POLICY ISSUE 

INFORMATION 

September 27, 2012 SECY-12-0129

DATE: September 27, 2012 

FOR: The Commissioners 

FROM: James T. Wiggins, Director 

Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response 

SUBJECT: STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK REGARDING EMERGENCY 

PREPAREDNESS RULE IMPLEMENTATION 

PURPOSE: 

To update the Commission on the impact of changes to the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program Manual (Program Manual) on 

the implementation of new emergency preparedness (EP) regulations issued by the U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in a final rule on November 23, 2011 (76 FR 72560). 

BACKGROUND: 

This paper summarizes the staff’s analysis of stakeholder feedback regarding implementation 

challenges faced by NRC licensees following the publication of FEMA’s Program Manual on 

November 23, 2011. Given that off-site EP guidance contained in the FEMA Program Manual 

directly affects the EP rule implementation activities of the NRC licensees, the Commission, in 

an August 30, 2011, Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-11-0053 (Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML112420153) directed 

the staff to evaluate the FEMA Program Manual’s potential impacts on implementing the new 

EP rule. 

CONTACT: Bethany Cecere, NSIR/DPR 

 (301) 415-6754
The Commissioners -2- 

DISCUSSION: 

The following describes the various venues used by staff to gain insights on possible issues 

associated with implementing the EP rule: 

Five EP final rule implementation forums, jointly conducted by the NRC and FEMA, were 

held from November 2011, through February 2012, in Rockville, Maryland, and each 

NRC region. The purpose of these public forums was: to engage with licensees and 

offsite response organizations to improve their understanding of implementation of the 

EP final rule and related guidance; to provide expectations for implementation of onsite 

and offsite EP program changes to address the new regulatory requirements and 

guidance; to answer questions from licensee and offsite response organization 

stakeholders regarding implementation of the new rule and guidance; and to provide an 

opportunity for members of the public to ask questions regarding the EP rule and 

guidance changes. For these forums, the attendees had different options to participate: 

attending the forum in person; by telephone; or through web conferencing (for the first 

and last sessions only). Over 550 people attended the forums, 64 registered for web 

conferencing, and several more requested access by phone. No significant licensee 

implementation issues were raised in these meetings. 

Individual State and local government workshops on FEMA’s Program Manual were 

conducted by FEMA regional staff from February 2012 through April 2012. NRC staff 

attended five of these workshops. During a workshop conducted in Grundy County, 

Illinois on March 20-22, 2012, an issue was raised regarding the LaSalle exercise 

scheduled for August 1, 2012. In particular, the planned exercise involved a hostile 

action-based scenario. However, neither LaSalle County, nor the State of Illinois had 

completed revisions to their response plans to fully incorporate hostile action response 

elements. As a result, the exercise scenario was changed to reflect a non-hostile actionbased scenario. 

In March 2012, NRC EP staff and regional staff held a joint meeting with FEMA 

headquarters and regional radiological EP staff. This was an annual meeting held 

between the two agencies to coordinate EP activities. During this meeting, staff from 

each of the respective regions provided updates on stakeholder feedback they had 

received. 

Following the issuance of the FEMA Program Manual, FEMA provided a website for the 

submission of questions regarding the guidance in the Program Manual. FEMA 

provided responses to the questions and incorporated changes, as appropriate. The 

website is similar to the frequently asked questions process that the NRC has for safety, 

security, and inspections which has received positive feedback from licensees and 

offsite response organizations (OROs). 

During the National Radiological EP Conference, held in April 2012, the NRC and FEMA 

hosted a joint session for the purpose of receiving feedback from licensees and offsite 

response organizations on implementation issues. During this session, questions were 

raised regarding demonstration criteria for OROs during a no-release/minimal-release 

exercise. Additionally, offsite response organizations and licensees inquired as to the 
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status of the technical guidance document for the development of backup alert and 

notification systems (ANS). 

During the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) EP Forum in June 2012, all attendees were 

given an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback regarding implementation of the 

EP rule and FEMA’s Program Manual. Feedback received included: 

The rule implementation period spans 3 years through December 31, 2015, and, 

at this point in time, it is too early to tell what the true impacts are, especially 

unintended consequences of implementation of any of the rule issue areas. It is 

anticipated that implementation of the “challenging drills and exercises” elements 

will present the most significant implementation challenges; however, there is no 

deterministic evidence at this early stage of implementation. 

Additionally, licensees noted the overall cumulative impact of the broad spectrum 

of changes to both their programs and the offsite response organization 

programs resulting from the publication of the NRC’s EP rule and guidance and 

FEMA’s Program Manual. 

The NEI EP Working Group provided the NRC with a letter on August 21, 2012 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML12243A322) with specific concerns related to the backup ANS 

requirements, the challenging drills and exercise requirements, and cumulative impacts 

associated with implementing the new rule. In its letter, NEI indicated that licensees are 

concerned that FEMA has not issued guidance for the “backup” ANS capability. The 

NEI letter further states that licensees and OROs do not have the information necessary 

to ensure that a submitted change to the design report meets FEMA expectations. 

Therefore, there may be a challenge to meeting the EP rule’s deadline of June 24, 2013, 

to submit revised design reports to FEMA. With regard to challenging drills and exercise 

requirements, concern remains regarding the lack of clarity in FEMA guidance on 

demonstration criteria for hostile action-based exercises. This lack of guidance for 

OROs impacts licensees in their planned interactions with OROs during exercises. The 

last item of concern pertains to the cumulative impact on resources responsible for the 

broad spectrum of changes to each licensee’s EP program, including coordination with 

OROs. In addition to EP rule implementation, licensees are also addressing Near Term 

Task Force Tier 1 actions. Future regulatory actions for Tiers 2 and 3 recommendations 

may have additional impact. 

STAFF ANALYSIS: 

Based on the feedback received to date, the staff has determined that implementation of the EP 

requirements specific to hostile action-based exercises and backup ANS pose the greatest 

challenge. 

As the issues with the LaSalle hostile action-based exercise indicate, OROs need additional 

guidance to aid them in the development of their emergency plans. At a public meeting held on 

June 14, 2012 (for which a meeting summary can be found at ADAMS Accession No. 

ML12172A416), at the NRC Region III office, lessons learned by all stakeholders involved in 

the LaSalle hostile action-based exercise planning activities were discussed. Following this 

meeting, FEMA staff issued additional guidance on incorporating hostile action-based elements 
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into offsite response organization response plans and providing exercise demonstration criteria 

for hostile action-based exercises. NEI held a hostile action-based Exercise Workshop on 

September 11-12, 2012, with FEMA and NRC participation. During this workshop, NRC and 

FEMA staff discussed their respective guidance for hostile action-based exercises. The 

additional guidance recently developed by FEMA to aid offsite response organizations in 

developing plans for hostile action-based events should eliminate implementation challenges to 

licensees regarding the conduct of a hostile action-based exercise by December 31, 2015, 

which is the deadline established in the EP rule for all applicable licensees to conduct a hostile 

action-based exercise. 

Regarding backup ANS methods, FEMA has developed draft guidance that can be used by 

licensees to revise their design report; however, this draft guidance is still awaiting formal 

approval within FEMA. FEMA staff has indicated that licensees can submit design reports that 

are based on this draft guidance. Thus, licensees should be able to submit their design report 

to FEMA prior to the implementation date required by the rule. 

CONCLUSION:

Based on input from a wide range of sources, the staff has assessed these concerns associated 

with hostile action-based exercises and backup ANS guidance. Because FEMA is issuing 

guidance (with the feedback from licensees and OROs), the staff remains confident that the rule 

will be implemented within the required timeframes. 

COORDINATION: 

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

 /RA/ 

James T. Wiggins, Director 

Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response 
The Commissioners -4- 

into offsite response organization response plans and providing exercise demonstration criteria 

for hostile action-based exercises. NEI held a hostile action-based Exercise Workshop on 

September 11-12, 2012, with FEMA and NRC participation. During this workshop, NRC and 

FEMA staff discussed their respective guidance for hostile action-based exercises. The 

additional guidance recently developed by FEMA to aid offsite response organizations in 

developing plans for hostile action-based events should eliminate implementation challenges to 

licensees regarding the conduct of a hostile action-based exercise by December 31, 2015, 

which is the deadline established in the EP rule for all applicable licensees to conduct a hostile 

action-based exercise. 

Regarding backup ANS methods, FEMA has developed draft guidance that can be used by 

licensees to revise their design report; however, this draft guidance is still awaiting formal 

approval within FEMA. FEMA staff has indicated that licensees can submit design reports that 

are based on this draft guidance. Thus, licensees should be able to submit their design report 

to FEMA prior to the implementation date required by the rule. 

CONCLUSION:

Based on input from a wide range of sources, the staff has assessed these concerns associated 

with hostile action-based exercises and backup ANS guidance. Because FEMA is issuing 

guidance (with the feedback from licensees and OROs), the staff remains confident that the rule 

will be implemented within the required timeframes. 

COORDINATION: 

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

 /RA/ 

James T. Wiggins, Director 

Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response 

ADAMS Accession No.: ML12226A698 WITS 201100227/EDATS: SECY-2011-0499 

OFFICE NSIR/DPR NSIR/DPR:BC NSIR/DPR:DDEP NSIR/DPR:D Tech Editing OGC 

NAME BCecere RKahler MThaggard RLewis CRaynor BJones 

(HBenowitz for, 

by email) 

DATE 8/9/12 8/9/12 8/28/12 9/7/12 8/30/12 9/21/12 

OFFICE NSIR:D 

NAME JWiggins 

DATE 9/27/12 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY