REMARKS OF NRC CHAIRMAN JACZKO AT 

NRC ENFORCEMENT AND ALLEGATION PROGRAMS BRIEFING 

Opening Remarks

 Good morning. The Commission meets today to receive a briefing from staff and input 

from several stakeholders on the agency’s Enforcement and Allegation Programs. The 

performance of these programs is critical to the NRC’s success as a regulator because what 

ultimately defines a regulator is its ability to ensure that its policies are being followed. As past 

incidents at [the] Peach Bottom and Davis Besse [nuclear power plants] demonstrated, the 

Enforcement and Allegation Programs are areas of high visibility and crucial to the maintenance 

of public confidence. 

 The NRC can’t be everywhere, and can’t inspect everything. That is why we need an 

effective Enforcement Program that takes prompt corrective actions and makes clear the high 

expectations we have of our licensees for applying our guidance and regulations. That is why we 

need an effective Allegation Program that investigates and resolves safety and security concerns 

that are brought to our attention. 

 The agency’s Allegation Program has historically performed strongly and will be further 

enhanced by the lessons of Peach Bottom to ensure that issues raised by allegers will always be 

addressed in a timely, sensitive, and responsive manner. 

 In today’s briefing, the staff will review the Enforcement and Allegation Programs, the 

alternative dispute resolution process, and proposed changes to the enforcement policy and the 

allegation guidance memorandum (AGM). I would like to commend the staff on their efforts to 

engage our stakeholders as part of the process of developing the proposed revisions to the 

enforcement policy and the AGM. 

 After the staff presentations, the Commission will hear directly from stakeholders 

regarding their views of the proposed changes. I am pleased that our panel of stakeholders 

represents several diverse perspectives. Although Billie Garde who had been scheduled to 

participate on this panel could not join us today, she has provided her valuable insights in writing 

to the Commission. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 10-016 January 19, 2010
 I look forward to discussing with the both the staff and the stakeholders here today how 

the Commission can best proceed in reforming and strengthening these important programs. 

 Dr. Klein and Commissioner Svinicki, would you care to make any opening comments? 

Closing Remarks

 I would like to thank both panels for a productive discussion today. Because these issues 

are central to our effectiveness as a regulator, the Commission must stay focused on ensuring that 

the agency staff is doing everything it can to be consistent and diligent in monitoring and 

enforcing compliance with our policies. Thank you all for your presentations. The meeting is 

adjourned. 

Note: Briefing slides for this meeting are available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/commission/slides/2010/20100119/index.html. A full transcript of the meeting will be 

available soon at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/tr/2010/. 

### 

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE 

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.