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U.S Nula egltr

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Open Govrnen Pla

A Addendum

Aciite fo g0421
Message from the Chairman

I am pleased to present this addendum to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission's (NRC's) Open Government Plan re-capping activities to

date and outlining activities for 2014 through 2015. The NRC remains

committed to openness and transparency, and the agency's strategic

plans have stressed the importance of these objectives in achieving our

goals and objectives.

The NRC is fully committed to using new technologies to help the

public better understand and participate in our work. Over the past

two years, we have provided more opportunities for public engagement

and have worked to provide a user-friendly experience for those with

whom we communicate.

Web streaming and conferencing technologies now allow increased opportunities for

participation in public meetings, regardless of location. Prime examples of the NRC's use of

these technologies include virtual meetings on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station,

Waste Confidence, and various post-Fukushima-related initiatives. We have also provided two

Web-based systems to share public meeting information and to make it easier for the public to

provide feedback on these meetings. Up-to-date meeting information is available for desktop

and mobile platforms and through social media such as Twitter.

We have continued to expand our use of social media. Since their introduction in 2011, the

NRC's social media platforms - our blog and Twitter account - have enhanced relationships

between the agency and the public by promoting a sense of common community, providing a

unique venue for dialogue, and enhancing the use of plain language in explanations of NRC

activities. We are encouraged by the increase in subscriber and viewer rates for the agency's social

media platforms. We will continue to expand our use of social media with the introduction of

Facebook in summer 2014 and will continue efforts to assess the viability of additional platforms for

the future.

To improve the ease of access to documents open for public comment, we have redesigned our

"Documents for Comment" Web pages to provide a one-stop location for all rulemakings and other

documents open for comment. To improve the timeliness of access to information, we have

strengthened our Freedom of Information Act program, which received an unprecedented number of

requests as a result of the nuclear accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan. Our efforts here have

been recognized as "Best Practices" in a Center for Effective Government report. The NRC will also

begin providing a mobile-friendly Web site-making it easier for mobile users to quickly find and

access our information resources-and we are continuing to build on our accomplishments in the

use of plain language.

This addendum also describes our programs to further collaborate with our State and Tribal

Government and our international regulatory partners. I hope you will carefully review this plan

and share your thoughts and ideas with us. As an organization, the NRC is dedicated to

continuous improvement, and we invite you to help us be the best nuclear safety and security

regulator we can be.

•• t,• REotj,

C, 00- 0

Chairman, Allison M. Macfarlane
i 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Open Government Plan Addendum 

Activities for 2014–2015 

CONTENTS 

Message from the Chairman 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 

A. Open Government Program Highlights ...................................................................... 3 

1. 2010–2011 Highlights ....................................................................................... 3 

2. 2012–2013 Highlights ....................................................................................... 3 

B. Approach to Building the Open Government Program 2014-2015 .............................. 6 

C. Transparency .............................................................................................................. 7 

1. Strengthening the NRC’s Freedom of Information Act Program ...................... 7 

2. Public Document Room and Technical Library Services ................................. 9 

3. Information and Records Management ........................................................... 9 

4. Project Open Data ......................................................................................... 10 

5. Public Web Site–Mobile-Friendly Web Pages ............................................... 10 

6. Focus on Plain Writing .................................................................................. 11 

7. Achieving Proactive Disclosure ..................................................................... 12 

8. Whistle Blower Protection ............................................................................. 12 

9. Supporting Congressional Requests ............................................................. 12 

10. The NRC’s Declassification Program ............................................................ 12 

11. The NRC’s Participation in Transparency Initiatives ..................................... 13 

12. Compliance with OMB Guidance on Privacy Issues ..................................... 14 

D. Participation .............................................................................................................. 14 

1. Strengthening Social Media Services ............................................................ 14 

2. Increasing the Visibility of Rulemaking and Other NRC Documents Open 

for Comment ................................................................................................. 15 

3. Modernizing Information and Records Management Program ...................... 16 

4. Continued Expansion in the Use of Virtual Meetings .................................... 17 

5. Improved Public Meeting Notification and Feedback Systems ...................... 17 

E. Collaboration ............................................................................................................. 18 

1. State-Focused Communication Initiatives..................................................... 18 

2. Evaluation of Outreach Efforts on Safety Culture ......................................... 19 

3. Increased Interactions with Tribal Governments ........................................... 19 

4. Enhancing Collaboration with the International Community ......................... 20 

F. Flagship Initiative ...................................................................................................... 21 

1. Building Mobile NRC-The Digital Government Initiative ............................... 21 

Attachment A: Open Government Milestone Commitments 2012-2013 - Status .......... 24 

Attachment B: Digital Government Plan Summary ....................................................... 26 
2 

Introduction 

On December 8, 2009, Peter R. Orszag, then Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), sent a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies directing 

them to take specific actions to implement the principles of transparency, participation, and 

collaboration set forth in the President’s memorandum on transparency and open government, 

dated January 21, 2009. Because of its long history of openness, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) welcomed this opportunity and has participated fully in the President’s open 

government directive. 

One of the actions identified by OMB was the development and publication of open government 

plans describing how each agency will “improve transparency and integrate public participation 

and collaboration into its activities.” 1 In response, the NRC developed its first open government 

plan, which was published on the agency’s Open Government Web page. 

Since its creation in 1975, the NRC has viewed openness as a critical element for achieving the 

agency’s mission to regulate the Nation’s civilian use of radioactive materials and thereby 

protect people and the environment. The NRC’s strategic plans have stressed the importance 

of openness in achieving the agency’s strategic goals and objectives. 

The NRC’s Open Government Plan builds upon the three openness elements of 

(1) transparency, (2) participation, and (3) collaboration; keystones of the governmentwide 

program and the NRC’s strategic plans.

Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about the NRC’s 

activities. More specifically, this means that public stakeholders must have timely access to 

clear and understandable information about the NRC’s role, processes, activities, and decisions. 

Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that the NRC 

can make regulatory decisions with the benefit of information from a wide range of stakeholders. 

These stakeholders must have a reasonable opportunity to participate meaningfully in the 

NRC’s regulatory processes. 

Collaboration improves the effectiveness of government by encouraging partnerships and 

cooperation within the Federal Government, with State, local, and Tribal Governments, and with 

international regulatory authorities. 

The 2014–2015 addendum to the NRC’s Open Government Plan highlights agency 

accomplishments to date regarding the above openness elements and discusses forward plans. 

The agency’s work in numerous areas is highlighted and, in particular, the NRC’s use of 

technology to make progress in each of the openness elements is also highlighted. 

 

1

 See U.S. Office of Management and Budget, “Open Government Directive,” December 8, 2009, Section 3a, 

p. 4. 
3 

A. Open Government Program Highlights 

Our Open Government Plan, published on April 7, 2010, has served the agency well as a roadmap 

guiding the NRC’s Open Government program to date. In 2012, as called for in OMB’s Open 

Government Directive, the NRC revisited its plan and published its first addendum on 

April 9, 2012. Over the last 4 years, the agency has made significant progress in moving its 

Open Government program forward; thus, with this addendum, the NRC builds the roadmap for 

the next 2 years. The following highlights the progress the agency has made over the past 

4 years, as well as some of our forward plans: 

1. 2010–2011 Highlights 

In 2010, the NRC’s Open Government program focused on enhancing stakeholder 

engagement (our flagship initiative), publishing high-value datasets, and building a 

foundation for work to be done in 2011. 

In 2011, the NRC introduced social media technology—launching the NRC blog in 

January, Twitter in August, and the NRC YouTube channel in September. The agency 

continued publishing high-value datasets and the NRC dataset of U.S. nuclear power 

plant inspection reports received special recognition by the Data.gov initiative. We 

launched a significantly redesigned public Web site with greatly improved search 

capabilities and the Web site was recognized as “a gold mine of information” in a 

2012 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 

2. 2012–2013 Highlights 

The NRC’s Open Government program over the past 2 years continued to grow our 

social media program, provide improved and timely access to information for 

stakeholders, and enhance collaboration with our partners. (See Attachment A for status 

of 2012-2013 milestone commitments) 

 We focused on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The 2011 event 

at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant placed additional focus on the 

agency’s FOIA program:

o Completed a Business Process Improvement program.

o Authorized additional investments in technology to support FOIA efforts.

o Strengthened organizational structures and staff skills.

o Received recognition for the agency’s FOIA program in a Center for 

Effective Government report.

 We embraced the President’s Digital Government Strategy as a natural 

extension to our 2012–2013 Flagship Initiative Mobile NRC:

o Established a Digital Government Task Force.
4 

o Used social media technology to solicit stakeholder requirements.

o Identified 10 high-value Web-based or mobile applications for 

2014-2015 implementations.

o Deployed a mobile-based public meeting feedback capability.

 We maintained our public Web site as the agency’s central information portal:

o Provided a mobile-friendly Web site.

o Continued to grow user satisfaction with our Web site.

o Provided provisions for developers to access our Web site.

o Identified further improvements to our Web site.

 We continued to grow our social media program:

o Increased subscriber and viewer rates for agency social media 

platforms—at times nearly doubling previous years’ statistics.

o Launched a pilot live discussion platform known as NRC Chat.

o Updated the agency’s Crisis Communication Plan to reflect the addition 

of social media tools to communicate event/incident information.

o Actively participated in the Federal Government Social Media 

Community of Practice and hired a social media specialist.

o Evaluated and are now pursuing the use of Facebook.

 We continued to enhance our collaboration with State and Tribal Governments:

o Began conducting Webinars for Agreement State partners. Continued 

to support our Agreement State partners in their efforts to promote 

safety culture to their licensees.

o Continued to conduct various forms of outreach to State and Tribal 

Governments on topics of mutual interest.

o Began development of an agencywide Tribal Policy Statement and 

conducted related outreach to solicit input from Tribal Governments and 

the public.
5 

 We continued to enhance our collaboration with the international community:

o Engaged voluntarily in bilateral nuclear safety cooperation programs 

and assistance activities with 41 countries, the European Atomic Energy 

Community (Euratom) and Taiwan. 

o Had significant participation of Commission and senior level staff 

members in international meetings focusing on a variety of topics.

o Placed an increased focus on the sharing of information with Canadian 

and Mexican counterparts and the International Atomic Energy Agency 

(IAEA) subsequent to the Fukushima accident.

 We made changes to improve the public’s ability to participate in the NRC’s 

regulatory processes.

o Revised the “Documents for Comments” Web page to be a one-stop 

location for rulemaking actions and other documents open for comment.

o Added more subscription-based services to help the public stay current 

on rulemaking activities.

o Enhanced access to rulemaking information affecting small entities.

o Published in May 2013 a proposed rule to clarify the NRC’s petition for 

the rulemaking process.

 We continued to modernize the management of our records.

o Making information capture and categorization more complete and 

transparent.

o Developing new file plans, records categorization, and retention 

schedules for use in records capture.

o Improving our staff’s knowledge of Information and Records 

Management (IRM) related to NRC work products.

o Incorporating IRM policies into the NRC’s capital planning and 

investment control process and the agency’s IT project management 

methodology.

 We are enhancing stakeholder involvement in public meetings.

o Employing Web streaming and conferencing to allow participation, 

regardless of location. 

o Using Twitter to allow the public to track meeting events.
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o Enabling meeting feedback to be sent by smartphone or computer.

o Enhancing meeting facilitation training for staff.

 We continued outreach efforts to public users of the Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System (ADAMS) and the NRC’s Public Document 

Room (PDR).

o PDR staff is distributing the approved user survey to gather feedback 

from public users about the ease of searching and retrieving information 

from the NRC’s public outlets.

o Staff from the PDR in 2013 offered an overview of ADAMS searching 

tips and techniques as a separate session during the Regulatory 

Information Conference. Despite lunchtime scheduling, the extra 

session was visited by more than 50 conference attendees.

o During the fall 2013 ADAMS User Group meeting, users complimented 

NRC staff for the ease of use and accessibility of information in the 

current version of public ADAMS. 

 

B. Approach to Building the Open Government Program 

for 2014–2015 

The NRC’s Open Government Advisory Group, composed of representatives from the agency’s 

public affairs, internal communications, and information technology organizations, oversees the 

agency’s Open Government program. The advisory group was established by the Deputy 

Executive Director for Corporate Management (DEDCM) on August 12, 2010, with the purpose 

of providing operational oversight, performance assessment, and progress reporting on 

commitments reflected in the agency’s Open Government Plan. The advisory group meets 

monthly and provides annual updates on the program to the DEDCM. 

The NRC’s Open Government program was built on the NRC’s long-standing commitment to 

openness and the program has furthered this commitment since 2010, reflecting inputs from the 

public and agency employees. Through our social media initiatives, our public meetings, the 

expanded use of virtual meetings, and our public Web site, opportunities for the public and 

employees to comment on our program are provided. While these venues are ongoing, we 

have taken additional steps to engage the public and employees in this bi-annual review of our 

Open Government plan. A blog post advised that the bi-annual process was underway and 

provided a snapshot of accomplishments over the past 2 years and plans for the next 2 years. 

A notification of the NRC staff’s efforts to update the agency’s Open Government plan was sent 

to State contacts and the agency’s Communications Council, consisting of representatives from 

all agency headquarters and regional offices were engaged in our Open Government plan 

review process. We also note that ongoing initiatives are not static. Existing programs are 

enhanced and new approaches to engage the public are introduced and tried. Examples here 

include the expanded capabilities being provided for the public to engage in our meetings, the 

planned introduction of Facebook as another social media tool, and our pilot efforts to introduce 

NRC Chat. The NRC’s Regulatory Information Conference, with participants from around the 

world, is also an important venue for obtaining public and employee feedback. 
7 

C. Transparency 

Transparency promotes accountability by providing the 

public with information about the NRC’s activities. More 

specifically, this means that public stakeholders must have 

timely access to clear and understandable information 

about the NRC’s role, processes, activities, and 

decisionmaking. 

The NRC’s 2010 Open Government Plan discusses 

practices the NRC uses to conduct its regulatory responsibilities in an open and transparent 

manner to keep the public informed of the agency’s regulatory, licensing, and oversight 

activities. Section III.A describes what the NRC is doing to promote transparency in its 

operations, including (1) its policies, management controls, and performance measures; 

(2) its key information dissemination channels; and (3) its participation in Federal transparency 

initiatives. 

Discussed below are: 

 the agency’s initiatives and programs to strengthen the NRC’s FOIA program, which 

came under considerable stress as a result of the event in Japan 

 the support provided by the NRC’s Public Document Room and Technical Library staffs 

to assist the public in getting to the documents and information they need 

 the agency’s initiatives in support of Project Open Data 

 the NRC’s Public Web site, which continues to serve as our central information portal for 

the public 

 the NRC’s continued focus on plain writing 

 the NRC’s approach to ensuring whistle blower protection 

 the NRC’s response to congressional requests for information 

 the agency’s declassification program 

 the NRC’s participation in government-wide transparency initiatives 

1. Strengthening the NRC’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

Program 

The NRC is committed to serving the public with timely and accurate responses to 

FOIA requests, and NRC continuously monitors the performance of the NRC’s FOIA 

program to find opportunities for improvement. 

“Transparency promotes 

accountability by providing 

the public with information 

about what the Government 

is doing.” 

(Open Government Directive)
8 

The volume, as well as the complexity, of FOIA requests received by the NRC has 

been steadily increasing. From 2012 to 2013, the number of complex FOIA requests 

processed by the NRC increased by 57%, and the number of administrative appeals 

processed increased by 50%. Although the FOIA program was still able to reduce its 

backlog from 2012-2013 year over year by 11%, this increase in volume and 

complexity of the caseload has led to a delayed average response time to the 

requester. As a result of this changing workload, the FOIA program has been 

implementing efficiency measures suggested by FOIA analysts and procuring licenses 

for applications in FOIA processing technology in order to increase efficiency and 

reduce the average FOIA request processing time. 

In 2012, the NRC conducted a Business Process Improvement (BPI) analysis to 

increase the efficiency of the FOIA process, with the goal of reducing the NRC’s 

backlog of FOIA requests. The BPI team proposed several enhancements to the FOIA 

process, most of which were either immediately implemented or accepted for future 

implementation. The BPI team’s recommendations included changes to internal 

practices, such as transmitting sensitive documents via e-mail rather than hard-copy in 

order to improve processing times, establishing generic standards for 

investigations- and allegations-related documents, and holding best practice meetings. 

The BPI team also found opportunities to leverage technology in order to increase the 

efficiency and transparency of the FOIA program. The team recommended upgrading 

the software used by the NRC’s FOIA staff and adding a feature known as the Public 

Access Link to enable the public to track the status of FOIA requests, and plans to 

have the Public Access Link available to the public in 2014. 

In early 2013, the NRC stepped up its effort to clear the backlog of FOIA requests 

relating to the NRC’s reaction to the 2011 tragedy at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear 

Power Plant. In 2011, the NRC established a separate work unit, known as the Japan 

Team, devoted to processing these requests. As part of its efforts to clear the backlog, 

the NRC streamlined the reporting structure of the Japan Team, increased the staffing 

level, and brought in a senior manager with extensive FOIA experience in order to 

meet an aggressive internal goal of completing the requests by the end of 2013. As a 

result of the heightened focus, the NRC nearly doubled its output of Japan-related 

FOIA documents in 2013. 

Also, in early 2013, the NRC embarked on an effort to strengthen the FOIA program by 

centralizing the reporting structure for staff that coordinates FOIA requests. 

Historically, the NRC has had program office staff (as opposed to FOIA staff) train and 

assist the technical staff, who respond to FOIA requests and do the initial review of the 

redactions. However, once the new structure is implemented in 2015, all NRC staff 

members performing FOIA Coordinator functions will report to a central branch office 

in the Office of Information Services (OIS). The new structure will enable OIS to 

provide consistent, expert assistance to staff members responding to FOIA requests in 

order to speed processing times. As a part of this effort, OIS staff established a 

biweekly FOIA Centralization and Improvement Working Group during which staff 

members share best practices and vote on changes to procedures to enhance the 

FOIA program’s performance. 

It is the policy of the NRC FOIA program to contact requestors and clarify the scope of 

the request when appropriate. This practice was highlighted in the Center for Effective 
9 

Government’s report, “Best Practices for Agency Freedom of Information Act 

Regulations,” released in December 2013. 

For more information about the NRC FOIA program, and its value as a tool for greater 

government transparency, please visit our performance reports at FOIA.gov, the 

NRC’s Annual Chief FOIA Officer Report, and the NRC’s Annual FOIA Report. 

Additional information on NRC’s administration of FOIA can be found here. 

2. Public Document Room and Technical Library Services 

The NRC’s Public Document Room staff responds to public requests for copies of 

NRC documents, and provides guidance on conducting Web-based ADAMS 

(Agencywide Documents Access and Management System) searches to locate NRC 

records. The NRC receives requests from a variety of domestic and international 

members of the public. The staff of the Public Document Room will also research and 

locate non-public NRC documents relevant to a request for information from the public, 

and advocate for the document to be made publicly available. 

In 2013, the NRC received approval from the OMB for distribution of a user survey. 

Since that time, the NRC has solicited feedback from the public about its satisfaction 

with the services provided through the NRC’s Public Document Room and ADAMS to 

identify areas for improvement. 

In 2000, the NRC formed the ADAMS User Group. This forum allows interested 

members of the public who use ADAMS to interact with NRC Public Document Room 

staff. The NRC holds two public meetings each year for members of the ADAMS User 

Group to discuss system improvements and developments and to answer questions 

that may have wider application in the user community. These twice-yearly meetings 

have been held since 2000 and a complete record of the User Group Meeting Minutes 

is available for review at the following NRC public Web site: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/users-group.html. 

The NRC also maintains the ADAMS public distribution list, which currently has more 

than 5,000 members. Through this service, the NRC maintains contact with members 

of the public about system enhancements as well as ADAMS or NRC news items of 

interest to public users. 

Lastly, the NRC Technical Library is available to members of the public who wish to 

review industry codes and standards that have been “incorporated by reference” into 

agency documents. Members of the public may contact the Technical Library staff to 

schedule an appointment during normal business hours. 

3. Information and Records Management Program 

The NRC’s focus on modernizing and improving records management will help 

minimize costs and lead to more efficient operations. The full discussion of the NRC’s 

Information and Records Management Program is provided under Section D, 

“Participation,” of this plan.

 
10 

4. Project Open Data 

The NRC is in compliance with OMB Memorandum M-13-13 and supplemental 

requirements related to Project Open Data. The agency has developed an Enterprise 

Data Inventory and published a human and machine readable public data listing at 

www.NRC.gov/data. The NRC’s digital strategy page has also been updated to 

include the agency’s inventory schedule and customer feedback process.

NRC offices submit new datasets and changes to existing datasets using Dataset 

Quality Assessment Criteria listed in the agency’s Open Government High-Value 

Dataset Identification and Submission Process document. Offices use the Dataset 

Quality Assessment to determine the dataset security level. Datasets are continuously 

added to the Enterprise Data Inventory and releasable datasets are added to the 

public data listing. The human and machine readable public data listing on the NRC’s 

Web site are updated quarterly to ensure public data on the agency’s site is a 

reflection of the public data within the Enterprise Data Inventory. All agency datasets 

in the public data listing are downloadable from hyperlinks on the NRC public 

Web site.

5. Public Web Site–Mobile-Friendly Web Pages 

 The NRC’s public Web site continues to serve as the central information portal that 

provides access to information resources, tools, and services to the public. We are 

committed to expanding on the progress we have made to further enhance 

transparency by refining availability and delivery of official agency information 

throughout the public Web site. 

Over the past 4 years, we have seen a consistent upward trend in satisfaction among 

our site users, as demonstrated by the results of our Public Site Survey (see our 

“Evaluating Our Progress on Open Government” Web page). We also have 2 usability 

assessments performed each fiscal year by usability experts provided by our Public 

Site Survey vendor. Recent assessments have focused on navigation, search and the 

fees and materials areas of the site. We also regularly review survey responses and 

inquiries made through the Contact Us forms at our site to help in identifying and 

correcting errors and weaknesses at our site. 

NRC has taken steps to improve the search by adding key terms for commonly 

searched phrases and improving the relevancy weighting of search results, and by 

improving the ADAMS document search interface. The most commonly sought-after 

information at our site is the event information, which are highlighted at the top right of 

the Home Page and are elevated through key terms in our site search. We have also 

elevated the placement of the search interface for licensee event data through key 

terms in the search. In addition, we are working with the content owners throughout 

our site to provide a more logical hierarchy of pages and navigational aids in that area 

as well as continuing to add older technical reports to our NUREG technical reports 

collection in response to user requests. 

To further enhance the delivery of the most requested official agency information via 

mobile devices, the NRC has launched several Web Application Programing Interfaces 
11 

(APIs) to access and leverage its documents contained in Web-based ADAMS and the 

high-value data sets for the Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 

Part 21 (“Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance”) component defect reports, as well 

as the operating reactor inspection reports. This allows mobile users to quickly find 

and access NRC regulatory information resources. Additionally, the NRC has 

published our Web API “For Developers” page, which includes a developer’s guide for 

all three APIs listed above. New mobile capabilities such as a mobile-friendly public 

Web site will be introduced, making it easy for mobile users to quickly find and access 

NRC regulatory information resources while on the go. NRC’s plans for the use of 

mobile technology are further discussed in Section F, “Flagship Initiative,” of this plan. 

Additional information is available at the NRC’s Digital Strategy Web site. 

6. Focus on Plain Writing 

In its “Final Guidance on Implementing the Plain Writing Act,” dated April 13, 2011, 

OMB stated that “plain writing is writing that is clear, concise, well organized, and 

consistent with other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended 

audience. Such writing avoids jargon, redundancy, ambiguity, and obscurity.” 

The NRC takes that definition a step further. The agency believes that plain writing is 

communication that our intended audience can easily understand the first time they 

read or hear it. It is not overly casual or unprofessional, and it does not strip out 

necessary technical details to “dumb down” the information or “talk down” to the 

reader. 

The NRC realizes that language that is plain to some readers may not be plain to 

others. We know we’ve succeeded, however, if our writing enables our intended 

audiences to do the following: 

 Find what they need. 

 Understand what they find. 

 Use what they find to meet their needs. 

To this end, the agency instructed managers to familiarize themselves with the 

requirements of the act, and to encourage staff to take appropriate training. A new 

online course, specifically tailored to the Plain Writing guidance issued by OMB, was 

made available to all employees, and the Commission has directed staff to make 

greater use of plain language when speaking to the public about high profile events, 

such as the nuclear accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan. The agency’s plain 

language coordinator works with the in-house technical editors to promote the 

objective of clear communication, and also gives regular briefings on plain writing at 

office- and division-level staff meetings, as well as to groups such as the Rulemaking 

Coordinating Committee. Additionally, staff members are reminded to use plain 

language through periodic articles in the agency’s in-house newsletter, the NRC 

Reporter. 

OMB instructed Federal agencies to publish annual reports that describe their 

continuing compliance with the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Consistent with that 

guidance, the agency reports on its progress and compliance every April. 
12 

Those annual reports appear in the plain writing section of the NRC’s Open 

Government Web site. 

In addition, the NRC surveys agency stakeholders on an annual basis as part of its 

self-assessment of the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Program. These surveys include 

questions to assess the agency’s success in issuing inspection reports that are 

relevant, useful, and written in plain language. See Stakeholder Feedback on the 

NRC Web site for a discussion of the survey results since 1999. 

7. Achieving Proactive Disclosure 

The NRC routinely examines material for Proactive Disclosure, and has an established 

procedure outlined for reviewing records for proactive disclosure as set forth in Title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 9.15, “Availability of Records,” and 

10 CFR Part 9.21, “Publicly-Available Records”). How the agency has utilized 

proactive disclosure is also reported annually within the Chief FOIA Officer Report 

(located here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html ). The agency 

routinely analyzes information for eligibility to proactively disclose, and examines each 

FOIA release for eligibility for both proactive disclosure under the regulations and 

separately for publication in ADAMS at the following location: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/closed-request.html

8. Whistle Blower Protection 

The NRC’s Whistle Blower Protection program is discussed on NRC’s public Web site 

on the link provided here: Whistle Blower Protection. The site informs employees and 

contractors of their rights and remedies under the Whistleblower Protection Act. The 

agency is determining which office will have lead responsibility in the effort to obtain 

U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) certification. A draft plan and strategy for 

completion will be initiated in the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2014. At that time, 

the date by which to obtain OSC certification will be established. 

9. Supporting Congressional Requests 

The functions associated with NRC’s Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA) are 

discussed on NRC’s public Web site on the link provided here: Congressional Affairs. 

OCA is responsible for ensuring that the NRC meets its statutory responsibility to keep 

the appropriate Congressional oversight committees fully and currently informed about 

the NRC’s activities. 

10. The NRC’s Declassification Program 

The NRC’s Declassification Program is discussed on the NRC’s Web site on the link 

provided here: Declassification. The NRC believes that information that no longer 

requires protection (in accordance with established Information Security procedures) 

should be declassified to promote the free flow of information. Toward that end, the 

NRC administers its Declassification Program in accordance with Executive Order 

13526, “Classified National Security Information,” which President Barack Obama 

issued on December 29, 2009, as well as NRC Management Directive 12.2, 

“NRC Classified Information Security Program.” 
13 

11. The NRC’s Participation in Transparency Initiatives 

The NRC’s participation in governmentwide Transparency Initiatives is provided below. 

Transparency 

Initiative 

Description of Participation 

Data.gov New datasets, after security screening, are added to the 

dataset listing on NRC.gov and are available for download. 

IT (Information 

Technology) 

Dashboard 

All major IT investments are reported on the IT Dashboard. 

eRulemaking The eRulemaking Program has simplified the public’s 

participation in the NRC rulemaking process by making 

regulatory information more accessible on 

Regulations.gov. Executive Order 13563 calls on agencies 

to promote public participation and an open exchange of 

information and perspectives among State, local, and Tribal 

officials, experts in relevant disciplines, affected 

stakeholders in the private sector, and the public as a 

whole. Regulations.gov improves NRC public engagement 

by supporting the notice and public comment process for 

rulemakings. Using the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS), the NRC has created dockets on 

Regulations.gov for all documents it has published in the 

Federal Register since December 2007. In FY 13, the 

NRC posted 72 rules and proposed rules, 605 Federal 

Register notices, and 1,750 public submissions on 

Regulations.gov. The NRC also posts to Regulations.gov 

stakeholder comments on guidance and other 

non-rulemaking documents, as well as supplemental 

background information and supporting documents for 

significant agency actions. 

Grants.gov All competitive funding opportunities are posted on 

Grants.gov 

CFDA.gov The NRC publishes its annual Federal financial assistance 

program in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA). 

SAM.gov 

(System of Award 

Management) 

The NRC is a voting member of the Integrated Acquisition 

Environment (IAE) and SAM Change Control Boards. SAM 

is used as the definitive source for vendor payment 

information and all vendors doing business with the NRC 

must be registered in SAM. 

FSRS.gov 

(Federal Funding 

Accountability and 

Transparency Act Subaward 

Reporting System) 

The NRC uses the data in FSRS in concert with the data in 

eSRS (electronic Subcontracting Reporting System) to 

monitor prime contractor performance with regard to their 

subcontracting requirements. 

USAspending.gov The NRC reports obligation data for commercial contracts 

and grants to USASpending.gov. 
14 

12. Compliance with OMB Guidance on Privacy Issues 

Per existing OMB Guidance, the Quarterly Federal Information Security Management 

Act (FISMA) Reporting and the Annual Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP) 

reports are routinely submitted to OMB through Cyberscope online. Additionally, all 

Federal Register Notices for System of Records Notices are made publicly available 

and are available here: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/privacy-systems.html. Similarly, all Privacy Impact 

Assessments are located here: 

http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/plans/privacy-impcat-asess.html.

D. Participation 

Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas 

and expertise so the NRC can make regulatory decisions with 

the benefit of information from a wide range of stakeholders. 

These stakeholders must have a reasonable opportunity to 

participate meaningfully in the NRC’s regulatory processes. 

The NRC is responsible for developing, implementing, and 

enforcing policies that are well-informed and effective. To do so, 

the agency recognizes that the public must be informed about, 

and have a reasonable opportunity to participate meaningfully in, 

its regulatory processes and (where appropriate) its decisionmaking. 

Section IV.A of the NRC’s 2010 Open Government Plan discusses how participation is encouraged 

and provided for through public meetings, hearings, conferences, symposia, and workshops. Also 

noted is the NRC’s use of its Web site, where the public can learn about public meetings, comment 

on proposed rules and draft documents, understand how to petition the agency to take an 

enforcement action, participate in hearings, or understand how to petition the agency to issue, 

amend, or rescind any regulation. 

In all aspects of its work, the agency is committed to making public participation as expansive and 

meaningful as possible. 

Discussed below are our efforts to: (1) grow our social media program, (2) increase the visibility 

of Rulemaking and other NRC documents open for comment, (3) modernize our records 

management systems to facilitate access to information, and (4) use technology to provide 

stakeholders with increased opportunity to participate in our public meetings. 

1. Strengthening Social Media Services 

Since their introduction in 2011, the NRC’s social media platforms have enhanced 

relationships between the agency and the public by promoting a sense of common 

community, providing a unique venue for dialogue and a vehicle for plain language 

explanations of NRC activities. The agency has developed a method for measuring 

success of the social media program, and the comparison results from 2012 to 2013 show 

an increase in subscriber and viewer rates for the agency’s social media platforms—at 

times nearly doubling the previous year’s following. 

“Participation allows 

members of the public to 

contribute ideas and 

expertise so that their 

government can make 

policies with the benefit of 

information that is widely 

dispersed in society.” 

(Open Government Directive) 
15 

The agency became an active participant in the Federal Government Social Media 

Community of Practice with the addition of a social media specialist. It has also updated 

its Crisis Communication Plan to reflect the addition of social media tools to communicate 

event and incident information. In addition, the agency evaluated the viability of the social 

networking platform, Facebook, and determined it was a useful addition to the social 

media portfolio. The NRC’s official Facebook page is expected to launch in 2014. 

In April 2013, the agency launched a pilot live-discussion platform known as NRC Chat. 

The pilot lasted 6 months and included 8 real-time, two-way discussions on topics of high 

public interest. Evaluation of the pilot indicated sufficient interest; however, the limitations 

of the platform and difficulties with the text-based, heavy moderation format of the 

discussions proved the technical solution was not the proper platform. The NRC is now 

researching the use of a video-based Chat in 2014. 

The NRC continues to meet the challenge of producing high-quality content for its social 

media platforms, and to continually review and assess the viability of additional platforms 

for the future.

2. Increasing the Visibility of Rulemaking and Other NRC Documents 

Open for Comment 

The NRC redesigned and consolidated its “Documents for Comment” Web pages to 

provide a one-stop location for all rulemakings and other NRC documents currently 

open for comment. In keeping with the recently adopted recommendations from the 

Administrative Conference of the United States, the new page is readily available from 

the NRC homepage at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment.html. The NRC 

staff updates the Web page containing the list of all dockets on 

http://www.regulations.gov that contain documents currently open for public review and 

comment. The entry for each document available for comment links directly to the 

docket for the action. With one click, members of the public are able to view the 

document open for comment, access any additional supporting information on the 

NRC activity, and easily submit electronic comments. The NRC completed this activity 

in the fourth quarter of FY 2012. 

The staff continues to encourage the public to stay current with information related to 

rulemakings and petitions for rulemakings by taking advantage of current 

subscription-based services. The public can now receive alerts when changes are 

made to the “Rulemaking Dockets,” “Petition for Rulemaking Dockets,” and “Unified 

Agenda and Regulatory Plan” Web pages. The staff completed this activity in the first 

quarter of FY 2014. The public can also subscribe to docket updates on 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

To comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), the NRC has updated its Regulatory Flexibility 

Act Compliance public Web site and has launched a new Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act Compliance public Web site. Through these sites the public 

can learn about the NRC’s compliance with the RFA of 1980, as amended, and the 

SBREFA of 1996, as amended. New information includes a listing of all rules that 

impact small entities that the NRC has issued since 1984. 
16 

The listing also notes whether the rule had a significant impact on a substantial

number of small entities that would require a periodic review under Section 610 of the 

RFA to decide whether the rules should continue without change, be amended, or be 

rescinded. This listing provides the public with easy access to small entity compliance 

guides for rules impacting small entities. The staff completed this activity in the first 

quarter of FY 2014. 

On May 3, 2013, the NRC published a proposed rule in the Federal Register 

(78 FR 25886) to amend its regulations to streamline its process for addressing 

petitions for rulemaking (PRMs). The proposed amendments are intended to improve 

transparency and make the PRM process more efficient and effective. The proposal 

marks the first substantial update to the NRC’s process for considering rulemaking 

petitions since that process was first established in 1979. The NRC will issue the final 

rule in FY 2015. 

 

Through its comprehensive regulatory infrastructure, the NRC identifies, simplifies, and 

updates outdated regulations to make them more effective and less burdensome. As 

part of its ongoing effort to update its regulations on a systematic, ongoing basis and in 

voluntary response to Executive Order 13579, “Regulation and Independent 

Regulatory Agencies,” the NRC issued a “Final Plan for Retrospective Analysis of 

Exisitng Rules” on February 24, 2014 (79 FR 9981). 

 

3. Modernizing Information and Records Management Program 

The NRC’s Information and Records Management (IRM) program is focused on 

providing complete and accurate agency information by developing policies, 

procedures, guidance, and tools for the capture, use, storage, and disposition of 

information to allow staff and the public to access NRC information repositories, now 

and in the future. This vision is embedded in the NRC’s Information 

Technology/Information Management (IT/IM) Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2012-2016, 

as follows: 

Goal 1: Effective Information Access—NRC staff and stakeholders can quickly and 

easily access the information they need. 

Strategy 5: Improve the completeness and accuracy of NRC records and information. 

 

Key Activities: 

 Modernize the IRM process to make information capture and categorization 

more complete and transparent.

 Develop new file plans, records categorization, and retention schedules for use 

in records capture.

 Improve the staff’s knowledge of IRM related to NRC work products.

 Incorporate IRM policies into the NRC’s capital planning and investment control 

process and the agency’s IT project management methodology (PMM).
17 

To support providing effective information access, the NRC has developed a plan that 

lays out the vision, objectives, and plans for a modernized IRM program. The plan will 

strengthen the NRC’s IRM program through a series of projects that, over the next 

several years, will enable the NRC to better manage its information. The plan is the 

culmination of assessments conducted over the past several years that provided a 

direction for modernizing the program to support the NRC’s future information 

management goals, especially those linked to the transition to an open and 

transparent electronic government. The plan lays out a compliant program, including 

resource estimates required to implement and sustain an agencywide IRM program. 

The plan also includes projects that are aligned with the strategic goals for FY 2014, 

specifically supporting “Improve the Usability of NRC Information” and the following 

strategies: 

 Improve information delivery capability. 

 Improve search capability and access to information. 

 Facilitate data capture. 

 Improve data quality. 

Current policies and procedures, as well as National Archives and Records 

Administration approved retention schedules for NRC records, can be found on the 

NRC’s public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/records-mgmt.html. 

4. Continued Expansion in the Use of Virtual Meetings 

The NRC continues to enhance stakeholder involvement in public meetings through 

virtual meeting technologies such as Web streaming and Web conferencing. The use 

of these technologies enables members of the public to participate in the agency’s 

public interactions regardless of their physical location. Prime examples of the NRC’s 

use of virtual meetings include meetings involving the San Onofre Nuclear Generating 

Station, Waste Confidence, and various post-Fukushima-related initiatives. In certain 

cases, public meetings are being held entirely virtually–where all participants 

participate remotely. 

The NRC is also modifying its internal guidance to assist the staff in creating more 

descriptive summaries of certain public meetings, to maximize the use of public 

meeting facilitators, and to ensure the staff who conduct public meetings have the 

training and tools available to do so successfully. 

5. Improved Public Meeting Notification and Feedback Systems 

In December 2013, the NRC launched two new Web-based systems: one to share 

public meeting information to the public and one to make it easier for the public to 

provide feedback on NRC public meetings. The agency’s new public meeting notice 

system uses Twitter to provide up-to-date information on our public meetings. 

By signing up for our new public meeting Twitter feed, members of the public can 

receive tweets whenever the NRC schedules, changes the details of, or cancels a 

public meeting. The tweets link to a Web page with details about the meeting. The 

agency’s new public meeting feedback system allows the public to give feedback 

directly through a smartphone or computer. Hard copy forms will still be used, but now 
18 

each form includes a Quick Response (QR) code. Members of the public can scan a 

code that links directly to a feedback page. The public can also provide feedback 

through a computer via the NRC’s Web-based Public Meeting Schedule. In addition, 

the NRC is currently enhancing some of its existing training on conducting effective 

public meetings to better prepare staff members to prepare for and conduct more 

effective meetings. The NRC’s in-house facilitators also continue to advise and assist 

staff on engaging the public through all stages of the public meeting planning and 

implementation process. 

E. Collaboration 

Collaboration improves the effectiveness of Government by encouraging partnerships and 

cooperation across Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments and with international 

regulatory authorities. 

In the coming years, NRC will confront a variety of 

challenges, including ensuring the safety and security of 

existing and proposed nuclear power plants and other 

licensed facilities and materials, preparing for 

emergencies, and storing and disposing of high-level 

radioactive waste. The NRC recognizes that meeting 

these challenges will call for the highest levels of 

collaboration among its own employees, cooperation and 

partnership with other Federal and non-Federal 

government agencies, and collaboration with 

non-government organizations and other private entities. 

Section V.A of the NRC’s 2010 Open Government Plan notes the extensive network of 

regulatory agencies, State and Tribal Governments, international organizations, and 

non-government organizations and private entities with which the NRC partners. 

Discussed below are examples of: (1) the use of technology to foster communications and 

collaboration with States, (2) a cooperative effort to assess outreach efforts on safety culture to 

materials licensees, (3) our increased interactions with Tribal Governments, and (4) the 

numerous venues used to enhance collaboration with the international community. 

1. State-Focused Communication Initiatives 

The NRC will continue to focus on growing opportunities for collaboration with State 

governments and organizations. One particular area of note is several additional 

communication efforts the NRC has underway. 

As described in section V.2.b of the NRC’s 2010 Open Government Plan, the NRC 

works to cooperate and maintain effective relationships with States. In the past 

2 years, staff has been leveraging the agency’s social media tools to highlight these 

efforts. For example, several updates about the agency’s State-focused programs 

(e.g., the Agreement State Program and the State Liaison Officer Program) have been 

posted through NRC Blog entries and YouTube videos. The Agreement State 

Program staff has also begun conducting webinars on topics of interest for State 

participants. 

“Collaboration improves the 

effectiveness of Government 

by encouraging partnerships 

and cooperation within the 

Federal Government, across 

levels of government, and 

between the Government and 

private institutions.” (Open 

Government Directive)
19 

Looking forward, the agency plans to pursue several new initiatives in 2014 to further 

enhance communication and collaboration with States. For example, staff plans to 

expand the use of webinars to: (1) target a broader audience (i.e., include the State 

Liaison Officers Program as well as the Agreement State Program), (2) include more 

diverse topics that span all areas of the NRC’s jurisdiction, and (3) be established as 

periodic, reoccurring activities. Staff also plans to initiate a new State-focused 

newsletter to serve as an additional communication forum. In addition to providing 

opportunities for the agency to share information and updates with States, these 

activities would also allow States to directly provide insights and feedback to agency 

staff. In developing the content for these activities, staff will work collaboratively with 

the States by soliciting their input and offering opportunities to directly contribute 

content. Staff will also look for opportunities to use these communication tools for 

outreach to local governments, as appropriate. Finally, in the longer term, staff plans 

to research additional methods—especially ones that make use of available technical 

and social media tools—that could be useful in further enhancing communication and 

collaboration with States. 

2. Evaluation of Outreach Efforts on Safety Culture 

In addition to the communication efforts noted above, the agency is also collaborating 

specifically with several Agreement States on a new safety culture initiative.

In June 2011, NRC issued the Safety Culture Policy Statement, which describes the 

Commission’s expectation that the NRC’s regulated community maintains a positive 

safety culture, and the staff has been conducting outreach and education with various 

groups on its content. Although Agreement States are not required to endorse NRC 

policy statements, the agency has encouraged Agreement States to also communicate 

the importance of safety culture and the policy statement content to their licensees. To 

support their efforts, the agency has shared many of its educational and outreach tools 

with the Agreement States for their use. In order to gather feedback on whether 

outreach and communication activities have been effective in promoting awareness of 

the Safety Culture Policy Statement, the agency plans to conduct a voluntary survey of 

its materials regulated community in 2014. Staff has invited Agreement States to 

participate by voluntarily administering the survey to materials users they regulate, and 

eight States have agreed to do so. Staff is working closely with the Agreement State 

participants to develop the survey questions and coordinate the survey administration 

process. Once results are available, the agency and the Agreement State participants 

will work together to review the information and determine if changes to current 

activities or new activities are necessary and appropriate.

3. Increased Interactions with Tribal Governments 

In recent years, the NRC has significantly increased its interactions with Tribal 

Governments, including consultation and outreach, primarily to support communication 

of uranium recovery projects. The NRC is in the process of updating the NRC Tribal 

Protocol Manual and developing an agency-wide Tribal Policy Statement in an effort to 

increase the effectiveness of the agency’s Tribal communications, consultations, and 

coordination. The Manual is intended to increase staff awareness of historical 

perspectives and cultural sensitivities in communicating with Tribal Governments. 
20 

In FY 2014, the NRC anticipates publication of a draft Tribal Policy Statement for 

public comment. In FY 2014 and FY 2015, the NRC will conduct related outreach, 

participating in Tribal meetings sponsored by other Federal agencies and Tribal 

organizations, including participation by federally-recognized and State-recognized 

Tribes. The NRC plans to publish the final NRC Tribal Policy Statement in FY 2015, 

along with an updated Tribal Protocol Manual. Additionally, NRC staff plans to brief 

the Commission on the effort in FY 2015, and will solicit Tribal representation for the 

meeting. 

4. Enhancing Collaboration with the International Community 

The NRC continues to enhance its collaboration with the international community 

through both bilateral and multinational channels. Through regular communication 

with its foreign counterparts, particularly in the regulatory area, the NRC has gained 

valuable information to enhance its domestic nuclear safety program and has 

contributed to the development of a stronger global nuclear safety regime.

The NRC has arrangements to exchange technical information with nuclear safety 

agencies in more than 42 countries, Taiwan, and the European Atomic Energy 

Community (Eurotom). The NRC provides safety, security, emergency preparedness 

and safeguards advice, training, and other assistance to countries that seek U.S. help 

to improve their regulatory programs. These information exchange arrangements 

serve as communication channels with foreign regulatory authorities, establishing a 

framework for the NRC to gain access to non-U.S. safety information that can (1) alert 

the U.S. Government and industry to potential safety problems, (2) help find possible 

accident precursors, and (3) provide accident and incident analyses, which could be 

directly applicable to the safety of U.S. nuclear power plants and other facilities. The 

arrangements also serve as a vehicle for the assistance the NRC provides to countries 

to establish and improve their regulatory capabilities and infrastructure.

In addition to staff participation in over 100 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 

and Nuclear Energy Agency meetings each year, the NRC Chairman routinely 

participates in the IAEA General Conference and biannual meetings of the 

International Nuclear Regulators Association. Members of the Commission also travel 

to international conferences to deliver keynote remarks, participate in panel 

discussions, and share insight on a variety of topics with diverse international 

audiences. The NRC’s annual Regulatory Information Conference also provides a 

forum for international technical exchanges and high level bilateral meetings, with 

more than 30 countries represented each year, many at senior levels. 

The NRC hosts peer-review missions, including the IAEA’s Integrated Regulatory 

Review Service (IRRS) and International Physical Protection Advisory Service 

(IPPAS). The NRC’s first IRRS mission was held in October 2010 and focused on the 

operating power reactor program. A follow-up mission occured for February 2014 and 

reviewed the NRC’s response to the 2010 mission’s findings and its response to the 

Fukushima accident. An IPPAS mission was hosted by the United States in 

October 2013 and reviewed nuclear security-related legislative and regulatory 

framework. 
21 

The NRC has specific agreements with Canada and Mexico, and commitments to 

IAEA related to sharing information on emergency preparedness. Under these 

agreements, the NRC will promptly notify and exchange information in the event of an 

emergency that has the potential for trans-boundary effects. Since both bilateral 

agreements’ most recent renewals occurred after the Fukushima accident, the NRC 

and its Canadian and Mexican counterparts have placed increased focus on their 

commitment to share information not only in the event of an accident, but on a regular 

basis as part of an effort to enhance their respective emergency preparedness 

programs. To meet the U.S. commitment under the IAEA Convention on Early 

Notification of a Nuclear Accident, the NRC will promptly notify IAEA if a serious 

accident occurs at a commercial nuclear power plant. The NRC actively participates in 

the IAEA’s Unified System for Information Exchange for Incidents and Events as the 

method for rapidly sharing nuclear or radiological event information with IAEA and its 

member countries. 

F. Flagship Initiative 

1. Building Mobile NRC—The Digital Government Initiative 

Our 2012–2013 Open Government Plan Addendum, published April 9, 2012, identified 

our Flagship Initiative as Mobile NRC. The plan noted:

The NRC has selected Mobile NRC as its flagship initiative to expand the 

agency’s stakeholder community and engage a broader public audience 

by promoting and taking advantage of new mobile-friendly capabilities. 

The use of the Worldwide Web and mobile technologies has become 

commonplace, providing more creative and cost effective ways to engage 

current and new stakeholders in the agency’s regulatory processes. 

The NRC’s flagship initiative will focus on employing these technologies 

to foster public engagement. 

On May 23, 2012, an executive memorandum, “Building a 21st Century Digital 

Government,” was issued by President Obama to all Federal agencies to harness the 

power of technology to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of digital service to 

the American people by enabling government services through mobile access 

applications. With direction and guidance from the Federal CIO (Chief Information 

Officers) Council and OMB, the NRC established a digital Government taskforce to 

collect and review opportunities that would help the agency provide information in 

formats readable by customers and to identify opportunities for applications suitable for 

mobile devices. To maximize the value of investments in digital government, the 

agency defined a set of crosscutting goals, capabilities, and activities to drive the 

implementation and adoption of mobile computing and information access as a core 

component of the agency’s operating model. The crosscutting goals include 

embedding “mobile enablement” into new technology investments and existing 

technology enhancements; empowering the agency’s mobile workforce through 

support and training; and directing information management functins to focus on 

mobile access. 

In an effort to capture as complete a picture of opportunities as possible that fit the 

needs of stakeholders, the agency solicited feedback from a wide range of external 
22 

stakeholders using a blog post “Tell Us Your Thought,” Twitter tweet related to “Tell Us 

Your Thought” blog post, RSS Feeds notifying stakeholders of the opportunity to 

provide feedback, and collecting data from a public Web site survey. Identifying 

internal stakeholders within the agency from different functional, geographic, mission, 

and support areas was the other strategy used by the working group collecting 

information. As a result of these efforts, 44 potential digital government opportunities 

were identified and categorized as either a primary, secondary, or tertiary opportunity. 

The NRC has also implemented an agencywide effort to collect and document the 

agency’s common data definitions that help both internal and external customers to 

acquire quality information directly from their authoritative sources, and can be 

leveraged by future mobile information technology (IT) capabilities. 

Phase one of the project focused on developing and submitting the 2014 

implementation plan for the 10 “primary” applications identified (Attachment B). That 

task was completed on May 23, 2013, and in the first quarter of FY 2014 one of the 

applications (Public Meeting Feedback System Mobile Web) was deployed. Pending 

the availability of funds, the team plans to deploy the remaining applications. On 

November 30, 2013, the NRC also established an Enterprise Data Inventory for 30 

Open Government public datasets that meets all OMB requirements described in the 

“Open Data Policy Managing Information as an Asset” memorandum. The NRC is 

expanding the inventory to manage all agency authoritative data starting in 2014. 

 
23 

ATTACHMENTS 
24 

Attachment A 

Open Government Milestone Commitments 2012-2013 - Status 

This attachment summarizes the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) key Open 

Government milestones discussed in this plan. 

 Action Item Date Status June 1, 2014 

A Transparency 

1 Release an annual report 

describing the NRC’s 

compliance with the Plain 

Writing Act of 2010. 

April 2012 

(annually thereafter) 

Complete

2 Publish the results of the Public 

Document Room survey. 

May 2012 

November 2012 

(biannually 

thereafter) 

Survey results not published due to low 

response rates. 

3 Maintain high-value datasets 

and publish monthly usage 

statistics. 

ongoing Maintaining datasets. (Discussed 

under Transparency C.4, Project Open 

Data). 

B Participation 

1 Launch the Flickr photo-sharing 

site as a component of the social 

media initiative. 

January 2012 Complete

2 Leverage best practices from the 

quick response (QR) code pilot 

to implement their use for the 

Regulatory Information 

Conference. 

March 2012 Complete. QR codes are now routinely 

used at Regulatory Information 

Conferences to facilitate information 

access for participants. 

3 Deploy the redesigned 

“Documents for Comment” Web 

page. 

June 2012 Complete. (Discussed under 

Participation D.2). 

4 Standardize broad use of QR 

codes to support public 

outreach, meetings, and events 

based on lessons learned. 

June 2012 Complete. QR Code Publication Style 

Guide and technical standards have 

been published. An additional use 

example for QR codes is their use with 

the new Public Meeting Feedback 

System. 

5 Implement a mobile-friendly 

Web form for the Public Meeting 

Feedback System. 

December 2012 Complete. (Discussed under 

Participation D.5). 

6 Develop a unified mobile 

strategy to support mobile 

capabilities for NRC staff and 

public stakeholders. 

February 2013 Complete. (Discussed as Flagship 

initiative). 

7 Identify and implement select TBD Complete. (Discussed under 
25 

 Action Item Date Status June 1, 2014 

mobile-friendly Web pages of 

high public interest. 

Transparency C.5). 

C Collaboration 

 Complete deployment of 

Web-based licensing. 

December 2013 Complete. 

 
26 

Attachment B 

THE UNITED STATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Digital Government 

Plan Summary 

May 2013 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Two White Flint North 

11555 Rockville Pike 

Rockville, Maryland 20855
27 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Last year the President challenged all federal agencies through executive memorandum to 

harness the power of technology to ensure the efficient, effective, responsive, transparent, and 

improved delivery of digital services to the American people. Within this memorandum, the 

President outlined major areas of focus for agencies including enabling government services 

through mobile access and applications as well as unlocking the power of government data to 

spur innovation and improve the quality of services for the American people1

. 

Data Collection 

Consistent with subsequent direction and guidance from the Federal CIO Council and Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB)2

, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) collected 

and reviewed opportunities provided by a wide range of stakeholders. To capture a holistic 

picture of opportunities that fit the needs of stakeholders, the agency solicited feedback from a 

wide range of internal and external stakeholders using feedback forms, interviews, and focus 

groups. 

Opportunity Review 

To assess the identified opportunities, the agency developed and leveraged a straightforward 

rating model to help identify and prioritize the opportunities with the highest value. The 

evaluation criteria were given a weighting consistent with their impact and value. The evaluation 

framework enabled the agency to translate a number of qualitative factors into a quantitative 

score. The score enabled an initial prioritization and grouping of each potential opportunity and 

represented a starting point for further review. 

Opportunity Assessment and Refinement 

Follow-on meetings were scheduled with the primary mobile opportunity owners and users to 

further explore each opportunity more in-depth. During follow-on meetings stakeholder input 

was used to capture the specific utilization needs and required capabilities of each mobile 

opportunity. The additional information gathered helped refine the opportunity categorization 

and prioritization. 

Primary Opportunity Implementation 

Based on the agency’s collection efforts, 44 potential mobile opportunities were identified. 

Additionally, the agency’s adoption of tablet computing devices (tablets) enhances its mobility 

related infrastructure and access methods, increasing the potential scope of future 

opportunities. The primary mobile opportunities are graphed in the following chart with respect 

to their specific implementation characteristics and overall strategic alignment: 

 1 Presidential Memorandum, “Building a 21st Century Digital Government”: 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/2012digital_mem_rel.pdf 2 Federal CIO Council, “Digital Services Governance Recommendations”: http://www.whitehouse.gov/digitalgov/digital-services- governance-recommendations
28 

Detailed implementation planning for each opportunity is currently underway. Initiatives that 

were not previously planned will be pursued using the NRC’s planning, budgeting, and 

performance management process. Each category of mobile opportunity (web API and mobile 

web,) possesses a standardized implementation framework, related activities, and associated 

timeline that can be leveraged iteratively, with adjustments as required for the variation of 

specific implementation characteristics of each opportunity. 

A notional implementation timeline for the nine opportunities selected for implementation and 

the previously referenced mobility infrastructure enhancements are depicted in the following 

Gantt chart: