according to NRC policy, and effective distribution of the information to NRC 

business units, thus protecting people and the environment as well as external stakeholders. 

E: Quantify the cost savings and cost avoidance achieved through implementing the 

initiative (e.g., by reducing or eliminating other investments in information technology). 

Through 2012, the Meta System will accomplish document processing turnaround service level 

commitments with estimated cost avoidance of two million dollars in document processing 

contractor FTE.

F: Explain how this initiative ensures the availability of Government information and 

services for those without access to the Internet or for those with disabilities. 

License submissions consist of PDF files, and NRC guidance requests they comply with 

Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The use of simple layouts, consistent 

application of styles, accessible table formats, and the inclusion of alternate text for images 

improves the ability of people with disabilities to use the information. 
The NRC has service provisions for people without access to the Internet. The NRC maintains a 

Public Document Room (PDR) where copies of NRC publicly available records can be read. 

Copies can be ordered in person or by telephone. The PDR has a toll-free number (800-397-

4209) to assist members of the public who do not have Internet access. The PDR can also 

provide bibliographies based on subject searches of the public databases to give users an idea of 

the documents that are available. The PDR has a fee-based copy service. It is not uncommon to 

refer people to the nearest public library for further assistance since most public libraries now 

have Internet access.

G: Explain how the project applies effective capital planning and investment control 

procedures. 

This project was managed as an integration of enhancements to multiple NRC IT investments. 

Change requests were submitted to the IT component Change Control Board and reviewed and 

prioritized for implementation. 

H: Describe the established business process your agency has in place for the continued 

ongoing process of identification of initiatives. 

The NRC has a capital planning and investment control process that uses a vetting process to 

identify initiatives that may duplicate E-Gov initiatives. The identification is at the very 

beginning of any investment and includes a review by the Enterprise Architecture Branch. A 

NRC governance board performs further review and includes a review by an NRC senior 

procurement official as required by OMB memorandum. 

Section 2—Agency Information Management Activities 

Link(s) to NRC’s Web site where the information requested in OMB’s guidance is provided 

below. 

A. Your agency’s IRM Strategic Plan and EA Transition Plan; 

 ● IRM Strategic Plan-- 

http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/idmws/ViewDocByAccession.asp?AccessionNumber=ML08115

0680 

 ● EA Transition Plan-- the NRC IT Roadmap provides its EA Transition Plan. This is only 

 available on the NRC internal Web site. 

B. Final determinations, priorities, and schedules. Also include your agency’s information 

dissemination product catalogs, directories, inventories, and any other management tools 

used to improve the dissemination of and access to your agency’s information by the 

public. 

• Get Copies of Documents—http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/copies-docs.html 

• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Guide—http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foiarequest.html 
• Citizen’s Guide to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Information (NUREG/BR0010, Rev. 4)—http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/brochures/br0010/index.html 

• Government Information Locator Service—http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/gils/index.html 

C. Your agency’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) handbook, the link of your agency’s 

primary FOIA Web site, and the Web site link where frequent requests for records are 

made available to the public. 

FOIA Handbook: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/managementdirectives/volumes/vol-3.html

Agency's Primary FOIA website: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html

Frequently requested records: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/records.html

D. A list of your agency’s public websites disseminating research and development (R&D) 

information to the public, and whether or not each website provides the public 

information about federally funded R&D activities and/or provides the results of Federal 

research. 

The agency’s public Web site as a whole (i.e., http://www.nrc.gov) disseminates R&D 

information to the public, specifically through the following pages: 

• NUREG-series contract reports—http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/contract/index.html 

• research activities—http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/research.html 

The Web site provides information about federally funded R&D as well as the results of 

Federal research. 

E. An inventory of formal agency agreements (e.g., contracts, memoranda of understanding, 

partnerships) with external entities (e.g., State and local governments, public libraries, 

industry and commercial search engines) complementing your agency’s information 

dissemination program, with a brief explaining of how each agreement improves the 

access to and dissemination of Government information to the public. 

The NRC has formal agency agreements with several external entities that complement 

NRC’s information dissemination program. The NRC uses the U.S. Government Printing 

Office's Superintendent of Documents to disseminate its NUREGs, and has an agreement in 

place to participate in the Federal Depository Library Program and their Sales Program. 

NRC also is required to send the Library of Congress File Center 15 copies of all its 

published documents. 
The agency also contracts with Online Video Service for web streaming of all Commission 

meetings and some public meetings. 

F. An inventory that describes your agency’s NARA-approved records schedules(s) or the 

link to the publicly-posted records schedules(s), and a brief explanation of your agency’s 

progress to implement NARA Bulletin 2006-02. For the brief explanation please report 

the number of systems for which a record schedule was submitted to NARA in Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2008 and the number of systems still requiring records schedules. 

The NARA-approved records schedules for NRC are published in NUREG-0910, “NRC 

Comprehensive Records Disposition Schedule.” This NUREG is available to the NRC staff 

through the NRC Internal Web pages, but is not generally available to the public. 

NRC has submitted 22 of the estimated 26 records disposition schedules necessary to 

implement the NARA Bulletin 2006-02. The remaining four schedules are in NRC internal 

reviews prior to completion and submittal to NARA. A total of 155 electronic information 

systems are included in the 26 schedules; schedules for 52 information systems have been 

submitted for approval. Thus far, the NRC has received two approved schedules. 

E-Gov Report FY 2008--Final.doc